Trio of Falcons Post Double Digit Kills in Loss at Pitt on Friday

Friday, September 18

Pittsburgh, Pa.

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

(3-8)

Pittsburgh

(8-2)

Bowling Green

Pittsburgh

Setter Katie Scholten posted her third double-double of the season with 44 assists and 13 digs on Friday.

Photo by: JD Pooley

Trio of Falcons Post Double Digit Kills in Loss at Pitt on Friday

September 18, 2015 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: by Kevin Davis, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

Box Score (PDF)
Box Score (HTML)

Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team had three players in Jelena Sunjic, Nicole Slimko and Alyssa Maloney post double digit kills on Friday night, yet the Falcons' comeback bid fell short in a 3-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Panthers at the Panther Invitational in Pittsburgh.

In a match that was close throughout with a total of 25 ties and 11 lead changes, the Falcons dropped the first two sets at 25-21 and 25-20, yet bounced back to take the third set away from the Panthers at 26-24. However, Pitt held off a late BGSU charge to take the fourth set 25-18 and the match 3-1.

"Our team stepped up to the challenge and played well against a strong Pitt team. We competed throughout the whole match and gave a great effort," head coach Danijela Tomic stated. "Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for a win, but we got better in all aspects of the game and our young team grew from this experience."

Sunjic paced the Falcons' attack with 19 kills on an attack percentage of .308 for the match. Slimko posted 11 kills and four block assists, while Maloney added 11 kills and six block assists in the middle for the Falcons.

Setter Katie Scholten registered her third double-double of the season with 44 assists and 13 digs, while freshman libero Kallie Seimet totaled 19 digs from the back row. Fellow freshman Isabel Kovacic posted a career-high 11 digs on the night, while newcomer Madeline Brandewie totaled a career-high eight kills and four block assists.

The Panthers also had a trio of players with double digit kills led by Mariah Bell's match-high 20 spikes. Maria Genitsaridi added 15 kills, to go along with 15 digs, while Amanda Orchard totaled 12 kills on a .462 attack percentage over the four set match. Four players tallied double digit digs on the night led by Angela Seman's 23 digs, while the tandem of Jenna Jacobson and Kamalani Akeo combined to pass out 58 assists on the night.

The opening set proved to set the tone for the entire match, as the Falcons tied the set up at 2-2 on a Maloney kill and then stayed within just three points of Pitt until a Slimko spike capped off three straight points from the Orange and Brown to push the visitors in front by one at 14-13.

Pitt answered with a 3-0 run of its own to retake the lead at 16-14, only to see another Maloney kill end the run and put the Falcons down just one at 16-15.

Another three straight points by the Panthers pushed the home team's lead to as much as four at 19-15, yet the Falcons refused to quit, clawing back into the set with a kill from Sunjic to tie the frame up once more at 19-19.

The Panthers closed out the opening set on a 6-2 run to pull away late from the Falcons for the 25-21 set win.

Like the first set, the second set saw two early ties and the Falcons staying within striking distance of the Panthers until a Slimko kill kick started a 5-0 Falcon scoring spurt to knot the score up once more at 9-9 on a Maloney kill.

The back-and-forth affair continued with a 5-0 run by Pitt, who ran out to a 14-9 lead on back-to-back Bell service aces.

Behind a Maloney ace, a Sunjic kill and three Pitt mistakes, the Falcons trimmed the Pitt lead to one at 15-14. However, that would be as close as BGSU would get down the stretch, as the Panthers answered every BGSU point with a point of their own to slip past the Falcons for the 25-20 second set victory.

With a straight set sweep on their minds, the Panthers took a 2-0 lead to start the third set on back-to-back kills from Bell before two straight Pitt errors allowed the Falcons to tie the set up at 2-2.

BGSU then traded points with the Panthers until Sunjic cut loose with three straight spikes and a block at the net along with Brandewie to help the Falcons fly out to an 8-4 lead over the Panthers.

Both teams were unable to pull away from the other, as Pitt retook the lead at 11-10, only to see BGSU glide back on top just a few plays later at 13-12 on a Maloney kill.

The highly contested set would see four more ties and two more lead changes before a Seman service ace and a BGSU attack error pushed the Panthers on top by two at 21-19.

Three plays later BGSU picked up a kill from Slimko, which was followed by a spike from Maloney, to tie the frame up once more at 22-22.

The two teams' swapped kills back-and-forth to put the set at 24-24 when the Falcons got a Maloney ace and a Sunjic kill to close the set out on top at 26-24 and force a fourth set.

With the momentum clearly on the side of the Orange and Brown, BGSU flew out to a 6-1 lead to start the fourth set and forced an early Pittsburgh timeout.

The Pitt timeout proved to be costly for the Falcons, as the Panthers ran off six straight points to take a 7-6 lead on a BGSU error.

Undeterred, BGSU picked up a kill from Sunjic to end the run and tie the set up at 7-7.

After the Falcons tied the set up at 8-8, Pitt used a 5-0 run to separate itself from BGSU and take a five point lead at 13-8.

Bowling Green used a kill from Slimko, two kills from Maloney and a spike from Sunjic over the next several plays to keep the Panthers' lead to just four at 17-13 and looked to retake the momentum of the match back from the Panthers.

Pitt made the plays down the stretch to remain out in front of the Falcons, as BGSU got to within three points at 20-17 and once again at 21-18, but wouldn't get any closer in the 25-18 set defeat to give the Panthers the 3-1 match win.

The Falcons totaled 11.0 team blocks on the night and committed a season-best one service error overall. However, Pitt was able to post a sideout percentage of 63 percent on the night and record 11 service aces on the Falcons.

BGSU (3-8) will have a quick turnaround, as the Falcons will take on George Washington tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. to start day two of the Panther Invitational. The Falcons will also play Lehigh tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 p.m. in Pittsburgh.

###