Falcons Fall In Five In MAC Championship

Wednesday, November 24

Muncie, Ind.

4:30 PM

Bowling Green State University

21-9,16-2MAC

Ball State

29-3,17-1MAC

Bowling Green

Ball St.

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

November 24, 2021 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Box Score (XML)

By: by David Dietrich, BGSU Strategic Communications

MUNCIE, Ind. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team (21-8, 16-2) fell to Ball State in a five-set thriller in the 2021 MAC Championship. The Falcons won the second and fourth sets of the day, winning a tremendous second set, 31-29. As a team, the Falcons recorded season-bests in kills, digs, and assists.

How It Happened
Set 1: BGSU 23, Ball State 25
The opening set was tied at 2-2 early, then Ball State went on a 4-0 run. The Falcons responded with a 4-1 run, including a pair of kills from Kat Mandly. The runs continued, with a 5-1 BSU streak forcing a Bowling Green timeout. BGSU flipped the script after the break, compiling a 3-1 run. The squads split the next six points, then a BSU block led to another Falcon timeout with the Cardinals ahead, 18-13. Katie Kidwell registered two kills as part of a 6-2 Bowling Green run, with Katelyn Meyer and Petra Indrova each adding one. Ball State called a timeout with a one-point lead, then extended their lead with a 3-0 run. A pair of Falcon points led to another Cardinal timeout, with BSU leading, 23-21. Petra Indrova's 1,000^th career kill extended Bowling Green's run, but Ball State scored two of the last three points to win the opening set.

Set 2: BGSU 31, Ball State 29
Ball State took an early 5-1 lead in the second set but Bowling Green stormed back to take the lead with a 5-0 run. Two of those points came on Mandly kills, with Julia Walz adding an ace. Ball State reclaimed the lead with a 3-1 run, then the teams traded nine consecutive points to bring the set to a 12-12 tie. Back-to-back kills from Indrova and Kidwell gave the Falcons the lead, then another Kidwell kill and an Indrova ace brought forth the media timeout. The Cardinals took the lead with two kills and two aces, leading to a Bowling Green timeout. A 3-1 Falcon run tied the set, 18-18, with Indrova, Meyer, and Kidwell tallying kills. Another 3-0 Cardinal run led to BGSU's second timeout of the set, then BSU tacked on another point. Katelyn Meyer's kill halted the run and started a 4-1 run Falcon run. Ball State landed a kill to reach set point, but a kill from Mandly and a block from Mandly and Kidwell forced a Ball State timeout with the set tied at 24-24. BGSU reached set point after an attack error by the Cardinals, but BSU evened it with another kill. The Falcons returned to set point again with a kill from Mandly, then another Cardinal kill tied the set, 26-26. Yet another kill by Mandly gave the Falcons set point again, but Ball State countered with two kills to reach set point. Back-to-back Falcon scores put BGSU at set point, but the Cardinals evened it again. With the score tied, 29-29, Katelyn Meyer tallied consecutive kills bring the heart-racing set to a close and even the match at one set apiece.

Bowling Green claims an absolutely thrilling second set, 31-29! @BGSUVolleyball | #MACtion pic.twitter.com/fGNGomrHbq
— #MACtion (@MACSports) November 24, 2021

Set 3: BGSU 16, Ball State 25
The Cardinals started fast in the third set, scoring the first seven points. The teams traded the next six points, then Hanna Laube and Katie Kidwell combined for back-to-back blocks. Ball State tallied three consecutive kills after that, leading to another BGSU timeout. The Falcons came out of the break on a 3-1 run, with a kill from Kidwell and two kills from Indrova. BSU extended their lead with a 3-0 run, but Mandly notched a kill to stop the run. The squads alternated the next five points, then an ace extended the Ball State lead to ten. Kidwell and Meyer each tallied a kill to cut into the deficit, but a kill and an ace brought the Cardinals to set point. Bowling Green scored twice to extend the set, but another kill gave BSU the third set.

Set 4: BGSU 25, Ball State 21
Bowling Green took an early 3-1 lead after a kill from Kidwell and two kills from Indrova. Ball State answered with two kills of their own, then the Falcons responded with a Mandly kill and an Alex Laboy ace. The next ten points were all kills, with the Falcons landing six of those. Meyer had three, Mandly had two, and Indrova had one, leading to a Cardinal timeout with the Falcons in front, 11-7. Ball State chipped away at the lead with a 3-1 run, but Kidwell kept the Falcons in front with a kill. BGSU and BSU alternated the next four scores, then the Cardinals tied it at 15-15 with a 3-0 run. Following a BGSU timeout, the Falcons reclaimed the lead and extended it on a pair of Ball State errors. The next four points were split, with Indrova and Mandly notching kills. Following two points from BSU, Indrova landed a kill and Laube logged a solo block to force another Cardinal timeout. The teams split the next six points, with Katelyn Meyer's kill pushing the Falcons to set point. After a Ball State kill, Meyer sent the match to a fifth set with her 19^th kill of the day.

Set 5 BGSU 7, Ball State 15
The Cardinals jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the fifth set, forcing a timeout from the Falcons. The Cardinal lead extended to 7-3, inducing another BGSU timeout. Ball State landed an ace out of the break, then the teams split the next six points. Meyer, Indrova, and Katanic each landed a kill for the Falcons. BSU closed on a 5-1 run to clinch the set and match, earning the 2021 MAC Tournament Championship.

Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Petra Indrova (22), Katelyn Meyer (21), Kat Mandly (19)
Assists: Hanna Laube (67)
Digs: Julia Walz (33)
Aces: Petra Indrova, Alex Laboy, Julia Walz (1 each)
Blocks: Katie Kidwell (6 block assists)

Falcon Facts

Petra Indrova registered 22 kills on the evening, pushing over career kill total over 1,000. The junior currently has 1,016 career kills.
Indrova also recorded 15 digs, earning a double-double for the 13^th time this season.
Hanna Laube tallied a career-high 67 assists and a career-best 16 digs, giving her a double-double for the fifth time this season.
Julia Walz notched 33 digs, pushing her season total to 531 and career total to 1,723. Her single-season total ranks 7th in program history and her career total ranks 4th.
Katelyn Meyer tallied 21 kills, extending her career total to 1,442. That number places the senior 5^th in program history.
Kat Mandly recorded a career-best 19 kills.
Katie Kidwell matched her season-best with 6 block assists, extending her career total and program-record to 528. The senior concludes her BGVB career with a program record 608 total blocks.
Alex Laboy matched her season-best with 12 digs.
Yelianiz Torres notched 13 digs and recorded her first kill of the season.
The Falcons tallied 19 kills in the third set, their highest-scoring set of the season. Bowling Green's total of 31 points in the third set is their highest in the MAC Tournament since 2004.
BGSU recorded team season-bests in kills (76), assists (73), and digs (99).
Petra Indrova and Kat Mandly were named to the MAC All-Tournament Team.

Follow the Falcons
Be sure to follow the Falcons volleyball team on social media.
Twitter - @BGAthletics and @BGSUVolleyball
Instagram - 'bgfalcons' and 'bgsuvolleyball'
Facebook - 'BGSU Athletics' and 'Bowling Green State University Volleyball'
TikTok - @bgsuvolleyball
YouTube - 'Falcon Athletics'