Falcons Sweep Ball State To Advance To 2-0 In MAC Play

MUNCIE, Ind. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team continued a strong start to conference play, picking up a 3-0 win over Ball State Saturday (Sept. 28) to complete the weekend sweep. The Falcons registered a season-best .305 hitting percentage while holding Ball State to .021, the lowest mark by a BGSU opponent this season. Bowling Green is now 2-0 within the MAC for the sixth time in the last seven seasons and 7-6 on the season overall. The Falcons will continue MAC play on Tuesday (Oct. 1) against the Rockets to begin the Battle of I-75.

How It Happened
Set 1: Bowling Green 25, Ball State 12

The match began in a near mirror to Friday's five-setter. The Falcons tallied the first point followed by two Ball State points and one for the Falcons to tie it up early, 2-2.
The tie score carried to 3-3, but Bowling Green registered a 3-0 run, including back-to-back blocks, a solo from Jessica Andrews and then an assist from Andrews and Amanda Otten.
Ball State answered with a pair of points to tie it up at 5-5, but the Falcons tallied a 5-0 run of their own to reclaim a 10-5 lead, forcing a Cardinals timeout.
The Bowling Green run carried through the timeout, seeing the Falcons register three more to extend the run to 8-0 and the lead to 13-5.
The Falcons soon tallied another run, this time 3-0, to push ahead 17-7 with Ball State taking their second timeout. BGSU landed another point after the timeout for a 4-0 run and 18-7 lead.
Ball State regained their footing, but the Falcons tallied another 3-0 run to build their advantage to 21-9.
Bowling Green maintained their lead through the end of the set, taking it with a 25-12 score behind a .318 hitting percentage.

Set 2: Bowling Green 25, Ball State 23

Amanda Otten got the second set started with a 4-0 run for the Falcons, landing three aces as part of the run.
The Falcons and Cardinals went back-and-forth before a 3-0 run for Bowling Green stretched their lead to 9-3 in the set, resulting in a Ball State timeout. BGSU added another point after the timeout for a 4-0 run and 10-3 advantage.
Ball State worked away at the lead with a 3-0 run, cutting it down to 11-8 to force the first Bowling Green timeout of the match.
The Falcons answered out of the timeout with a pair of points to rebuild their lead to 13-8. Ball State tallied back-to-back to draw back within three at 13-10.
The Cardinals continued to chip away, utilizing a 3-0 run to come within one of the Falcons at 16-15.
Bowling Green strung together points to increase the lead back to 20-17. Ball State pulled within one again at 20-19, but a pair of BGSU points made it a 22-19 lead to force a Cardinal timeout.
Out of the timeout, Ball State tallied two points to close the gap to one, this time at 22-21, with Bowling Green taking timeout.
Ball State pushed their run to 3-0 out of the timeout, tying it up at 22-22. The Falcons were able to close out the end of the set with a 25-23 score.

Set 3: Bowling Green 25, Ball State 13

Ball State landed the first point of the set, but the Falcons responded with a 6-0 run, including an ace from Avery Anders and back-to-back Lauryn Hovey kills, to move in front early, 6-1.
The Cardinals ended the run with a point after the timeout, but the Falcons quickly added a pair to stretch their lead to 8-2.
Ball State put together a 3-0 run later in the set to trim the lead down to 11-8, but the Falcons were able to have a 3-0 run of their own to rebuild the lead to 15-9.
Ball State landed a point, but back-to-back for the Falcons pushed the lead back to 17-10. The second of the points was another Anders ace, forcing the second Ball State timeout of the set.
The run continued after the timeout with two more BGSU points, coming off kills from Alexis Mettille and Hovey, for a 19-10 lead.
Bowling Green pushed through with another 4-0 run late to close out the set and the match, 25-13.

Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Mia Tyler (11)
Assists: Amanda Otten (26)
Digs: Lindsey LaPinta (12)
Aces: Amanda Otten (3)
Blocks: Jessica Andrews (7)

Falcon Stat Facts

The win pushes Bowling Green to 2-0 in the MAC for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.
Bowling Green has now won three straight over Ball State as well as four of the last five and are 6-2 in the last eight played in Muncie.
The Falcons were able to maintain a season-best .305 hitting percentage in the match while holding Ball State to a mark of .021, the lowest hitting percentage by a BGSU opponent so far this year.
As a team, Bowling Green totaled 12 blocks in the match, the most this season in a three-set match and just one shy of the season high, rejecting 13 attacks in four sets against DePaul on Sept. 13.
Both Jessica Andrews and Alexis Mettille logged a solo block in the match, bringing each of their career totals to 36. Both Andrews and Mettille are now tied with Jelena Sunjic for eighth during the program's Rally Scoring Era (2001-Present).
Andrews totaled seven blocks in the match, bringing her career total to 254 with the Falcons. The mark puts Andrews 10th during the program's Rally Scoring Era, passing Corrie Mills (2003-07).
Andrews tallied six block assists in the match, putting her inside the Top 10 for career block assists on the Rally Scoring Era list, tied with Taylor Twite (2002-04) for 10th with 218.
Mia Tyler landed a team-high 11 kills for the Falcons, leading BGSU in the stat in both matches. Tyler maintained a season-best .321 hitting percentage as well on 28 attacks.
Lauryn Hovey was efficient on the attack for the Falcons, finishing with a .500 hitting percentage. Hovey landed 10 kills on 18 attacks with just one error.
Amanda Otten led the team in both assists and aces, finishing with 26 assists and three aces. Otten's three aces also matched her career-high and set a new season-high.
Lindsey LaPinta led the Falcons with 12 digs in the match and added four assists, matching her career-high. Sydnie Hernandez was close behind in the digs column, finishing with a career-high 11.
After landing her first career ace in Friday's match (Sept. 27), Avery Anders logged two for the Falcons in Saturday's match.

Up Next
BGSU will return to the road on Tuesday (Oct. 1) for the first match in this season's Battle of I-75, taking on the rival Rockets in a 6 p.m. start at Savage Arena.

Follow the Falcons
Be sure to follow the Falcons volleyball team on social media
Twitter - @BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUVolleyball
Instagram - 'bgfalcons' and 'bgsuvolleyball'
Facebook - 'BGSU Athletics' and 'Bowling Green State University Volleyball'
TikTok - @bgsuvolleyball
YouTube - 'Falcon Athletics'

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Next Event

Team Stats

Mia Tyler

Lauryn Hovey

Jordan Newblatt

Alexis Mettille

Players Mentioned

Avery Anders

Jessica Andrews

Sydnie Hernandez

Lauryn Hovey

Lindsey LaPinta

Alexis Mettille

Amanda Otten

Mia Tyler

Upcoming Events

Recent Results