Volleyball Falls to Host MTSU in Night Cap

Friday, August 28

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

6:30 PM

Bowling Green State University

0-2

Middle Tennessee

1-1

Bowling Green

Middle Tennessee

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

August 28, 2015 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: by Kevin Davis, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

Box Score (PDF)
Box Score (HTML)

Murfreesboro, Tenn. – In the Falcons second match of the day, the Bowling Green State University volleyball team fell in straight sets 3-0 to the host institution in Middle Tennessee State University 25-20, 25-23 and25-20 in the two teams' night cap on day one of the Blue Raider Bash in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Junior Jelena Sunjic led the BGSU attack with a team-high 10 kills, while sophomore Nicole Slimko added eight kills in the loss. A trio of Falcons in Isabel Kovacic, Alyssa Maloney and Madeline Brandewie all added five kills each, while Maloney finished with a team-high four blocks. Setter Katie Scholten passed out 28 set assists, while freshman Kallie Seimet tallied a career-high 14 digs at the libero position.

Middle Tennessee was led by Chelsea Ross's match-high 12 kills, while Delaney Gallagher tallied six kills and no errors for an attack percentage of .857 overall. The combo of Delaney Taylor and Brianna Pannone combined for 36 set assists for the Blue Raiders, while Jacqueline Lux tallied 13 digs in the win.

"Unfortunately, we had another slow start and could not get our offense running the way we needed in order to win," commented head coach Danijela Tomic. "Even though we lost, we saw a lot of good things that our players are capable of doing, but we just need to be more consistent in doing them. There is still a lot of learning going on with our team and that's what the preseason and these matches are for."

The Falcons fell behind 2-0 early to start the opening set and struggled to find their rhythm for the remainder of the frame as MTSU led from start to finish.

BGSU was able to stay close in the early stages of the first set, as a Sunjic kill put the Falcons down 3-2. Just four points later BGSU's Maloney put the Falcons within two points at 5-3 by way of a kill at the net.

However, three straight kills by the Blue Raiders kick started a 12-5 run by the home team who surged out to a 17-8 lead on a Miri Shade kill to cap off five straight points.

A Maloney spike put an end to the MTSU run, as the Falcons clawed their way back into the set to trim the MTSU lead to three at 20-17 on a kill from Brandewie. Yet that would be as close as the Falcons would get in the opening game, as MTSU closed the match out with a 5-3 edge to seal the 25-20 first set win.

Once again BGSU fell behind early in the second set at 4-1 on a Shade kill for MTSU, only to storm back into the frame with a 6-1 run capped off by a kill from Sunjic to give the Falcons an 8-5 lead and force the Blue Raiders to call an early timeout.

After a MTSU kill put the home team down just two at 8-6, the Falcons answered with three straight points to take a five-point lead at 11-6 on another kill from Maloney.

Following a second MTSU timeout, the Falcons registered back-to-back attack errors, but refused to allow the Blue Raiders to take the lead, as Slimko picked up a kill which was followed by an ace from Maloney to put the score at 13-9 in favor of the Orange and Brown.

MTSU used a kill from Makila York to jump start a 5-1 run for the home team, who battled back to tie the set up at 14-14 and force a BGSU timeout.

Immediately out of the break, MTSU posted a service ace from Gallagher to take a 15-14 lead over the Falcons. After a Gallagher service error tied the match back up at 15-15 and gave the service back to the Falcons, BGSU gave the ball right back to the Blue Raiders with a service error of its own.

With the 16-15 lead, the Blue Raiders refused to give it back to the visiting Falcons, as four straight BGSU miscues allowed MTSU to pull out to a five point lead at 20-15.

A Sunjic kill ended the Falcons' scoring drought, as BGSU climbed back into the set to cut the MTSU lead to one at 20-19 on a Kovacic kill. Two points later the Falcons tied the frame up at 21-21 on another Sunjic spike, only to see MTSU answer with back-to-back kills from Ross and Elise Watford to take a 24-21 lead on a block from Gallagher and Ross.

Refusing to quit, Bowling Green staved off two straight set points with a kill from Sunjic and a block from Scholten and Maloney to cut the score to 24-23, only to see MTSU's Gallagher put the set away at 25-23 with a kill.

The third set would prove to be a set of runs, as MTSU ran out to a 5-2 lead on a BGSU attack error, only to see the Falcons swoop back in front at 7-6 highlighted by a kill from Slimko.

After another kill from Slimko tied the frame up at 9-9, the Blue Raiders picked up kills from Ross and York to retake the lead at 11-9.

BGSU used a 3-0 burst by way of a Maloney kill, an MTSU attack error and a Ryann Cox service ace to knot the set back up at 14-14 and force the Blue Raiders to call a timeout.

The two teams traded points before the Falcons retook the lead at 16-15 on a block from Maloney. However, the next three points would go in favor of the home team, as MTSU ran out to a three point lead at 19-16 to force the Falcons to use another timeout.

A kill from Slimko would put the Falcons down just two at 19-17, yet BGSU couldn't string together a successful run as the Blue Raiders pulled away late for the 25-20 set win and the 3-0 match victory.

The Falcons struggled with its offensive efficiency for the match, hitting just .140 overall, and was plagued by the Blue Raiders 10 total team blocks.

BGSU (0-2) will return to the court tomorrow morning to take on Notre Dame of the Atlantic Coast Conference at 11 a.m. ET. The Falcons will wrap up the opening weekend of play versus Cleveland State at 8:30 p.m. ET tomorrow night.

###