Volleyball Battles Back for First MAC Win of the Season

Saturday, September 23

Stroh Center

5:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

5-8 (1-1MAC)

Northern Illinois

1-16 (0-2MAC)

Northern Illinois

Bowling Green

September 23, 2017 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Jenna Jorgensen (Assistant Director of Athletic Communications)

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – After coming back from a two-set deficit, the Bowling Green volleyball program (5-8, 1-1 MAC) was able to earn its first conference win of the season over Northern Illinois (1-16, 0-2 MAC) in a dramatic 3-2 (20-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-21, 15-13) fashion.

Box Score
Photo Gallery vs. Northern Illinois

Falcon Stat Facts

Junior libero Kallie Seimet had her third 40+ dig match of the season when she tallied 44 against the Huskies. On the week, Seimet tallied 89 total digs, after posting a program record of 45 on Thursday night against Miami. On the season, the Oregon, Ohio native now averages 6.63 digs per set.
With 47 assists and 10 digs, sophomore setter Isabelle Marciniak earned her team-leading fifth double-double of the season.
The Falcons saw its first 20+ kill match of the year when senior Nicole Slimko notched 20 against Northern Illinois, including the match winner. Slimko also had three blocks and two digs on the night.
A well-rounded presence on the court, sophomore Celena Kanagin posted double-digit kills for the seventh time this season when she notched 15 while hitting .282. A native of Spring Grove Ill., Kanagin paired up with freshman Katie Kidwell to post eight blocks each.
Three Falcons tallied double-digit digs including Seimet (44), Paulina Iacobelli (16) and Marciniak (10).
By jumping for 11.5 total team blocks, Bowling Green had its strongest blocking game since earning 13.0 against Sacramento State on Sept. 8.
On the night, the Falcons held the advantage in total team blocks (11.5-9.0) while the teams were square with four service aces apiece. Northern Illinois held the edge in kills (71-60), assists (67-56) and narrowly in digs (104-101) and hitting percentage (.194-.172).
The Mid-American Conference foes battled through a total of 25 tie scores and six lead changes over the course of the five sets. The third set included a match-high of nine tie scores and two lead changes.

Play-by-Play

Although the Falcons narrowed the score to 22-20 in the first set by marking three big blocks in a row, Northern Illinois was able to claim the first set 25-20.
The Huskies went on a run early in the second set to gain a 9-6 lead, and rounded out the set by a score of 25-20.
In a narrow third set, the Falcons battled to a 19-17 lead, forcing the Huskies to use a timeout. With her fourth kill of the night, freshman Katie Kidwell put the Falcons up by a 21-17 advantage, before Kanagin closed out the set by a score of 25-23.
With the momentum of a third set win, Bowling Green climbed to an 11-7 lead in the fourth set, and eventually another block by junior Madeline Brandewie and Slimko put the Falcons up 17-13 pushing a Northern Illinois timeout. Bowling Green was then able to force a fifth set with a 25-21 victory.
As the teams switched sides midway through the fifth set, the Falcons held a narrow 8-7 lead, just before freshman Jacqueline Askin notched her second ace of the match to lift the Falcons to an 11-8 lead. Senior Slimko slammed her 20th kill of the match to seal the Bowling Green victory.

Postmatch Interviews

Coach Tomic

Senior Nicole Slimko

Up Next

The Falcons will continue Mid-American Conference competition on the road this week as they travel to Kent State on Friday, Sept. 29, followed by Ohio on Saturday, Sept. 30.

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.