Bowling Green Picks Up Important Road Win At Kent State Friday Night

Friday, November 4

Kent, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Kent State

Bowling Green Picks Up Important Road Win At Kent State Friday Night

November 04, 2016 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

Final Statistics: NCAA Box/Play-By-Play | HTML

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team defeated Kent State University on the road, 3-1, Friday (Nov. 4) night. The Falcons won the match by a score of 25-21; 25-11; 20-25; 25-20. Bowling Green has swept the season series with KSU following tonight's victory, as the Falcons also beat the Golden Flashes by a 3-1 mark inside of the Stroh Center on Oct. 1. BGSU last swept the season series with Kent State in 2013.

The match had a significant impact on potential seeding for the upcoming MAC Tournament, which BGSU will be participating in for the first time since 2013. Heading into the night, Kent State held a 6-6 conference record, and could have drawn even with BGSU with a win.

However, with the victory, the Falcons improve to 18-8 overall, and 8-5 in the Mid-American Conference. Kent State falls to 13-13 (6-7 MAC) with the loss.

"This was a great road win over a tough Kent State team," said head coach Danijela Tomic. "I am so proud of the effort that our team showed, especially defensively, led by Madeline (Garda), Kallie and Delaney. Alyssa, Jelena and Jessi were outstanding offensively against a very good Kent State defense.

"In the three sets that we won, we put a lot of pressure on KSU with aggressive serving, and we took them out of system, which helped us have one of our better blocking matches. Madeline Brandewie had a great blocking match tonight."

Offensively, the Falcons had three players with double-digit kills. Jelena Sunjic led the way with 18 kills. The senior hit .314 (18-2-51), and only had two hitting errors on 51 attempts. Sunjic also had eight digs and four blocks. For Sunjic, the 51 attempts were a season high.

Alyssa Maloney also had a big match for BGSU, and registered 16 kills while hitting .424 (16-2-33). The 16 kills tied a season high for the senior, and were the most in a match since she posted 16 kills on Sept. 9 in a five-set win over Louisiana Tech. Maloney has now had at least 10 kills in 12 matches this season. Just like Sunjic, Maloney had eight digs and four blocks.

Jessi Holly was the final Falcon with double-digit kills, as the freshman picked up 12 kills and hit .225 (12-3-40). Holly's 40 attempts were the second most in her career, and the most since she had 43 in a match against Louisville on Aug. 27. Holly also added to the defensive effort with seven digs and three blocks.

Isabel Kovacic was third on the team with seven kills, while setter Isabelle Marciniak had a career-high 49 assists. It marked the fifth time this season that Marciniak has had at least 40 assists. She had a solid defensive night, as well, with eight digs and two blocks.

Defensively, Madeline Garda, Kallie Seimet and Delaney Arkeilpane all had at least 10 kills. Garda, who leads the nation in digs per set (6.61) and total digs (595), lead the team with 26 digs. Seimet had a season-best 20 digs, while Arkeilpane also established a season high with 10 digs. Madeline Brandewie had a big night defensively, as she recorded a season-high six blocks. The number fell just one shy of her career high, which was established during her freshman campaign last season.

Bowling Green will take on Ohio tomorrow evening at OU's Convocation Center, which is always one of the most difficult venues in the MAC to play in. The match is slated to begin at 7 p.m., and fans can watch the match on ESPN3. Ohio owns an overall record of 13-12. The Bobcats are 9-4 in MAC play.