Falcons In Five; BGVB Completes Weekend Sweep Over Michigan

Sunday, September 17

Ann Arbor, Mich.

2 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

6-5,0-0MAC

Michigan

2-7,0-0Big Ten

Bowling Green

Michigan

Photo by: Nathan Kubala, BGSU Athletics

September 17, 2023 | Volleyball

Box Score BGSU-Michigan Match Stats Support Our Student-Athletes

BGVB Records Pair Of Big Ten Wins In Same Season For First Time Since 1992

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team completed the weekend sweep over the Michigan Wolverines on Sunday (Sept. 17), topping U-of-M in five sets inside Cliff Keen Arena, 3-2. The win for the Falcons concluded the non-conference portion of the regular season and marks the first time since 1992 that Bowling Green has recorded multiple wins over the Big Ten in the same season.

A team effort led the way for the Orange and Brown in the match recording 14 blocks as a team and landing nine aces. Lauryn Hovey paced the Falcons with 10 kills and nine blocks while adding a trio of aces. Jessica Andrews joined the block party with nine assists as well while Hannah Best landed nine kills. The Falcons will now transition to MAC play, hosting Northern Illinois this Thursday and Friday (Sept. 21-22).

How It Happened
Set 1: Bowling Green 25, Michigan 22

Amanda Otten began the match with an ace for the Falcons. The Wolverines landed a point before a 3-0 BGSU burst gave the Falcons an early 4-1 advantage.
Michigan put together a 3-0 run of their own to tie the set up at 8-8 in the early going. BGSU moved ahead 10-8, but the Wolverines tied it again at 11-11.
The Falcons once again reclaimed their lead at 13-11, maintaining the advantage while trading points with Michigan up to an 18-15 lead that forced a U-of-M timeout.
Out of the timeout, Michigan recorded three of the next four points to narrow the gap to 19-18 Falcons with a BGSU timeout.
The Wolverines worked to tie the score again at 20-20 after a successful challenge. The Falcons answered with back-to-back points to move in front 22-20 and force a Michigan timeout.
From there the Falcons remained in front, clinching the set on an ace from Lauryn Hovey to go up 1-0 for the match.

Set 2: Michigan 25, Bowling Green 14

In the second set, Michigan jumped out to a 6-2 lead, including a 5-1 run, to force a timeout from the Bowling Green bench.
The Falcons began to chip away at the lead, utilizing a 3-0 run to cut it down to 9-6. However, Michigan surged forward with a 5-1 stretch to increase their lead back to 14-7 with BGSU using their second timeout of the set.
The Orange and Brown tallied another 3-0 run to cut into the deficit, bringing the score to 16-11, but another 6-1 Michigan stretch made the score 22-12.
The Wolverines were able to take the set 25-14 to even the match at a set each.

Set 3: Michigan 25, Bowling Green 19

Like the second set, the third began 1-1 before a 4-0 run, including back-to-back aces, pushed Michigan ahead 5-1 with the Falcons using a timeout to pause the action.
The Falcons responded with a 3-0 run out of the timeout to draw the score to 5-4.
The Wolverines rebuilt their lead, but another 3-0 run for the Falcons drew BGSU within one again at 9-8.
The back-and-forth continued with Michigan building the lead to 12-8 before the Falcons narrowed it once again to 12-11.
A 4-1 stretch later in the set pushed the Michigan lead to 18-14. The lead grew to 22-16 with Bowling Green taking a timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Falcons recorded a 3-0 run to close the gap to 23-19 with the Wolverines using a timeout.
Michigan landed the next two points out of the timeout for a 25-19 set score to go up 2-1 in the match.

Set 4: Bowling Green 25, Michigan 18

The Falcons flipped the script to start the fourth set, jumping out to a 7-2 lead, including a 4-0 run, of their own that required a Michigan timeout.
Michigan utilized a 3-0 run later in the set to close the gap to 9-7, but a 3-0 run for the Falcons pushed their lead back to 14-10.
Michigan recorded a point, but the Falcons tallied another 3-0 burst to take a 17-11 advantage, but the trading of runs continued with the Wolverines having the next one to close the gap to 17-14.
The two teams continued trading points up before Michigan stopped the action with a timeout following a Hovey ace with BGSU leading 21-16.
Bowling Green maintained the momentum, using a 3-0 run to close out the set and send the match to a fifth set.

Set 5: Bowling Green 15, Michigan 12

In the fifth set, the Falcons registered the first two points to go up 2-0, and then 3-1, but Michigan erased the deficit quickly at 3-3, using a 3-0 run to move ahead 4-3.
Bowling Green responded with a 6-2 stretch to take a 9-6 lead, forcing a timeout from the Wolverines.
Michigan recorded the next two points out of the timeout to narrow it down to 9-8 with the Falcons taking a timeout this time. Another point for the Wolverines out of the timeout knotted it up at 9-9.
BGSU pushed ahead with a 3-0 run, including yet another Hovey ace that forced a Michigan timeout with the score at 12-9.
The Wolverines didn't go away, drawing within one at 13-12 with the Falcons using a timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Falcons recorded the next two points to take the set and the match.

Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Lauryn Hovey (10)
Assists: Amanda Otten (21)
Digs: Alex Laboy (12)
Aces: Lauryn Hovey (3)
Blocks: Lauryn Hovey, Jessica Andrews (9)

Falcon Stat Facts

With the weekend sweep over Michigan, the Falcons now have a pair of wins over Big Ten opponents in the same season for the first time since 1992. That year BGSU topped Wisconsin on Sept. 12 and Minnesota in the NIVC on Dec. 6, both by scores of 3-1.
The win for the Falcons is the first on the road against a Big Ten opponent since beating Indiana on Sept. 1, 2011 by a score of 3-1, which was also the last BGSU win overall against the Big Ten prior to this weekend's home-and-home against Michigan.
Marking the 17th meeting all-time between Bowling Green and Michigan, this is the first time the Falcons have won back-to-back against the Wolverines.
Bowling Green recorded a total of 14 team blocks over the course of the match, matching the team's season-high, logging the same amount against No. 14 Ohio State earlier this season.
As a team, BGSU landed nine aces. The Falcons landed the same amount in the first match against Michigan as well.
After entering the match with just two career attack attempts, Lindsey LaPinta landed two kills in the first set alone for the Falcons, doing so in unique fashion. LaPinta's serve receive carried over the net both times and landed in play for a kill.
Lauryn Hovey led the team in kills with 10 and tied for the team lead in block assists with a career-high nine, just missing a double-double. The last BGSU double-double on kills and blocks came from Katie Kidwell during the 2018 season.
Jessica Andrews matched her career-high for block assists, finishing with nine and tying for the team-lead in the match. She added her first assist of the season as well.
Hannah Best finished the match second on the team in kills with nine and added a pair of block assists as well as three total blocks, both season-highs.
Benedetta Marcon logged her first match with multiple aces, landing two for the Falcons over the course of the five sets.
With the win, Coach Tomic moves another step closer to win 200 with the Falcons. Tomic now has 198 at the helm of the Orange and Brown.
The win is the first time this season that the Orange and Brown have claimed a five-set victory on the road.

Up Next
The Falcons will begin play within the Mid-American Conference the next time they take the court, hosting Northern Illinois for a pair of matches. Both matches will begin at 6 p.m. inside the Stroh Center with the first being played on Thursday (Sept. 21) and the second on Friday (Sept. 22). Thursday will be the Unity Match for BGVB and Friday is Dollar Night.

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