Falcons Outlast Kent State In Five-Set Thriller

Thursday, February 25

Kent, OH

6:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

10-0,10-0MAC

Kent State

8-2,8-2MAC

Bowling Green

Kent St.

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

February 25, 2021 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

Bowling Green, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball program picked up their 10th win of the season to advance to 10-0 following a five-set thriller against Kent State on Thursday night (Feb. 25). The Falcons were able to claim the first two sets of the match, but the Golden Flashes battled back to take the third set and an extended fourth set to send the match to a fifth. In the end, it was one of nine block assists by Katie Kidwell that decided the match, pairing up with Jacqueline Askin for the clinching point of the fifth set. With the win, the Falcons have earned just the third 10-0 start in program history while also matching the best conference start over the last 10 years for all of BGSU Athletics, matching the 2011-12 women's basketball team. The Falcons and Golden Flashes will be back tomorrow night (Feb. 26) for a 5 p.m. start to conclude the series.

Set Scores (Box Score PDF)
Set 1 - Bowling Green 25, Kent State 16
Set 2 - Bowling Green 25, Kent State 19
Set 3 - Kent State 25, Bowling Green 23
Set 4 - Kent State 29, Bowling Green 27
Set 5 - Bowling Green 15, Kent State 13

Play-By-Play Notes

The Falcons started the match by jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the first set. A 3-0 run soon after pushed BG's lead to 7-2 early in the set.
After trading points for a bit, the Falcons saw another 4-0 run to increase their lead to 22-13, forcing a Kent State timeout. The two teams went back to trading points until the end of the set that saw Bowling Green capture a 25-16 set win.
The second set again saw an early run by the Falcons, using a 5-0 run to push the score to 6-2. Kent State battled back, cutting the lead to 6-5, but Bowling Green was able to stay out in front.
Trading points became a theme of the second set with only a 3-0 run by the Falcons serving as the lone run beyond two points for the remainder of the set. In the end, Bowling Green claimed the second set 25-19 for the 2-0 advantage for the match.
The third set saw Kent State come out firing with a 4-0 lead and growing as large as 7-1, but the Falcons soon fought back. Slowly chipping away at the lead through the set, Bowling Green cut the lead down to 16-15.
The two teams traded 3-0 runs to push the score to 19-18 Kent State before the Falcons knotted it up at 20-20.
Trading points late in the set, Kent State was able to edge Bowling Green 25-23 to force a fourth.
The fourth set saw the Falcons jump out to a 7-3 lead, but Kent State battled back before the two teams began trading points, resulting in a 17-17 tie.
The Falcons quickly regained the lead with a 3-0 run to prompt a timeout from the Golden Flashes' bench. Out of the timeout, Kent State again tied it up, this time at 20-20.
The two teams went back-and-forth deep into extra points, seeing Kent State force a fifth set at 29-27.
In the fifth, the Falcons used a 6-0 run to push the score to 10-5 lead after trading points early in the set. However, Kent State battled back to make it close.
A challenge by Kent State overturned what was thought to be the set and match win, but on the next point Katie Kidwell and Jacqueline Askin paired up for the game-winning block, clinching the win for the Falcons.

Falcon Stat Facts

With nine block assists on the night, Katie Kidwell surpassed Stephanie Swiger on the all-time career block assists list, taking over fourth place with a mark of 381. The nine blocks also puts Kidwell's career block total at 442, tying her for sixth all-time with Lori Hilton.
Now at 10-0 this season, the Falcons have registered the program's third start of at least 10-0 in program history. The 1990 season saw a 10-0 start while the 2012 season had a record-setting 12-0 beginning. The 10-0 start to MAC play is also the best since the team hit the same mark during the 2006 campaign. Only the 1992 season has had a better conference start, beginning 13-0, although those games were broken up by non-conference losses. The MAC start this season also tied the 2011-12 women's basketball team for the best conference start in all of BGSU Athletics over the last 10 years.
Hanna Laube was able to tally her second double-double of the season with 49 assists and 13 digs on the night. The 13 digs also moves her season total to 65, marking a new single season-high for her career. The 13 digs also ties Laube's career-high for digs in a match while she also tallied a career-high five block assists.
Katelyn Meyer led the Falcons in kills on the night with 17 while also registering a season-high six digs in the contest.
Also logging six digs on the night, Nikolija Katanic set a new career-high mark with the outing.
Petra Indrova and Jacqueline Askin joined in on the attack, both hitting double-digits. Indrova landed 14 kills with nine digs, just one shy of a double-double. As for Askin, she had 15 kills along with her first two aces of the season.

Coach Tomic's Take

"We are thrilled to earn a hard-fought win against a tough opponent. We knew going into the match that Kent State was a great team with strong offense and defense, but we were confident in our ability to match both. I am extremely proud of the resiliency and grit our team showed once again. It is not easy to bounce back after losing the third and fourth set in a fashion that we did, but our players showed poise, belief, and skills that helped us bounce back after mistakes, play one point at a time, and ultimately win the fifth set and the match."

Up Next

The Falcons and Golden Flashes will return to the court tomorrow night (Feb. 26) at 5 p.m. to conclude their two-match series.
From there, Bowling Green will be back on the road next week for two matches against Central Michigan on March 4 and 5. The first match, being on Thursday, is set for 4 p.m. with Friday's scheduled for 12 p.m.

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