Falcons Win Outright MAC Regular Season Title With Thrilling Five Set Win

Saturday, November 16

Bowling Green, Ohio

6 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

21-8,16-2MAC

Ohio

14-15,10-8MAC

Ohio

Bowling Green

Photo by: Lauren Laudato, BGSU Athletics

Falcons Win Outright MAC Regular Season Title With Thrilling Five Set Win

November 16, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score BGSU-Ohio Match Stats Alexis Mettille, Coach Tomic Interviews Support Our Student-Athletes Photo Gallery

Hovey Lands 23 Kills with .405 Hitting Percentage To Lead Falcons

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

Ziggyville Population: 222
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team captured the outright MAC Regular Season title on Saturday (Nov. 16) with a five-set win over the Ohio Bobcats. Bowling Green took the first two sets before the Bobcats battled back in the third and fourth to force the match into a fifth set. In the fifth set, Lauryn Hovey landed five of her team-high 23 kills, helping the Falcons claim the match and the title. Bowling Green will now host the MAC Tournament, including receiving a bye, with the tournament beginning next Friday (Nov. 22) at the Stroh Center. The first match for Bowling Green will be on Saturday (Nov. 23) at 4 p.m.

How It Happened
Set 1: Bowling Green 25, Ohio 23

Ohio landed the first point of the match, but a 3-0 BGSU burst put the Falcons in front 3-1 before OU tied it up at 5-5.
Bowling Green pushed ahead with a pair of points, but Ohio worked to tie it again at 10-10. The ties stretched to 13-13 with back-to-back BGSU points making it a 15-13 Falcon lead at the media timeout.
Ohio registered the first point after the timeout, but two more Bowling Green tallies made it a 17-14 advantage with the Bobcats taking a timeout.
The back-and-forth battle carried through the timeout with Ohio taking their second following consecutive BGSU points for a 22-18 score.
Ohio worked away at the Bowling Green lead, trimming it to 23-21 with a Falcon timeout.
BGSU and OU traded points through the end of the set for a 25-23 Bowling Green set win.

Set 2: Bowling Green 25, Ohio 14

The second set began similarly to how the first ended with the trading of points before a 4-1 BGSU stretch pushed the Falcons to a 9-5 advantage with an Ohio timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Falcons tallied another 4-1 stretch, including a 3-0 run, extending their lead to 13-6 with the second Ohio timeout of the set.
Another 4-1 stretch in favor of the Falcons carried the score to 18-8 in the set, but a 3-0 OU burst trimmed the score to 18-11.
Bowling Green rebuilt their lead with a 5-0 run, pushing the score to 24-12, growing to the 25-14 set score.

Set 3: Ohio 25, Bowling Green 22

The Falcons jumped out to a 7-4 lead in the third set, but Ohio registered a 4-0 run to move in front 8-7 to force a timeout from the BGSU bench.
Bowling Green tied it at 8-8 with another tie following at 9-9, but a 3-0 Ohio run put the Bobcats in front 12-9.
The Falcons pulled within one at 13-12, but another 3-0 run for Ohio pushed the score to 16-12 with the second BGSU timeout of the set.
Bowling Green recorded the next two points out of the timeout, cutting into the lead 16-14 with Ohio taking a timeout.
Ohio regrouped with back-to-back points to regain their lead at 18-14, but the Falcons answered back drawing within two again, this time at 19-17, with the second Ohio timeout.
Bowling Green pulled within one at 21-20, but a 3-0 Ohio run pushed the Bobcats to a 24-20 lead before taking the set 25-22.

Set 4: Ohio 25, Bowling Green 16

The Falcons landed the first point of the set, but a 3-0 run for Ohio put the Bobcats in front. A 4-1 OU stretch followed with BGSU taking a timeout, trailing 7-3.
The two teams traded points, but Ohio was able to stretch their lead to 14-7 with the second BGSU timeout called.
Ohio utilized a 4-1 stretch to push their lead to 18-9 in the set, trading points from there to the 25-16 set score.

Set 5: Bowling Green 15, Ohio 9

The Falcons jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the set, including a 3-0 run to force an Ohio timeout in the early going.
The start moved to 6-1 BGSU, but a 3-0 Ohio run cut into the lead, 6-4. The Falcons answered with a point before an OU timeout with the score at 7-4.
Bowling Green continued to add to their lead, either trading point-for-point or scoring two points to one Ohio point for the 15-9 set and match win.

Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Lauryn Hovey (23)
Assists: Amanda Otten (46)
Digs: Lindsey LaPinta (17)
Aces: Alexis Mettille (2)
Blocks: Jessica Andrews, Lauryn Hovey, Alexis Mettille, Amanda Otten (2)

Falcon Stat Facts

The win clinches the MAC Regular Season title for the Falcons, the eighth in program history. Bowling Green will now host the MAC Tournament.
The Falcons wrap up the regular season with a 16-2 MAC record, marking just the third time in program history winning 16 or more matches during an 18-match conference schedule. BGSU won 16 in 2021 and 17 in 1992.
Bowling Green has now won 11-straight matches, the longest winning streak since tallying 12 consecutive wins during the 2021 season.
As a team, the Falcons hit .322 in the match marking the sixth time in the last eight matches that Bowling Green has hit .320 or better. It's also the first time this year BGSU has hit above .300 in a five-set match.
Lauryn Hovey led the Bowling Green attack with a season-high 23 kills, the most by a Falcon this season and Hovey's first 20-kill match of the year. Hovey also registered a season-high 42 attacks while hitting .405 for the match.
Jessica Andrews logged a solo block in the match, the 44th of her BGSU career. Andrews is now tied with Alexis Mettille for fifth during the Rally Scoring Era for career solo blocks. Andrews added nine kills to her stat line while maintaining a .471 hitting percentage.
Mettille tallied two aces in the match for BGSU, leading the team. She now has 90 career aces for the Falcons, being in a three-way tie for eighth during the Rally Scoring Era. Mettille also finished second on the team in kills with 14, coming on 25 attacks with just one error for a .520 hitting percentage.
Seven different Falcons logged at least three digs in the match, being led by Lindsey LaPinta's 17. LaPinta, for the second night in a row, logged seven assists as well to match her career-high.
Amanda Otten filled the stat sheet for the Falcons once again. She led the team in assists with 46 while adding seven digs, six kills, two blocks and an ace in the match.
Sydnie Hernandez tied with Hovey for second on the team in digs, each with eight, while Avery Anders tallied five.
Isabelle Laube entered for the Falcons during the match and landed a key ace as well as logging a dig and five serve receives without an error.
Jordan Newblatt added five kills, three digs and an assist for the Falcons while Mia Tyler landed seven kills.

Up Next
The Falcons will advance to the MAC Tournament, receiving a first round bye in the tournament. BGSU's first match will be in the semifinal round on Saturday (Nov. 23) with a 4 p.m. start. The opponent will be determined upon the first round results.

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