Falcons Clinch MAC Tournament Berth With 3-0 Victory Over Western Michigan

Saturday, October 29

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

17-8 (7-5MAC)

Western Michigan (Military Appreciation/Trick-Or-Treat)

8-17 (3-9MAC)

Western Michigan

Bowling Green

Falcons Clinch MAC Tournament Berth With 3-0 Victory Over Western Michigan

October 29, 2016 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

Coach Tomic Post-Match Interview
Photo Gallery (Christine Nelson, BGSU Marketing & Communications)
Final Statistics: NCAA Box/Play-By-Play | HTML

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team swept Western Michigan, 3-0, Saturday (Oct. 29) night inside of the Stroh Center. The Falcons won the match by a score of 25-20; 27-25; 25-19. With the victory, and a few other results around the conference, the Falcons officially clinched a berth in the MAC Tournament for the first since 2013.

Senior libero Madeline Garda posted 21 digs in the second set, and finished the match with 33 digs (11.00 digs per set).

With the victory, the Falcons improve to 17-8 on the season, and 7-5 in Mid-American Conference play. Western Michigan falls to 8-17 (3-9 MAC) with the loss.

"This was a match that we were worried about. I think that Western Michigan is a very good team," said head coach Danijela Tomic. "Today, during our scouting session, I told our players that their record does not represent how good that they are. So, we were ready. We really respected that they have some nice, nice players. They hit slide really well, and that is something that we are struggling with and we are still getting better at defending.

"Maddie had a monster game – 33 digs total. And when I saw after the second set that she had 21 digs in the second set, I had to check and see if that was for real. She's just playing at a really high level, and helping our team."

Garda continues to lead the nation in digs per set (6.62) and total digs (569), and she only improved on her numbers over the weekend. For the weekend, which also includes a 24-dig (8.00 digs per set) effort at Miami on Oct. 27, Garda posted a total of 57 digs and averaged 9.50 digs per set – a staggering number.

The senior's second set was simply phenomenal. Although the NCAA record book does not keep track of statistics per set, one can assume that her 21 digs in the second set marked one of the best defensive sets for a libero in collegiate volleyball history. The 21 digs would have been an extremely strong number for the entire match, let alone a single set. Garda also had four assists in the match.

Jelena Sunjic posted 20 kills for the first time this season. The senior, who has recorded 19 kills in four separate matches this season, hit .447 (20-3-38) for the match. Sunjic also racked up eight digs, one ace and one assist.

Jessi Holly followed with seven kills, and hit .250 (7-2-20) with four digs. Isabel Kovacic had six kills. Madeline Brandewie and Alyssa Maloney tallied five kills apiece, while hitting .333 (5-1-12) and .222 (5-1-18), respectively. Maloney added seven digs, as well.

Delaney Arkeilpane posted some crucial digs in the second set, and finished the match with seven digs. After posting a double-double in consecutive matches, freshman setter Isabelle Marciniak had another strong match. She picked up 39 assists, four digs and two kills.

The Orange and Brown will hit the road for a pair of matches next weekend at Kent State (Nov. 4) and Ohio (Nov. 5). Bowling Green will then return to the Stroh Center before the final two matches of the regular season against Buffalo (Nov. 11) and Akron (Nov. 12). The MAC Tournament is slated to begin Nov. 17 in DeKalb, Illinois.