Falcons Top Binghamton, Advance To Second Round Of NIVC Against Wright State

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team topped the Binghamton Bearcats Wednesday night (Dec. 4) at the Stroh Center, 3-1, in the first round of the NIVC. The Falcons jumped out to a strong start in the first set, hitting .441 for the 1-0 lead. Bowling Green began the second set with a season-best 10-0 run, propelling the team to a 2-0 match advantage. Binghamton fought back and forced a fourth set, but the Falcons came away with a 25-15 set score to secure the match. Bowling Green now advances to the second round of the NIVC, hosting Wright State Thursday night (Dec. 5) at the Stroh Center for a 7 p.m. first serve.

How It Happened
Set 1: Bowling Green 25, Binghamton 18

The Falcons landed the first point of the match, but Binghamton went on a 3-0 run to move in front 3-1.
Bowling Green soon registered a 4-0 run of their own to reclaim the lead, 6-5, before a tie followed at 6-6.
The Falcons followed the tie with another 3-0 burst, making it a 7-1 stretch to build a 9-6 lead in the set.
Binghamton pulled within one at 9-8, but the Falcons maintained their lead to the media timeout with a 15-12 score at the break.
The two teams continued trading points until a 19-16 score resulted in a Binghamton timeout. BGSU pushed the score to 21-17 after the timeout with the Bearcats using their second of the set.
Each team landed a point out of the timeout before a 3-0 Bowling Green run closed out the first set, 25-18.

Set 2: Bowling Green 25, Binghamton 21

The Falcons opened up the second set with a 7-0 run with Amanda Otten behind the service line, landing one ace in the stretch before a Binghamton timeout.
Out of the timeout, Otten landed another ace with the run reaching 10-0, the longest run of the season for the Falcons.
The first run for the Bearcats was a 3-0 stretch, trimming the score to 13-6. The Falcons landed a point, but another 3-0 burst made it a 6-1 stretch for Binghamton with a 14-8 score.
The teams continued going back-and-forth before a Binghamton timeout with BGSU up 20-15.
The Bearcats worked to chip away at the gap, cutting the deficit down to three at 22-19 to force a Bowling Green timeout.
BGSU and Binghamton went back-and-forth through the end of the set with the Falcons claiming a 25-21 score.

Set 3: Binghamton 25, Bowling Green 21

The third set began back-and-forth with a tie as deep as 9-9. A 3-0 run for the Falcons created a 12-9 advantage for Bowling Green, taking a 15-12 lead into the media timeout.
The Bearcats tallied a 3-0 run out of the media break, tying the set at 15-15. The ties continued to 16-16 and 17-17, but Binghamton pushed ahead 19-17 to force a BGSU timeout.
The two teams traded points to a 22-19 score with the Falcons taking their second timeout of the set.
Two Binghamton points pushed their lead to 24-19, but the Falcons answered back with a pair of their own for a 24-21 score and a Bearcat timeout.
The Bearcats closed out the set on the next point, 25-21.

Set 4: Bowling Green 25, Binghamton 15

The Falcons started the fourth set strong, going up 6-2, including a 4-0 run to force an early Binghamton timeout in the set.
Bowling Green added three more to their run for a 7-0 stretch and 9-2 advantage.
Binghamton utilized a 4-0 run to cut into the lead, trimming the lead down to 12-9. The back-and-forth resumed to a 19-14 score with the Bearcats taking a timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, the Falcons scored the next five points for a 7-0 run and 24-15 score. Binghamton added a point, but a Jordan Newblatt kill secured the set and match for the Falcons.

Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Mia Tyler (14)
Assists: Amanda Otten (38)
Digs: Sydnie Hernandez (13)
Aces: Amanda Otten (4)
Blocks: Jessica Andrews (5)

Falcon Stat Facts

The win marks the first postseason (NCAA or NIVC) win for the Falcons since 2019 when Bowling Green topped Purdue Fort Wayne in the first round of the NIVC. BGSU is now 8-6 in the NIVC all-time.
With the win, the Falcons now have 22 wins this season, tying for the most during Coach Tomic's tenure at Bowling Green.
As a team, the Falcons landed 10 aces in the match, the most for Bowling Green in a four-set match this season and the second time this year with double-digit aces, landing a season-high 14 against UMBC on Sept. 6.
Jessica Andrews led the team in blocks with five in the match, including four block assists. Andrews now has 122 block assists this season, moving up to seventh during the Rally Scoring Era for single-season blocks. She passed herself on the list, totaling 120 during her freshman season in 2022.
Andrews also moved up the single-season list for total blocks during the Rally Scoring Era. Andrews now has 141, passing Katie Kidwell's 2017 season for sixth on the list and tying her own mark from 2022 for fifth.
Andrews added a solo block on the night as well. Now with 20 solo blocks this season, she moved up to a tie for ninth during the Rally Scoring Era, matching Jelena Sunjic's mark from 2015.
Lauryn Hovey landed three aces for the Falcons, bringing her season total to 53. Hovey moved up to fifth on the all-time single-season aces list. She passed Holli Costein's 51 from 1990 and now trails Costein's 54 from 1992 for fourth. Hovey filled the stat sheet as well with 11 kills and nine digs, just missing a double-double.
Mia Tyler landed a team-high 14 kills in the match, bringing her season total to 312, a new career-high in a single-season for her time as a Falcon. Tyler also hit a season-best .367 in the match, landing her 14 kills on 30 attacks with just three errors.
Amanda Otten filled the stat sheet for the Falcons, recording a double-double with 38 assists and 11 digs. The double-double is Otten's team-leading seventh of the season. She added six kills and a team-leading and career-high four aces in the match as well.
Sydnie Hernandez stepped into the libero role for the Falcons in the match and led the team in digs while finishing second in assists. Hernandez matched her career-high for digs with 13 while also setting a new career-high for assists with six.
Jordan Newblatt added to the Bowling Green attack with 10 kills in the match while also registering four assists to not only set a new season-high, but match her career-high.
Alexis Mettille landed eight kills for the Falcons while missing her career-high in digs by one with six. She added a pair of aces and a block assist.
Avery Anders and Isabelle Laube added to the Bowling Green winning effort in the back line. Anders totaled seven digs with an ace while Laube registered two digs and two assists for the Falcons.
The Falcons are now 2-0 all-time against Binghamton, defeating them in three sets in 2008.

Up Next
The Falcons will continue on to the second round of the NIVC, hosting Wright State on Thursday (Dec. 5). The Falcons and Raiders are scheduled for a 7 p.m. start at the Stroh Center.

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