Falcons Sweep Fort Wayne To Open BGSU Invitational

Friday, September 2

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

2-2

Fort Wayne

2-2

Fort Wayne

Bowling Green

Photo by: JD Pooley

September 02, 2016 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

Coach Tomic Post-Match Interview
Statistics: NCAA Box/Play-By-Play (PDF) | HTML

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team swept Fort Wayne, 3-0, Friday (Sept. 2) night inside of the Stroh Center to open up the BGSU Invitational. The Falcons are now 2-2 on the young season, and have earned both wins by a score of 3-0.

The Orange and Brown got off to a hot start, as they ran away with the first set, 25-15. But sets two and three went down to the wire, and the Falcons had to fight off a set point in each of the sets. BGSU took set two, 27-25, and set three, 26-24.

"I'll take a win anytime. It's a nice feeling, especially because it was a hard match," said head coach Danijela Tomic. "The first set we were really focused, and executed our game plan. In the second set, Fort Wayne changed their offensive system. It was great to play those last two sets. We saved a set point, came back and won it. We were pushed, and I expected that from this team."

Jelena Sunjic had another big night for BGSU. She had 15 kills and hit .433. Jessi Holly added 12 kills, while Isabel Kovacic and Alyssa Maloney followed with eight kills and seven kills, respectively. Holly was next in line in the hitting percentage category, as she hit .379 for the match.

Madeline Garda had another extremely strong game at libero. Coming off consecutive 22-dig matches, Garda posted 17 digs in just three sets. Delaney Arkeilpane added seven digs, while Holly had six to go along with her 12 kills. Freshmen Isabelle Marciniak and Paulina Iacobelli made their Falcon debuts.

After the first 10 points of the opening set were split evenly, BGSU scored 15 of the next 23 points to build a commanding 20-13 lead. The Falcons secured the 25-15 set victory with an attack error by Fort Wayne. Sunjic led the way in kills with five in the opening set. Holly followed with four, while Garda posted four digs.

Holly paced the second set with five kills, running her total to nine. Garda notched four more digs, and Kovacic heated up with five kills of her own. The Falcons seemed to be in control, leading by a score of 22-19, but Fort Wayne quickly tied things up at 23-23.

A service error then set up a set point for BGSU, but back-to-back kills by Nicole Rightnowar put the Mastodons on the brink of tying the match up at one set apiece. Kovacic answered with a huge kill to keep the set alive, and then two-straight attack errors gave Bowling Green the 27-25 win in the second set.

The third set followed a similar pattern, as the Falcons were starting to gain control in the set, before Fort Wayne surged right back into things. Leading by a score of 22-18, the Falcons were just three points away from the sweep. But the Mastodons evened the set up at 23-23, and then a BGSU attack error put Fort Wayne on top.

Maloney then notched a kill, and after a bad set, the Falcons had match point. Kovacic secured the victory with a kill, sending the Stroh into a frenzy. Sunjic recorded eight kills in the set. Maloney had five, and Garda tallied nine digs.
The BGSU Invitational will wrap up tomorrow, with Northern Kentucky and Fort Wayne starting things off with a 12:30 p.m. match. The Falcons will then face Northern Kentucky at 5 p.m. to conclude the invitational.