Five-Set Thriller Falls In Falcons Favor Sending BGSU To MAC Semifinal Sunday

Saturday, November 18

Kalamazoo, Mich.

6:30 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

18-12,11-7MAC

No. 3 Ball State

16-14,13-5MAC

Bowling Green

Ball St.

Photo by: Kimberly Moss

Five-Set Thriller Falls In Falcons Favor Sending BGSU To MAC Semifinal Sunday

November 18, 2023 | Volleyball

Box Score BGSU-Ball State Match Stats Support Our Student-Athletes Photo Gallery

Hovey, Tyler, Mandly All Register Double-Digit Kills

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team advanced to the MAC Semifinals with a thrilling five-set win over Ball State Saturday night (Nov. 18) in Kalamazoo, Mich. The Falcons took the first two sets, including hitting .478 in the second set while holding Ball State to a -.032 mark. However, the Cardinals came firing back and forced not only five sets, but extra points in each of the last three sets played. In the end, the Falcons were able to hold on for the five-set win, advancing to face Buffalo on Sunday (Nov. 19).

The Falcons lit up the stat sheet in every facet. Jaden Walz posted an impressive 66 assists, a new career-high, along with 11 digs for her 11th double-double of the season. Lauryn Hovey added a double-double of her own with 28 kills and 11 digs. Mia Tyler landed 20 kills as well followed by Kat Mandly's 19 all while the Orange and Brown maintained a .320 hitting percentage as a team. Alex Laboy and Benedetta Marcon both reached double-digit digs with 15 and 12, respectively. The Falcons capped off the night with 11 team blocks, including four from both Alexis Mettille and Helen Wilford.

How It Happened
Set 1: Bowling Green 25, Ball State 21

Kat Mandly opened the match with a kill followed by an ace to kick start a 3-1 BGSU lead. Ball State responded with a 4-0 run to take a 5-3 lead.
The Falcons worked to reclaim the lead at 8-7 with a 3-0 run, including an ace from Alexis Mettille, but the pendulum of momentum continued to sway with Ball State moving in front 9-8 before a tie a 9-9.
From there, ties ruled supreme with scores at 10-10, 11-11 and 12-12 before the Cardinals inched forward with a 15-13 lead at the media timeout.
Ball State stretched their lead to 18-15, but the Falcons answered with a 4-0 run to take the lead at 19-18 and force a Ball State timeout.
The Cardinals landed the next two points out of the timeout to take back the lead at 20-19 before a pair of Lauryn Hovey kills and one by Mia Tyler put BGSU back on top with the second Ball State timeout coming with a 22-20 Bowling Green lead.
The run stretched to 5-0 with a 24-20 Bowling Green lead before closing out the set 25-21.

Set 2: Bowling Green 25, Ball State 13

The Cardinals landed the first point of the second set, but the Falcons responded with a 4-0 run to take a 4-1 lead.
The two teams traded points before a 3-0 run for Bowling Green extended their lead to 11-6 with Ball State taking the first timeout of the set.
Out of the timeout, the Falcons put together a strong effort capped off by a Hovey solo block. Jaden Walz landed an ace on the next point to keep the momentum rolling for the Falcons. The run stretched to 7-0 with the Falcons mounting a 15-6 lead.
The Orange and Brown continued to add to their advantage, utilizing a 4-0 run to make it a 19-8 lead to force the second Ball State timeout of the set.
The two teams traded points through the end of the set to take a 25-13 set score with the Falcons holding the Cardinals to a negative attack percentage in the set.

Set 3: Ball State 28, Bowling Green 26

The third set began back-and-forth before a 4-0 run for Ball State moved the Cardinals to a 6-3 lead with the Falcons taking a timeout.
Soon after the timeout the Orange and Brown registered a 3-0 run of their own to trim the lead down to 7-6 and pull within one.
Ball State answered with a 3-0 run to regain their advantage at 10-6, but the runs swung back to the Falcons with a pair of points to close it back to 10-8.
The Cardinals moved their lead to 16-12 with a 3-0 run followed by the Falcons taking their second timeout of the set.
Out of the timeout, Bowling Green put together a 4-0 run to tie the set at 16-16. The 4-0 run turned into an 8-2 stretch for the Falcons, taking a 20-18 lead with a Ball State timeout.
The Cardinals answer came with a 4-0 run out of the timeout to move back in front 22-20, but the Falcons battled back to tie it at 23-23 before moving in front 24-23 to force the second BSU timeout.
Ball State tallied the next point out of the timeout to send the set into extra points with the two teams trading before the Cardinals recorded a 3-0 run to take the set and force a fourth.

Set 4: Ball State 28, Bowling Green 26

The set began the same way the previous ended with the two teams trading points before a 3-0 run pushed Ball State in front 10-7 to force a Bowling Green timeout.
The Cardinals recorded a 4-1 stretch to increase their lead to 14-9.
The Falcons worked to trim the lead with a 3-0 run, chipping away before a Ball State timeout with the score at 15-13 Cardinals.
Ball State landed the next two points out of the timeout to push their lead to 17-13 to bring the second BGSU timeout.
The Cardinals and Falcons traded points before a 3-0 BGSU run closed the gap to 19-18.
A 4-1 stretch for Ball State swung the score back in their favor with a 23-19 score.
The Falcons answered with a 6-1 stretch to move in front 25-24 with the set going to extra points.
Ball State again tallied a 4-1 stretch to take the set and force a fifth.

Set 5: Bowling Green 16, Ball State 14

Jessica Andrews landed the first point of the fifth set, but the Cardinals battled back with a 3-0 run to move in front 3-1.
The Falcons worked to tie it up at 4-4 before reclaiming the lead at 5-4 to result in a Ball State timeout.
The Cardinals tallied a 3-0 run out of the timeout to push in front 7-5 and force a Bowling Green timeout.
The Falcons worked to chip away at the BSU lead, tying it up at 8-8 and again at 9-9 before a 3-0 run pushed Bowling Green to an 11-9 lead with a Ball State timeout.
Ball State answered with a pair of points out of the timeout to tie it at 11-11, but the Falcons stayed in front, winning a challenge, to make it a 12-11 score.
The two teams continued to trade points, sending the set into extra points for the third straight set.
The Falcons were able to come through to close out the set and the match for the victory to advance.

Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Lauryn Hovey (28)
Assists: Jaden Walz (66)
Digs: Alex Laboy (15)
Aces: Jaden Walz (4)
Blocks: Alexis Mettille, Helen Wilford (4)

Falcon Stat Facts

With the win, the Falcons have now won 11 of their last 12 matches and have won 13 straight matches in the month of November, going back to last season.
The Orange and Brown registered 77 kills, a season-high and the most since having 70 against Ball State in the 2022 MAC Championship.
Jaden Walz put together an incredible match for the Falcons with a career-high 66 assists, 11 digs, four aces, three block assists and a kill. The double-double is her 11th of the season and her 66 kills are the most for a Falcon since Hanna Laube had 67 against Ball State in the 2021 MAC Championship.
With 11 digs, Walz brought her season total to 236 digs, setting a new single-season high for her career with the Falcons.
Lauryn Hovey led the team with 28 kills, her fourth 20-kill match of the season. Hovey maintained a .310 hitting percentage and added 11 digs to her stat line for her fourth double-double of the season.
Hovey added two aces for the Falcons, bringing her season total to 52 and moving her up to fourth all-time in program history for aces in a single season.
Mia Tyler tallied 20 kills for her second 20-kill match of the season and also matched her career-high while registering a .280 hitting percentage. The kill total for Tyler brought her career kill total to exactly 500.
Kat Mandly also matched her career-high for kills in a match with 19 and logged a team-best .381 hitting percentage. Mandly now has 279 kills this season, setting a new single-season high for her BGSU career.
This season Hovey, Tyler and Mandly have all logged double-digit kills in the same match eight times. The Falcons are 6-2 in those matches.
The Falcons also had four players reach double-digit digs. In addition to Walz and Hovey, each with 11, Alex Laboy led the team with 15 while Benedetta Marcon added 12 for the Orange and Brown.
The win marks the first five-set win over a MAC opponent for the Falcons this season.

Up Next
The Falcons will advance to the MAC Semifinals on Sunday (Nov. 19) to face the Buffalo Bulls for a scheduled 6:30 p.m. start.

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