Falcons Drop MAC Opener on the Road at Ohio

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3 p.m. EST

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3 p.m. EST

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6 p.m.

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7 p.m.

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Athens, Ohio – Playing on the road against the defending Mid-American Conference regular season champions in the conference opener on Friday night, the Falcons fell in straight sets 3-0 to the Ohio Bobcats at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio.

The Falcons were defeated by Ohio 25-21, 25-13 and 25-19.

The loss drops BGSU to 4-10 on the year and 0-1 in the MAC, while Ohio improved to 11-3 overall and 1-0 in the MAC with the win.

"Our team played really well for most of the first set. We were disciplined with executing the game plan and very efficient offensively," stated head coach Danijela Tomic. "Unfortunately, a few receiving errors in a row and missed opportunities allowed Ohio to gain all the momentum and win the opening set. After that we never got back into any kind of offensive rhythm and made too many errors which ultimately cost us a match. We will have to bounce back quickly after this loss, learn from it and get ready for another tough opponent tomorrow night."

Offensively, Jelena Sunjic led the way with a team-high 11 kills, while fellow outside hitter Nicole Slimko added eight kills to go along with three total blocks. Setter Katie Scholten passed out 25 set assists and recorded five digs of her own, while freshman Kallie Seimet and junior Madeline Garda totaled 18 and 10 digs apiece, respectively in the three set match.

However, the Falcons could not overcome nine Ohio service aces and a Bobcats' team attack percentage of .237 overall for the match.

The Bobcats' Mallory Salis had a match-high 13 kills, to go along with 11 digs and four service aces, while Jaime Kosiorek and Karin Bull finished with nine and eight kills each. Setter Abby Gilleland recorded two service aces of her own, 31 assists and nine digs, while Erica Walker picked up a team-high 18 digs in the victory.

Bowling Green flew out of the gates off the opening serve of the match to take a 7-2 lead on four straight kills from Sunjic, Madeline Brandewie, Seimet and Sunjic again.

After an Ohio kill from Salis ended the BGSU run, the Falcons picked up a kill from Scholten, a slam from Slimko and back-to-back stuffs at the net from the tandem of Alyssa Maloney and Slimko to keep the lead at five at 11-6.

The Falcons then saw three straight points on a kill from Sunjic, an Ohio attack error, and another drop shot by Scholten push the visitors lead to eight at 14-6 and force a Bobcats' timeout.

Slimko registered a kill out of the timeout to give BGSU a nine point lead at 15-6. However, the Bobcats proved why they were the preseason favorites to win the MAC again this season, as Ohio ran off six straight points, three of which came off service aces, to claw back into the set and trim the Falcons' lead to three at 15-12.

A solo block by Slimko halted the Ohio run, yet the Falcons' could not regain the momentum as the home team tied the set up at 16-16 on two straight Gilleland kills.

Refusing to give in, BGSU retook the lead at 18-16 on back-to-back kills from Slimko and Sunjic, and used a Sunjic kill just two points later to take a 19-17 lead late in the opening set.

The Falcons couldn't close the set out, however, as Ohio tied the set up at 19-19 and then again at 20-20 before scoring five of the last six points to come from behind for the 25-21 first set win.
Bowling Green struggled to find its early first set rhythm in the second set, as Ohio stormed out to a 5-1 lead in the second frame on a BGSU error.

The Orange and Brown cut the Ohio lead to three at 8-5 on a kill by Sunjic, yet couldn't wrestle away the momentum from the Bobcats who pulled out to a 10-5 lead on back-to-back kills from Kosiorek and Salis to force a BGSU timeout.

Looking to regroup, the Falcons swapped points with the Bobcats over the next four serves and got to within four at 12-8 when Ohio ran off five straight points to extend its lead out to nine at 17-8 on a block from the combo of Bull and Ali Lake.

BGSU got one kill apiece from Maloney, Isabel Kovacic, Sunjic and Slimko, but wouldn't get any closer than nine points for the remainder of the set in the 25-13 defeat.

In the third set, the Falcons took a 1-0 lead to open the frame and then fell behind early with a 7-0 run by the Bobcats before a Maloney spike and service ace ended the Ohio scoring surge and put the Falcons down five at 8-3.

The Falcons got to within five of the Bobcats again at 11-6 on a Brandewie block and an Ohio miscue, but was unsuccessful in slowing down the Ohio attack as the home team remained out in front for the remainder of the set.

BGSU closed the gap to within four at 15-11 on an Ohio attack error, at 16-12 on a Bobcat ball handling error, and at 17-13 on a kill from Sunjic before back-to-back mistakes from Ohio put the Falcons down by just three at 18-15.

Three of the next four kills would go in favor of the Bobcats, as Ohio pulled back out in front by five at 21-16 and did not look back on its way to a 25-19 third set triumph and a 3-0 conference match victory.

The Falcons totaled 6.0 team blocks on the night, compared to the Bobcats' 5.5, however, Ohio posted a side out percentage of 66 percent (36-54) to BGSU's 44 percent (33-74).

Bowling Green will remain on the road to take on the Golden Flashes of Kent State tomorrow night at 7 p.m. from the M.A.C. Center in Kent, Ohio.

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Team Stats

Jelena Sunjic

Nicole Slimko

Alyssa Maloney

Isabel Kovacic

Players Mentioned

Madeline Brandewie

Madeline Garda

Isabel Kovacic

Alyssa Maloney

Katie Scholten

Kallie Seimet

Nicole Slimko

Jelena Sunjic

Players Mentioned

Madeline Brandewie

Madeline Garda

Isabel Kovacic

Alyssa Maloney

Katie Scholten

Kallie Seimet

Nicole Slimko

Jelena Sunjic

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