Falcons Advance To 9-0 Behind Nine Aces In Win Over Ohio

Thursday, February 18

Bowling Green, Ohio

6:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

9-0,9-0MAC

Ohio

4-3,4-3MAC

Ohio

Bowling Green

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

February 18, 2021 | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

Bowling Green, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball program picked up their ninth win of the season against Ohio on Thursday night (Feb. 18) marking the first four-set match of the season for the Falcons. The win puts the Orange and Brown at 9-0 so far this season, the second best start to a season over the last 10 years of BGSU Athletics with the 2011 volleyball team's 12-0 start being the only one better. As for MAC play, the 9-0 beginning is the second best as well over the last 10 years of BGSU Athletics with just the 2011-12 women's basketball team having a better conference start at 10-0. The Falcons and Bobcats will be back on the court at the Stroh Center tomorrow night (Feb. 19) at 5 p.m. to conclude the two-match series. The match will also be available to stream on ESPN+.

Set Scores (Box Score PDF)
Set 1 - Bowling Green 25, Ohio 16
Set 2 - Bowling Green 25, Ohio 17
Set 3 - Ohio 25, Bowling Green 22
Set 4 - Bowling Green 25, Ohio 22

Play-By-Play Notes

In the first set, the Falcons came out firing and jumped out to an 8-2 lead before Ohio called the first timeout of the match.
From there, the lead continued to grow for the Falcons throughout the set, leading to a 25-16 first set win for Bowling Green.
The second set saw more of the same from the Orange and Brown as Bowling Green slowly built up a lead to an 8-3 score. The lead would stay there until the media timeout at 15-10.
After the timeout, the Falcons stretched the lead to 17-10, forcing a timeout from the Ohio bench. The lead continued to grow for Bowling Green once again, this time reaching 22-15 before another Bobcat timeout.
The two teams traded points from then to the end of the set, settling in at a 25-17 score for BGSU, marking the third straight match that the Falcons didn't let the opponent reach 20 points in either of the first two sets.
The third set saw Ohio take the lead early and prompt a quick timeout at 6-3 from the Bowling Green bench. The Falcons continued to battle throughout the set, bringing the score within one multiple times, but Ohio forced a fourth set with a 25-22 score.
In the fourth set, Bowling Green jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but the two teams began battling early in the set, reaching a 5-5 tie.
Overall, the fourth set saw just three ties and no lead changes, but Ohio hung around never allowing the BGSU lead to grow beyond four. In the end, it was Bowling Green on top at 25-22 to win their first four-set match of the season.

Falcon Stat Facts

As a team, the Falcons landed nine aces in the match, tying the season-high that was previously logged in the five-set match against Northern Illinois.
The Falcons saw a few different near record performances and it began on the attack with Jacqueline Askin who made 64 attack attempts, just 12 off the program record. Askin, however, did land 21 of those attacks for a new season-high and just one shy of her career-high. The total is also just the second 20-kill outing of the season for the Falcons and is a team-high for the season.
Julia Walz also came close to two program records on the night. For starters, Walz tallied 38 digs in the contest, her third time this season topping 20 digs while also tying her career-high and being just seven off of the program record for four sets. Walz also landed four aces on the night, just two shy of the program record while also being a career-high.
Petra Indrova tallied 16 kills in the match, tied with Katelyn Meyer for the second-most on the team. Indrova also registered 12 digs for her fifth double-double of the season.
From the setter position, Hanna Laube totaled 45 assists on the night, averaging over 11 assists per set after entering the night averaging 11.64 assists per set, the 10th best mark in the nation. Laube also logged nine digs, just one away from what would have been her second double-double of the season.
For the third consecutive match, Madelynn Luebcke tallied at least six block assists, hitting the mark exactly in the contest. In just three matches played this season, Luebcke already has 20 total blocks.

Coach Tomic's Take

Up Next

Bowling Green and Ohio will be back at the Stroh Center on Friday night (Feb. 19) for the second of the two-match series. The match is set for a 5 p.m. start and will be available to stream on ESPN+.
The Falcons will take to the road next week on Feb. 25 and 26 to face Kent State. The first match will have a 6 p.m. start with the second slated for 5 p.m.

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