Falcons Advance To MAC Championship Behind Multiple Record Performances

Saturday, November 23

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

19-11,11-5MAC

Central Michigan (Semifinals)

21-8,11-5MAC

Bowling Green

Central Mich.

Photo by: Alex Streff

Falcons Advance To MAC Championship Behind Multiple Record Performances

November 23, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

Bowling Green, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball program advanced to the MAC Championship with a win over Central Michigan on Saturday night (Nov. 23) in the semifinals by a score of 3-1. The Falcons were led by Isabelle Marciniak who registered the first triple-double in the MAC this season as well as the first of her career. The Orange and Brown will return to the Stroh Center tomorrow (Nov. 24) at 4:30 p.m. to take on Ball State for the MAC Tournament Championship, marking the Falcons' first appearance in the match since 2012's five-set comeback win over Northern Illinois.

Tickets: Tickets for all matches in the tournament can be purchased HERE.

PHOTO GALLERY

Set Scores (Box Score PDF)
Set 1 - Bowling Green 25, Central Michigan 14
Set 2 - Bowling Green 25, Central Michigan 22
Set 3 - Central Michigan 25, Bowling Green 22
Set 4 - Bowling Green 25, Central Michigan 22

Play-By-Play Notes

Bowling Green leaped out to a quick 11-7 lead in the first set, forcing Central Michigan to call a timeout, the first of the match.
In the run that forced the timeout, the Falcons would run it up to 7-0. After a few more points, Central used another timeout to pause the action at 17-11.
The Falcons rolled the momentum into a 25-14 first set victory to claim the 1-0 advantage.
The second set would stop with a media timeout at 15-13 Bowling Green on the heels of a 4-0 Falcon run.
Later in the set, a 3-0 run forced a timeout from CMU with the score at 19-15 Falcons.
The next stoppage in the set came from a BGSU timeout with a 21-20 lead still intact.
The set would remain tight until the Falcons clinched a 25-22 set win to extend the match lead to 2-0.
The third set would also run until a media timeout, pausing a 7-0 run by Central Michigan to take a 15-11 lead.
The match would swing back-and-forth before the Falcons tied it up at 19-19 to force a Central timeout.
Out of the timeout, CMU reclaimed the lead, growing to 22-20 before the Falcons called a timeout of their own.
The Chippewas carried the momentum through the timeout to take the set 25-22 and force a fourth at the Stroh.
The fourth set opened with Central Michigan leading 8-5 with the first stoppage coming way of a Falcon timeout.
Central Michigan's lead carried through the match until another Bowling Green timeout, being called at 17-13.
Out of the timeout, the Falcons went on a 3-0 run before the Chippewas called a timeout of their own with the score at 17-16. Even after the timeout, the run extended to 6-0 before Central landed another point.
From there, the Falcons soared to a 25-22 set victory, clinching the match and a spot in the MAC Tournament Championship.

Strong Individual Performances

Isabelle Marciniak led the way for the Falcons with a record-setting performance in more ways than one. With 42 assists, 18 digs and 10 total blocks, Marciniak registered the first triple-double of the season in the MAC, as well as her first in her career. The 42 assists also move her career total up to 3,803, moving her past Carey Amos for second in program history.
Marciniak also set a new career high for single season digs, now with 282, as well as single season total blocks with 64, which was reached with 10 tonight, a new career-high for a single match.
Katie Kidwell also moved up a couple of all-time lists, having nine block assists of her own. Now with 339 in her career, she jumps from a tie for sixth to having sole possession of fifth. Also, her career total blocks now stands at 397, moving her to ninth all-time.
Katelyn Meyer led the team in kills once again with 18 on 65 attempts. With the high amount of attempts, Meyer now holds the seventh spot on the all-time list for attacks in a single season. Prior to the match beginning, she had yet to crack the top 10, resulting in a leap of at least four spots in just one match. As for her kills, she now has over 400 on the year with 411, becoming the first Falcon since 2016 to hit the milestone in a season.
Petra Indrova was close behind Meyer, landing 16 kills in the match while maintaining a .364 hitting percentage.
Moving to the digs column, Julia Walz led the team with 24, now needing just 20 to move up on the single season digs list for the program's history. She currently holds the sixth spot.
Kerstie Shaw aided in the dig department as well having a career-high 19 over the four sets.

Up Next

The Falcons will return to the Stroh Center Sunday afternoon (Nov. 24) to face Ball State at 4:30 p.m. for the 2019 MAC Tournament Championship.

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