Champions! Falcons Earn MAC Championship, NCAA Bid For First Time Since 2012

Saturday, April 3

Bowling Green, Ohio

5:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

22-1,22-1MAC

Western Michigan

18-5,18-5MAC

Western Mich.

Bowling Green

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

Champions! Falcons Earn MAC Championship, NCAA Bid For First Time Since 2012

April 03, 2021 | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

Bowling Green, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball team captured the MAC Tournament Championship, their first since 2012, on Saturday (April 3) with a 3-1 win over Western Michigan. The win gives the Falcons an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament with the selection show taking place on Sunday (April 4) at 4 p.m. on ESPNU. In this match, the Falcons were paced by the trio of Petra Indrova, Katelyn Meyer and Jacqueline Askin with all three registering 15 or more kills in the match while the team maintained a .305 hitting percentage. Across the board the Falcons saw a team attack to achieve the win, marking the program's third MAC Tournament Championship in program history.

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Set Scores (Box Score PDF)
Set 1 - Bowling Green 25, Western Michigan 17
Set 2 - Western Michigan 25, Bowling Green 16
Set 3 - Bowling Green 25, Western Michigan 22
Set 4 - Bowling Green 25, Western Michigan 20

Play-By-Play Notes

The Falcons started hot with a 5-0 run to begin the match, quickly prompting the first timeout coming from the Western Michigan bench.
The first run would set the tone for the set, seeing multiple runs of 3-0 or more for the Falcons. With the score at 18-10 Bowling Green and in the midst of another 3-0 run, Western paused the action with their first timeout.
The momentum from the runs would stay through the set as the Falcons captured a 1-0 advantage with a 25-17 first set score.
The second set began back-and-forth between the teams. The Falcons used a 3-0 run to tie it up at 10-10, but the Broncos answered with a 3-0 run of their own to reclaim the lead, seeing Bowling Green call timeout.
Western Michigan would hold the lead to a 25-16 score to tie the match at one set each.
The third set began close, but the Orange and Brown were able to string together a 5-0 run to take a 12-6 lead and force a timeout from Western.
Western Michigan battled back, but a late 3-0 run for the Falcons reclaimed the lead at 22-20 before a Broncos' timeout. The Falcons would then close out the set with a score of 25-22 to push the match score to 2-1.
The fourth set began close as well, but a 4-0 run for the Falcons created a 10-6 lead that led to a Western Michigan timeout. The Falcons would maintain the lead to the next timeout being at 18-15.
The Falcons would use a 4-0 run to push the score to 22-16 before taking the set, the match and the championship with a 25-20 score.

Falcon Stat Facts

On the attack, the Falcons saw three players hit double-digit kills for the second straight match. Petra Indrova led the way with 17 kills followed closely by Katelyn Meyer with 16 and Jacqueline Askin at 15. Indrova and Askin made the All-Tournament Team while Meyer was named the MVP.
Indrova was also one of four players to reach double-digit digs with 12. Yelianiz Torres led the way with 15 with Julia Walz and Taylor Haberland joining the list with 13 and 11, respectively.
For assists, Hanna Laube tallied 45 over the course of the match while also having three digs, three block assists and a kill.
As a team, the Falcons logged 11 total blocks with Madelynn Luebcke topping the stat sheet with seven block assists, tying her career-high. Indrova and Katie Kidwell each had four while Askin had three and Meyer had one.

Coach Tomic's Take

Up Next

The Falcons will advance to the NCAA Tournament with the selection show being aired on ESPNU on Sunday (April 4) at 4 p.m.

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