Sunjic & Slimko Power the Falcons Past Akron in 3-2 Win

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Video: Post Match Interview with Coach Tomic
Video: Post Match Interview with Jelena. Sunjic
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Bowling Green, Ohio – BGSU's outside hitters in Jelena Sunjic and Nicole Slimko combined for 40 kills on the night and each recorded an attack percentage of over .320 to help power the Falcons to a 3-2 come from behind win over the Akron Zips in MAC East play on Friday night at the Stroh Center.

BGSU defeated the Zips 21-25, 19-25, 25-19, 25-10 and 16-14 in the come from behind win.

The win was the Falcons first in the MAC and puts both BGSU and Akron at 1-2 in league play.

BGSU improves to 3-1 overall on the season in five set matches.

"It's huge. We knew that Akron was going to be a tough team for us. They have been playing with a lot of confidence and they probably are the most improved team in the MAC and they showed it in the first two sets," stated head coach Danijela Tomic. "This is big for our team just for the confidence. We are a good team, we just have to learn how to win. That's something that when you have a young team, five freshmen and no seniors on the team, it's just getting that belief and that confidence that we are good enough and that we have earned our right to win. But we have to play like that."

Sunjic led the Falcons with a career-high 25 kills on a .375 attack percentage and added four service aces, while Slimko added 15 kills and three total blocks. Junior defensive specialist Delaney Arkeilpane recorded a career-high 12 digs, as she joined both Kallie Seimet, who had 15 digs, and Madeline Garda, who picked up 13 digs, with double digit digs.

Setter Katie Scholten passed out 45 assists, totaled three aces and picked up six kills on the night, while Alyssa Maloney registered a career-high five service aces in the win. Freshman Madeline Brandewie was a force at the net for the Falcons, recorded a match-high six block assists on the night.

Akron, who hit .333 in the first set and .483 in the second set as a team, had four players with 11 kills each in Patience Brown, Anna Wenger, Amanda Bedell and Kelsey Wilson. Setter Karley Kusan finished with a double-double of 23 assists and 12 digs, while libero Brenna Mack finished with 15 digs for the five set match.

After falling in the first set 25-21 on a 5-3 run by the Zips to end the set, in which the two teams posted eight ties and five lead changes, BGSU fell behind 2-0 in the match with a 25-19 second set loss in which the Falcons were never really in the set after Akron pulled out to a 16-10 lead on a Wilson service ace.

With their backs against the wall down 2-0, the Falcons regrouped at the break and opened up the third set with a kill from Slimko and then ran out to a 4-1 lead on back-to-back service aces from Maloney.

BGSU weathered two straight points from Akron to push its lead out to four at 8-4 on a Scholten kill.

The Zips then answered with four straight points, highlighted by two kills from Brown, to knot the set up at 8-8. However, a Sunjic slam pushed the Falcons back in front at 9-8 and the home team never looked back.

The Falcons picked up two kills from Slimko, a kill from Isabel Kovacic and a block from the junior tandem of Maloney and Sunjic to take a 13-10 lead and force Akron to call a timeout.

Back-to-back spikes from Akron's Bedell cut the Falcons' lead to one at 13-12, before three straight points pushed the Orange and Brown's lead back out to four at 16-12 on a Maloney ace.

Akron would not go away, however, as the Zips got to within two at 17-15, only to see the duo of Sunjic and Slimko run off three straight points to give the home team a five point lead at 20-15.

Following a second Akron timeout, the two teams went point-for-point for the remainder of the set, as an ace from Maloney sealed the 25-19 third set win and sent the match to a fourth set.

The fourth set belonged to the Falcons and Sunjic, as BGSU stormed out to an 8-3 lead on a kill from Brandewie.

After Akron took the next two points to put the score at 8-5, another kill from Brandewie gave the service back to the Falcons with a 9-5 lead.

That's when Sunjic took over, as the junior led the Falcons to 12 straight points, highlighted by three service aces and two kills apiece from both Slimko and Sunjic herself, to propel BGSU out to a 21-5.

Akron registered four straight points to put the score at 21-9, yet a kill from Scholten, a service error by the Zips, followed by a kill and a solo block from Slimko handed the Falcons the 25-10 fourth set victory.

With the momentum on their side, the Falcons took a 2-0 lead to start the fifth and decisive set, only to see Akron fight back to take a 5-4 lead on a BGSU attack error.

The back-and-forth set, which totaled five ties and four lead changes, continued with the Falcons tying the score up at three times before finally retaking the lead at 8-7 on a block from Slimko and Maloney, and then extending it to two at 9-7 on a Scholten service ace.

Following a timeout from Akron, the Zips zipped back into the set to tie the frame up at 10-10 and then once again at 11-11, before a Sunjic kill kept the Falcons in front at 12-11.

Akron scored the next two points to jump back in front by one at 13-12 on a Brown kill, before another Sunjic slam and service ace gave the Falcons the lead back at 14-13 and match point.

A BGSU attack error kept Akron alive at 14-14, but not for long as a Slimko kill and a Zips error completed the Falcons come from behind win with a 16-14 fifth set triumph and a 3-2 match win.

BGSU held a slight edge in total team blocks at 9.0-4.0, in service aces at 13-7 and in kills at 56-53. The Falcons also totaled 65 digs to the Zips' 56.

Bowling Green (5-11, 1-2 MAC) will look to carry over the momentum from the win into tomorrow's contest, as the Falcons will host Buffalo at 5 p.m. at the Stroh Center.

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Jelena Sunjic

Nicole Slimko

Katie Scholten

Isabel Kovacic

Players Mentioned

Delaney Arkeilpane

Madeline Brandewie

Madeline Garda

Isabel Kovacic

Alyssa Maloney

Katie Scholten

Kallie Seimet

Nicole Slimko

Jelena Sunjic

Players Mentioned

Delaney Arkeilpane

Madeline Brandewie

Madeline Garda

Isabel Kovacic

Alyssa Maloney

Katie Scholten

Kallie Seimet

Nicole Slimko

Jelena Sunjic

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