Volleyball Posts 3-1 Victory at Western Michigan

Saturday, October 28

Kalamazoo, MI

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

14-9, 10-2MAC

Western Michigan

14-9, 7-5MAC

Bowling Green

Western Michigan

October 28, 2017 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Jenna Jorgensen (Assistant Director of Athletic Communications)

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Behind Isabel Kovacic' 16 kills, the Bowling Green volleyball program (14-9, 10-2 MAC) was able to earn a 3-1 (25-20, 25-19, 24-26, 25-16) road win over Western Michigan (14-9, 7-5 MAC) on Saturday evening. The Falcons continue to lead the Mid-American Conference outright with a record of 10-2, and have won nine of its last 10 matches, with four to go in the regular season. The 3-1 road win over Western Michigan also marks the first time since Nov. 7, 1995 that the Falcons have downed the Broncos in Kalamazoo.

Box Score

Statistical Standouts

With a team-high of 16 kills paired with a hitting percentage of .278, junior Isabel Kovacic led the Bowling Green squad offensively on the night. The 16 kills were a new season-high for the Littleton, Colo. native, while she also earned six digs and a team-high of four total blocks.
Junior libero Kallie Seimet recorded her 17th 20+ dig match of the season when she earned a team-high of 26 against the Broncos. The Oregon, Ohio native has now reached 1,428 career digs, which ranks sixth overall in program history. Seimet also continues to lead the country with her 619 total digs this season, as well as with a 6.88 digs per set average.
By earning 11 kills in addition to nine digs, sophomore Jessi Holly was just one dig shy of marking a double-double on the night. Also just one dig short of a double-double was sophomore setter Isabelle Marciniak, as she tallied 39 assists paired with nine digs.
A well-rounded performance, Marciniak also tallied a team-high of two service aces on the night, in addition to six kills and one block assist.
Overall, the Falcons featured three players who marked double-digit digs, including Seimet (26), sophomore Paulina Iacobelli (19) and sophomore Victoria Iacobelli (12). A native of Novi, Mich., Paulina Iacobelli also posted a pair of service aces, and currently leads the team this season with 29 at the line.
Defensively, six different Falcons jumped for blocks on the night, helping the team mark its ninth match of the season with double-digit blocks. Freshman Katie Kidwell, junior Madeline Brandewie and Kovacic each earned four against the Broncos.
Overall, the Falcons held the advantage in hitting percentage (.232-.130), service aces (6-5), digs (84-80) and total team blocks (10.0-6.0), while Western Michigan held a narrow edge in kills on the night (55-51).
The pair of conference rivals ultimately battled through a total of 22 tie scores as well as 11 lead changes over the course of the four sets.

Play-by-Play

It was a back-and-forth start to the match, as the pair of conference foes battled through a match-high of nine tie scores and five lead changes. Bowling Green gained a 5-3 lead in the opening set after a deep kill by Kidwell put the Falcons on a three-point run. To close out the opening set, the Falcons went on a five-point scoring stretch and Holly's kill sealed the set at 25-20 in favor of the Falcons.
The Broncos got off to a strong start in the second set, but with the sneak attack by Marciniak, the score was narrowed to just a one-point lead. Kovacic helped the offense take over in the second set and put the Falcons up at the 21-18 turning point, pushing Western Michigan to call its timeouts in quick succession. The Falcons then completed the second set comeback at 25-19 with Holly's sixth kill of the night to go up 2-0 in the match.
In the third set, it was Bowling Green who got off to a 6-1 scoring streak early, which put them up 10-6 over the Broncos. Western Michigan then inched back within one point at the 12-11 mark, although the Falcons continued to carry a narrow lead at 17-15 in the set. At the 19-18 marker, the Broncos were able to take over on the scoreboard but Kovacic was there with her 10th kill of the night to force extra points. Ultimately, the Broncos sealed their lone set win at 26-24.
The Falcons got off to a quick 10-8 lead in the fourth set as Seimet reached 20+ digs. They went on to gain a 20-14 advantage when Kovacic knocked her 16th kill of the match home, before they were able to take the fourth set 25-16 over the Broncos.

Coach Tomic's Take

"I am beyond proud of our team. To win on the road against a very tough WMU team after an emotional win on Thursday at home speaks volumes about the character, drive, discipline and grit of our young women. Our serving game was very good and our stellar defense created opportunities that our hitters converted into points."
"We didn't take care of little things in the third set, and made too many unforced errors which cost us the set. However, we were able to regroup and play our style of volleyball based on discipline, effort, and execution. The result was the most efficient set of the night."

Up Next

The Bowling Green volleyball program will round out its 2017 home schedule next weekend as it hosts Ohio on Friday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m., followed by Kent State on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m.
Saturday's match against the Golden Flashes will serve as Senior Day, honoring the Falcons senior Nicole Slimko postmatch.

Follow the Falcons

For more information on the volleyball program, follow the Falcons on Facebook (Bowling Green State University Volleyball), Twitter (@BGSUVolleyball and @BGAthletics) and Instagram (bgsuvolleyball) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.