Falcons Start Season With Sweep, Top ETSU 3-0

Friday, August 25

Highland Heights, Ky.

3 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

1-0,0-0MAC

ETSU

0-1,0-0SoCon

ETSU

Bowling Green

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

August 25, 2023 | Volleyball

Box Score BGSU-ETSU Stats Support Our Student-Athletes

Amanda Otten Stuffs Stat Sheet In Collegiate Debut

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team broke in the new NKU floor at Regents Hall in style on Friday (Aug. 25), winning the season opener over East Tennessee State, 3-0. The Falcons and Buccaneers played the first of six matches, three for the Falcons, at the NKU Tournament this weekend with BGSU taking the match in straight sets to begin the 2023 campaign with a 1-0 standing.

Strong defense paced the Falcons in the match, holding ETSU to a .000 hitting percentage over the course of the match, including negative marks in each of the first two sets. On the offensive side, Kat Mandly led the way with a team-high 11 kills followed by Mia Tyler with seven. Freshman Amanda Otten burst onto the scene for the Orange and Brown with a team-leading 18 assists to go along with seven digs, six kills, two aces and two block assists.

How It Happened
Set 1: Bowling Green 25, ETSU 16

The 2023 season began for the Falcons with a kill from Mia Tyler. Freshman Amanda Otten tallied the assist, the first of her collegiate career.
The match began with a back-and-forth battle before a 3-0 run pushed ETSU in front, however, the Falcons responded with a pair of points to knot it back up at 9-9.
ETSU again moved in front, but a 4-0 run for the Falcons, capped by an Alex Laboy ace, granted the Orange and Brown a 15-12 advantage at the media timeout in the first set.
Bowling Green maintained their lead, forcing a timeout from the Buccaneers with the score at 19-15 BGSU following a strong block by Otten and Jessica Andrews.
The run continued through the timeout for BGSU, adding four more points to make it a 6-0 BGSU run and 23-15 lead.
ETSU added a point before the Falcons recorded two more to take the first set 25-16, closing on an 8-1 run in the set.

Set 2: Bowling Green 25, ETSU 10

The Falcons carried the first set momentum into the start of the second set, jumping out to a 6-0 lead to force an early timeout from ETSU. Otten landed an ace before the timeout and another after the timeout, the first two of her collegiate career, to make it a 7-0 advantage to start the set before the first Buccaneer point.
ETSU closed the gap to 8-3, but a 5-0 run for BGSU increased the lead to double digits at 13-3. The Buccaneers registered a point before another 5-0 run for Bowling Green, stretching the lead to 18-4 BGSU and forcing another ETSU timeout. Going back to the first set, it spelled a 26-5 stretch for the Orange and Brown.
East Tennessee State made a push late in the set, but the Falcons were able to withstand the surge and take the second set to move ahead 2-0 for the match.

Set 3: Bowling Green 26, ETSU 24

ETSU started out in front in the third set, but a 4-0 run for the Falcons pushed BGSU in front 10-8.
The set remained a give-and-take with BGSU staying in front until the Buccaneers tied it up at 20-20 and forced a timeout from the Falcons.
The Falcons tallied four of five points late to push BGSU in front 24-23, forcing a late timeout from ETSU.
The Buccaneers forced the set into extra points, but the Falcons managed to tally back-to-back points to secure the 26-24 set win and 3-0 match victory.

Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Kat Mandly (11)
Assists: Amanda Otten (18)
Digs: Alex Laboy, Lindsey LaPinta, Amanda Otten (7)
Aces: Jaden Walz, Amanda Otten, Alexis Mettille (2)
Blocks: Jessica Andrews, Alexis Mettille (3)

Falcon Stat Facts

With the win, the Falcons move to 1-0 all-time against East Tennessee State with this match marking the first meeting in program history.
The win moves BGSU to 1-0 to start the season for the first time since the 2020-21 season when the Falcons recorded a 3-2 win over NIU. The last non-conference win to begin a season for Bowling Green came against Wright State in 2019, 3-1.
The last time the Orange and Brown began a season with a 3-0 victory was in 2016, topping VCU at home. The last 3-0 victory on the road in a season opener came against Air Force in 2011.
Coach Tomic moved a step closer to her 200th win at the helm of the Falcons. Tomic has now tallied 194 victories with BGSU.

Up Next
The opening weekend of the 2023 season for the Falcons will continue on Saturday (Aug. 26) going against No. 14 Ohio State. The meeting will mark the first between BGSU and OSU since 2019 with the Falcons seeking their first win over the Buckeyes in program history. Bowling Green and Ohio State are scheduled for a 2 p.m. first serve. The match will be available to stream on ESPN+ with a radio feed available through Falcon Media Sports Network on 88.1 FM WBGU and online at bgfalconmedia.com.

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