Falcons Drop Two to Power 5 Conference Foes on Saturday

Saturday, September 12

Bloomington, Ind.

12:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

3-6

Indiana

6-2

Bowling Green

Indiana

Photo by: JD Pooley

September 12, 2015 | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: by Kevin Davis, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

Match 1: Box Score (PDF)
Match 1: Box Score (HTML)
Match 2: Box Score (PDF)
Match 2: Box Score (HTML)

Bloomington, Ind. – On the second and final day of the Indiana Invitational on Saturday at University Gym in Bloomington, Ind., the Bowling Green State University volleyball team took on not just one, but two Power 5 conference foes in Indiana and Virginia Tech. The Falcons dropped the first match of the day to Indiana of the Big Ten 3-0 and then suffered a 3-1 defeat in the night cap to Virginia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

BGSU lost to Indiana by scores of 25-17, 25-14 and 25-15, while the Falcons fell to the Hokies 25-15, 25-20, 20-25 and 25-15.

The two losses drop the Falcons to 3-7 on the season. BGSU is 1-3 on the year overall versus Power 5 conference foes.

Junior Alyssa Maloney was named to the Indiana Invitational All-Tournament Team.

"We had a tough weekend facing three quality opponents that unfortunately were able to expose our weaknesses and neutralize our strengths," stated head coach Danijela Tomic. "We will learn from these losses, get back in the gym on Monday and work on getting better. I believe in our team's resilience and that we will bounce back better and stronger."

Match 1: Indiana 3, BGSU 0
Looking to avenge a 3-2 season opening loss to the Hoosiers back on Aug. 28, the Falcons struggled from the opening serve to fall in straight sets 25-17, 25-14 and 25-15 to Indiana on day two of the Indiana Invitational in Bloomington, Ind.

The Falcons struggled offensively, as BGSU hit a season-low .051 as a team over the three sets and was unable to provide a big block at the net against the Hoosiers who hit .380 as a team on the afternoon.

Despite having just one more attack than the Falcons for the match, 79 to BGSU's 78, the Hoosiers totaled 39 kills compared to only 26 kills by BGSU. The Orange and Brown committed 22 attack errors, while IU only posted nine in the win.

Outside hitters Jelena Sunjic and Nicole Slimko led the Falcons with 11 and six kills apiece, respectively, while Maloney tallied four kills. Seven different Falcons registered a dig in the match led by junior Madeline Garda's team-high eight digs, while setter Katie Scholten dished out 21 set assists.

Indiana had 10 different players record a kill in the win, highlighted by a team-high eight kills from Allison Hammond and seven kills each from Awele Nwaeze and Amelia Anderson. Nwaeze led the IU defense with five total blocks, as the Hoosiers totaled 7.0 total team blocks for the match.

BGSU opened the match up with a ball handling error off the opening serve, but bounced back to tie the score up at 1-1 on an IU attack error.

The rest of the first set belonged to the home-standing Hoosiers, as IU got a kill from Hammond to jump start an 8-1 scoring spurt to pull out to a seven point lead at 9-2 and force a BGSU timeout.

The Falcons registered a kill from Sunjic out of the timeout and then traded points with the Hoosiers to put the score at 13-8 in favor of the red and white.

Back-to-back kills from Indiana pushed the Hoosiers' lead out to seven points once again at 15-8, as BGSU continued to struggle with its offensive efficiency.

Bowling Green picked up kills from Sunjic and Slimko, and a service ace from Scholten, but was unable to overcome the deficit and four more attack errors to drop the first set to the Hoosiers at 25-17.

The second set started just like the first, as BGSU opened the frame up with an error to hand the Hoosiers an early lead. However, one spike apiece from Slimko, Maloney, Sunjic and Isabel Kovacic propelled the Falcons out to an early 4-3 lead.

Indiana retook the lead at 5-4 on back-to-back BGSU attack errors and used three straight kills from Anderson, Elisabeth Asdell and Hammond to extend its lead to four at 11-7 and force another early Falcon timeout.

After an IU service error and a slam by Slimko cut the Hoosiers' lead to just two at 11-9, the home team went on a 6-1 run to push its lead out to seven at 17-10 and force a second BGSU timeout.

The Falcons got a Maloney kill right out of the break and got to within five of the Hoosiers at 19-14 on a Scholten kill, yet couldn't stop the IU attack as the Hoosiers pulled away late with six unanswered points to pick up the 25-14 second set win.

In the third set, the Falcons again fell behind early, this time at 8-2 on another error.

Following kills from Madeline Brandewie and Sunjic to put the score at 8-4 in favor of the Hoosiers, IU took advantage of two BGSU miscues, posted one service ace, and three kills to take a 14-8 lead over the Falcons.

Refusing to quit, BGSU used kills from Slimko and Sunjic, as well as a block from the combination of Maloney and Sunjic, to get to within five of Indiana at 16-11 midway through the third set.

However, the Hoosiers again closed the set out with a huge scoring run as IU outscored the Falcons 9-4 down the stretch to take the set win at 25-15 and defeat BGSU 3-0 in straight sets.

Freshman Mahlia Blair made her Falcon debut in the contest versus the Hoosiers, as Coach Tomic played all 11 players in the match.

Match 2: Virginia Tech 3, BGSU 1
In the night cap for the Falcons, BGSU battled back from down two sets to none to take the third set 25-20, before the Hokies held on to defeat the Falcons in the fourth set 25-15 and take the 3-1 match win.

The Hokies defeated the Falcons 25-15, 25-20, 20-25 and 25-15.

BGSU totaled eight service aces and 9.0 total blocks as a team, but couldn't overcome the 55 kills and .333 team attack percentage for the match by the Hokies.

Sunjic and Slimko again led the attack for the Falcons with 12 kills apiece, as Slimko hit a team-high .346 on the match. Maloney added seven kills, five total blocks and two service aces, while freshman Isabel Kovacic tallied three service aces, a career-high. Scholten passed out 32 assists, while defensive specialists Kallie Seimet and Garda picked up 12 and 11 digs, respectively.

Virginia Tech was led by Lindsey Owens' 16 kills and 13 digs, while Amanda McKinzie totaled 15 kills, nine digs and three service aces.

Looking to get off to a fast start, the Falcons opened up the match with a kill from Kovacic to take a 1-0 lead. However, the lead did not last for long as the Hokies ran off three straight points to kick off a 9-3 run to rush out to a 9-4 lead on a service ace and force a BGSU timeout.

Out of the break, BGSU cut the Virginia Tech lead to two at 9-7 on an error by the Hokies, yet fell behind by six at 17-11 on a Falcon error.

After a kill by Brandewie and an ace by Kovacic put the Falcons down seven at 22-15, the Hokies scored the next three points to seal the first set win at 25-15.

BGSU jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a Sunjic kill in the second set and then used a Slimko spike and a Hokie error to push its lead to two at 3-1.

The Falcons held a 4-3 lead on a Hokie service error and then retook the lead at 5-4 on another Virginia Tech service error, only to see their ACC foe take the lead back at 6-5 on a Falcon miscue.

The Hokies held on to a slight lead over the Orange and Brown for the next several points until back-to-back kills from Slimko, a block from Maloney and an ace from Scholten pushed the Falcons back out in front by one at 12-11.

Following a Virginia Tech timeout, BGSU answered every Hokie point with a point of its own to take a 19-17 lead on another Hokie service error. However, the Hokies finished the set out much like they did the first, picking up three kills from Ashley Battle, one kill from Jalia Tolbert, a service ace from Rhegan Mitchell and two more service aces from McKinzie to escape past the Falcons with a 25-20 second set victory.

Virginia Tech looked to put both the set and match away early in the third set, running out to a 7-2 lead on three straight kills to force a Falcon timeout.

BGSU responded to the Tomic timeout with a kill from Sunjic and another ace from Kovacic to breathe life back into the Falcons who soared back into the set with a 16-9 run, highlighted by kills from Brandewie, Slimko, Kovacic and Sunjic, to tie the set up at 18-18 on a block from Scholten and Brandewie.

After a Virginia Tech kill put the Hokies back in front by one at 19-18, BGSU kills by Slimko and Maloney highlighted a 6-0 spurt to take a 24-19 lead, before a slam by Maloney handed the set to the Falcons at 25-20 and kept BGSU alive in the match.

With their backs still against the wall down 2-1, BGSU fell behind early in the fourth set at 4-1, but fought back to trim the Hokies lead to two at 7-5 and then again at 11-9 on a Sunjic spike.

Yet the Falcons could not overcome the Hokies attack, as Virginia Tech outscored BGSU 6-2 over the next eight serves to take a 17-11 advantage.

BGSU clawed its way back to cut the Hokies lead to six at 21-15, before the Hokies finished the set out with four straight points to defeat the Falcons 25-15 in the fourth set and 3-1 for the match.

Bowling Green (3-7) will wrap up its non-conference slate next weekend, Sept. 18-19, at the Panther Invitational hosted by the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pa.

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