BGSU's Comeback Comes Up Short In Five Sets Against Pacific

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team went to five sets with the Pacific Tigers Friday night (Sept. 8) in Fort Collins, Colo. The Falcons won the first set before the Tigers battled back to take the second and third sets. BGSU was able to claim the fourth set to send the match to a fifth, but a late surge pushed Pacific ahead for the 3-2 final.

For Bowling Green, Amanda Otten recorded her second triple-double in as many matches, finishing with a career-high 25 assists to go along with 11 kills and 10 digs. Alexis Mettille was efficient for the Falcons, landing eight kills on 11 attacks for a .727 attack percentage. Lauryn Hovey added a team-high 15 kills while tying for the team leads in aces (2) and blocks (4).

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

Pacific tallied the first point of the match before an early 3-0 burst pushed the Falcons in front 3-1.
Bowling Green put together two more 3-0 bursts early in the set with the second including an ace from Alex Laboy, prompting a timeout from Pacific with the score at 11-5 BGSU.
The Falcons continued to maintain their lead before the next stoppage, coming via another Pacific timeout, this time with the score at 18-12 Bowling Green.
The Orange and Brown strung together another 3-0 spurt later in the set to increase their lead to 23-14, including an ace from Lauryn Hovey.
BGSU stayed in front, closing out the set with a 25-16 score to go up 1-0 for the match.

Set 2: Pacific 25, Bowling Green 19

Roles reversed early in the second set with a 5-0 run for Pacific pushing them in front 6-2. The score stretched to 7-3 before a BGSU timeout.
The lead for the Tigers was extended with a 4-0 stretch later in the set, making their lead 13-5.
The Orange and Brown responded with a 3-0 run of their own to cut the lead down to 13-8, forcing a timeout from Pacific.
Another 3-0 BGSU run continued to trim the deficit, bringing the score to 15-12 Pacific after back-to-back Hannah Best aces.
The Tigers were able to hold on for the set with a 25-19 score to even the match.

Set 3: Pacific 25, Bowling Green 20

The third set began close with the first separation coming from a 5-1 stretch in favor of Pacific, making it a 7-5 lead for the Tigers.
The Falcons worked to close the gap, getting it down to 11-9, but Pacific pushed back ahead to reclaim a 15-10 advantage, forcing a BGSU timeout.
A 4-0 run for the Tigers stretched their lead to 19-12 in the set, but the Falcons soon put together a 3-0 run to cut the lead down to 20-16 and force a timeout from Pacific.
The Falcons added two more points out of the timeout to bring the score to 20-18 with a 5-0 stretch.
The two-point deficit moved to 21-19 before a pair of Pacific points extended their lead to 23-19 with BGSU using their second timeout of the set.
Pacific maintained their lead through the end of the set, claiming a 25-20 score to move ahead 2-1 for the match.

Set 4: Bowling Green 29, Pacific 27

The fourth set started back-and-forth. Pacific had a 3-0 run to move in front 5-2, but the Falcons responded with a 3-0 run of their own to knot it up at 5-5.
The ties continued early in the set, coming at 6-6, 8-8, 9-9, 10-10 and 13-13 before a 5-0 run pushed Pacific in front 16-13, forcing a timeout from the Falcons.
Out of the timeout, BGSU tallied two points to close the gap to one at 16-15. Another 3-0 burst from the Falcons later in the set tied it up at 18-18 with the Tigers taking a timeout.
Pacific recorded the next three points out of their timeout, taking a 21-18 lead and bringing about the second BGSU timeout of the set.
Another 3-0 run out of a timeout ensued, this time in favor of the Falcons, to tie it up once again and force a Pacific timeout with the score at 21-21.
The ties continued with the teams knotted up at 22-22, 23-23 and 24-24 to send the set into extra points. However, the ties weren't done with more at 25-25, 26-26 and 27-27.
The Falcons were able to log back-to-back points for a 29-27 score and force a fifth set.

Set 5: Pacific 15, Bowling Green 10

Pacific landed the first point of the set, but the Falcons responded with a 3-0 run to move ahead 3-1 in the early going of the fifth. However, the Tigers rallied back to tie it at 3-3.
Another 3-0 burst for the Orange and Brown pushed their lead back to 8-4 with the teams switching sides halfway through the fifth set.
After switching sides, Pacific tallied a 3-0 run of their own to trim the BGSU advantage down to one at 8-7 with the Falcons using a timeout.
The run continued through the timeout to tie the score at 8-8 before Pacific took a 10-8 lead with the run at 6-0 and Bowling Green taking their second timeout. The run stretched to 7-0 with Pacific leading 11-9.
After a BGSU point, the Pacific run resumed with another 3-0 run, making it a 10-1 stretch for the Tigers before closing out the set and the match with a 15-10 score.

Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Lauryn Hovey (15)
Assists: Amanda Otten (25)
Digs: Alex Laboy (18)
Aces: Hannah Best, Alex Laboy, Lauryn Hovey (2)
Blocks: Lauryn Hovey, Alexis Mettille (4)

Falcon Stat Facts

Amanda Otten finished with a triple-double for the second time in as many matches. Otten finished with 25 assists, 11 kills and 10 digs. She is just the fifth player in the nation with multiple triple-doubles this season and the second freshman. The 25 assists for Otten are a career-high as well.
Alexis Mettille was efficient on the attack, landing a season-high eight kills on 11 attack attempts for the Falcons for a season-best .727 hitting percentage.
Hannah Best set a few career-highs in the match, landing seven kills with two aces and her first collegiate assist. Best also matched her career-high for digs with six.

Up Next
The Falcons will conclude the tournament in Fort Collins on Saturday, facing No. 14 Baylor at 1 p.m. EST. The Falcons will then return home on Sept. 15 to host Michigan as BGSU attempts to break the program's attendance record in the Stroh Center with 3,000 fans #BGVB3K.

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