Volleyball Conclude First Day of Hampton Inn Invitational with a Sweep

Friday, August 25

Stroh Center

12:30 PM

Bowling Green State University

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UIC

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UIC

Bowling Green

Photo by: Larry Clapper

Volleyball Conclude First Day of Hampton Inn Invitational with a Sweep

August 25, 2017 | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Jenna Jorgensen (Assistant Director of Athletic Communications)

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Falcons opened the 2017 season by hosting the first of the two-day Hampton Inn Invitational. After falling in a five-set heartbreaker to UIC, the Falcons rebounded by sweeping Duquesne in front of an electric atmosphere in the Stroh Center.

Box Score vs. UIC
Box Score vs. Duquesne

Photo Gallery vs. UIC

Volleyball vs. UIC

Falcon Stat Facts

Senior Nicole Slimko topped the Falcons with a total of 17 kills over the course of the five sets.
Freshman Jacqueline Askin made her collegiate debut by posting an attack percentage of .222, paired with 11 kills and one ace.
Sophomore Isabelle Marciniak led the Bowling Green squad by carrying an attack percentage of .500, while she tallied 47 assists on the night. The Lambertville, Mich. native also notched two of the Falcons four service aces of the match.
Defensively, junior Madeline Brandewie led the team by jumping for two solo blocks in addition to four block assists.
As a team, the Falcons topped the Flames in kills (62-60), attack percentage (.222-.195), and held a strong edge in total team blocks (12.0-7.0).
Bowling Green only sacrificed a total of six lead chances over the course of the five sets.
Three Falcons posted double-digit kills, in Slimko (17), Askin (11) and Celena Kanagin (10), while four met double-digits in digs with Kallie Seimet (24), Marciniak (14), Askin (11) and Victoria Iacobelli (10).

Play-by-Play

Bowling Green earned the opening point of the match, and climbed to an early 10-6 lead.
The Falcons first pushed UIC to call a timeout after sophomore Paulina Iacobelli punched an ace to make it 13-8 in the first set.
A highlight-reel worthy clip came when the Falcons went up 18-14 in the first game, as Paulina Iacobelli dove over press row to keep the ball in play. Sophomore Jessi Holly nailed the kill for the Falcons after the stunning display of persistence and teamwork.
The second set opened with long rallies, where Bowling Green went on a run to an 8-4 lead.
The Falcons defended the net strongly in the second set, where its blocking game carried them to an 18-12 lead.
After a sneak attack from Marciniak, the Falcons made it 20-14, and went on to win the second set outright with no lead changes and just two tie scores.
The third game was narrow and a back-and-forth game in which the Falcons won by a 25-20 margin.
In a fourth game heartbreaker, the Falcons fought back from a five point deficit to go on a 7-1 run and tie the game at 21-21. Although the Falcons took the lead at 23-22 and Askin made a big play to force extra points at 24-23 Bowling Green, UIC was ultimately able to rebound and claim the set 27-25.
UIC went on a strong run in the first half of the fifth set, to close out with a 3-2 victory.

Post-Match Interviews

Coach Tomic

Jacqueline Askin

Volleyball vs. Duquesne

Falcon Stat Facts

Freshman Jacqueline Askin earned her first career double-double nearing the end of the second set, and ultimately finished with a team-leading 14 kills and 12 digs. The native of Louisville, Ky. also notched one ace and four blocks on the night, while hitting a .263 attack percentage.
With 16 digs against Duquesne, junior Kallie Seimet completed the first day of the 2017 season with a total of 40 digs.
Leading the Falcons both at the line and at the net was sophomore Isabelle Marciniak, who tallied two aces and 39 assists, for a total of four service aces and 86 assists.
Bowling Green opened by posting a strong team attack percentage of .333 in the first set. It would be the high of the match, while the Falcons earned a .297 on the night.
The Falcons led the Dukes in kills (44-35), attack percentage (.297-.162), aces (5-3) and total team blocks on the night (7.0-4.0).

Play-by-Play

The Falcons came out in full force at the beginning of the match, and went on a 7-1 run to tie up the game at 8-8.
The Falcons forced a Duquesne timeout as they extended their lead to 22-17 in the first set by having strong kills and decisive blocks at the net.
Bowling Green opened with a .333 attack percentage in the first set and two aces, while Slimko and Askin tallied six kills apiece after the first 25 points.
The second game was a back-and-forth battle in which the pair of non-conference rivals fought through 16 tie scores and six lead changes, before the Falcons claimed it with a 25-22 victory.

Post-Match Interviews

Coach Tomic

Celena Kanagin

Up Next

The Falcons will face Xavier in tomorrow's Hampton Inn Invitational finale at 2 p.m. at the Stroh Center. The Bowling Green volleyball squad will be hosting a post-match autograph session in the Hall of Fame Arena of the Stroh Center, while Coach Tomic will be welcoming season ticket holders to Chalk Talk in the Stroh Center Classroom at 1:15 p.m.

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