Falcons Fend Off Raiders To Finish Weekend With Win

Sunday, September 8

Dayton, Ohio

3 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

3-3,0-0MAC

Wright State

4-2,0-0Horizon

Bowling Green

Wright St.

Photo by: Kate Laney, BGSU Athletics

September 08, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score BGSU-Wright State Match Stats Interview with Coach Tomic Support Our Student-Athletes

Newblatt Tallies First BGSU Double-Double; LaPinta Adds Career-High 21 Digs

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

DAYTON, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team took on Wright State on Sunday (Sept. 8) in the final day of the Tru by Hilton Beavercreek Invite. Wright State took the first set, but the Falcons battled back to take the second, forcing a match to go at least four sets for the first time this season for BGSU. In the third set, the Falcons overcame a 17-9 deficit to win the set before taking the fourth for the 3-1 win. The win brings BGSU to 3-3 on the season.

For the Falcons Jordan Newblatt tallied 11 kills and 14 digs for the first BGSU double-double of the season. Lindsey LaPinta added a career-high 21 digs, the first 20-dig match of the season by a Falcon. Jessica Andrews tallied 10 kills while Alexis Mettille registered 12.5 points, matching her career-high. After the match, Andrews and LaPinta were named to the All-Tournament team.

How It Happened
Set 1: Wright State 25, Bowling Green 21

Sydnie Hernandez started the match with an ace for the Falcons followed by a block by Alexis Mettille and Jordan Newblatt for the second point followed by an attack error by Wright State for a quick 3-0 BGSU lead.
Wright State closed the gap to within one at 7-6, but Bowling Green went on a 4-1 stretch to rebuild their advantage to 11-7.
The Raiders worked away at the Bowling Green lead again, using a 4-0 run to tie the set at 14-14 before a BGSU point gave the Falcons a 15-14 score at the media break.
Bowling Green added a point out of the break, but a 3-0 Wright State run swung the score to them before BGSU tied it up at 17-17.
The score to tie it up kickstarted a 3-0 BGSU run, forcing a Wright State timeout with the score at 19-17.
Wright State battled out of the timeout with a pair of points to tie the set at 19-19. A challenge by Wright State on the next point overturned a call to push their run to 3-0 with a 20-19 Raiders lead.
The Falcons responded with two points to reclaim the lead before Wright State tied it up at 21-21. Wright State added a point for a 22-21 lead, forcing a BGSU timeout.
The Raiders added two more points after the timeout for a 24-21 lead and a 4-0 run with the Falcons using their second timeout.
Out of the timeout, Wright State added a point to take the first set.

Set 2: Bowling Green 25, Wright State 23

Wright State tallied the first point of the second set, but the Falcons answered with a 3-0 run to move in front 3-1 in the set. The Raiders battled back to tie it up again at 3-3.
Bowling Green soon put together a 4-0 run to push in front 8-4 in the set.
The Raiders answered with a 3-0 run to close the gap to 8-7 before the two teams began trading points.
Another 3-0 run for Wright State tied up the set at 13-13 with Bowling Green pausing the action with a timeout.
The back-and-forth battle continued with ties at 14-14, 15-15 and 16-16 before Wright State moved forward with an 18-16 score, but the Falcons tied it once again, this time at 18-18.
The pair of points to tie the set turned into a 4-0 run and a 20-18 BGSU lead with Wright State calling a timeout. Bowling Green added one more after the timeout, pushing the run to 5-0 and the lead to 21-18.
The Bowling Green lead moved to 23-20 before a Wright State timeout. WSU recorded three of the next four points to close the gap to 24-23, forcing a BGSU timeout.
After the timeout, the Falcons landed a kill from Lauryn Hovey to win the set and tie the match.

Set 3: Bowling Green 25, Wright State 22

Wright State opened the third set with a 6-1 stretch to force an early timeout from the Falcons. A 3-0 run later extended the lead to 10-3.
The Falcons chipped away at the lead, but a 3-0 run for Wright State pushed their lead back up to 17-9 in the set.
Bowling Green utilized a 4-0 run to work away at the Wright State lead, trimming it down to 17-13 to force a Wright State timeout.
Hovey landed an ace out of the timeout followed by a Jessica Andrews kill to bring the run to 6-0 and the WSU lead down to 17-15 with the Raiders calling timeout. Another point after the timeout pulled BGSU within one.
The Falcons continued to work away the lead before tying it up at 20-20 and then taking a 21-20 lead with a 3-0 run.
The Orange and Brown closed out the set for a 25-22 score, finishing it out with a 16-5 run after trailing 17-9 in the set.

Set 4: Bowling Green 25, Wright State 20

The Raiders tallied the first point of the set, but the Falcons answered with a 4-0 run. Wright State worked back in, tying the set at 6-6.
BGSU worked to build a 12-9 lead, but Wright State closed within one at 12-11. Back-to-back points for the Falcons pushed the lead back to 14-11.
The two teams went back-and-forth from there up to the media timeout with Bowling Green leading 15-13.
Two points for the Falcons after the timeout extended their lead to 17-13, including a 3-0 run, forcing a Wright State timeout.
Bowling Green kept the pressure on with a 4-1 stretch soon after, pushing the lead to 22-16 with WSU using their second timeout.
Wright State responded with a 3-0 run to close the gap to 23-20, seeing the Falcons take a timeout.
Out of the timeout, Bowling Green registered back-to-back points for the 25-20 set score and 3-1 match final.

Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Lauryn Hovey (13)
Assists: Anna Sitek (21)
Digs: Lindsey LaPinta (21)
Aces: Sydnie Hernandez (2)
Blocks: Jessica Andrews (7)

2024 Tru by Hilton Dayton Beavercreek Invitational All-Tournament Team
Liana Sarkissian, Dayton (MVP)
Lexie Almodovar, Dayton
Alyssa Miller, Dayton
Lindsey LaPinta, Bowling Green
Jessica Andrews, Bowling Green
Jenny Wessling, Wright State
Abby Erickson, UMBC

Falcon Stat Facts

As a team, the Falcons registered 13 blocks as a team and 22 block assists, both season highs.
Jordan Newblatt logged the first double-double by a Falcon this season. Over the four sets, Newblatt tallied 11 kills and 14 digs, both finishing second on the team in their respective columns. Newblatt added four block assists, matching her career-high.
Lindsey LaPinta registered a career-high 21 digs for the Falcons, the first 20-dig outing of the season for BGSU.
Jessica Andrews logged 10 kills for the Falcons, just one shy of her career high. The 10 kills came on a career-high 21 attacks. Andrews added her first solo block of the season and a season-high six block assists.
Alexis Mettille landed a season-high eight kills while maintaining a .571 hitting percentage. Mettille ended the match with 12.5 points, matching her career-high, as well as a solo block, five block assists and an ace to her stat line.
Lauryn Hovey tallied an ace, her 10th of the weekend. The ace brings her career total to an even 100 for the Orange and Brown.
Hovey just missed a double-double, finishing with a team-high 13 kills and nine digs to go along with four block assists. Both the kills and block assists matched her season-highs thus far.
The win marks the third-straight over Wright State for the Falcons, giving BGSU a 21-11 record all-time against the Raiders.
The win is the first four-set road win for the Falcons since topping Ohio on Oct. 14, 2023.
Going four sets, the match marked the first this season for Bowling Green that went beyond three sets.

Up Next
The Falcons will play their third and final invitational of the regular season next weekend at DePaul. BGSU will begin the weekend against UIC on Thursday (Sept. 12) at 7 p.m. EST. Play will continue on Friday (Sept. 13) at 2 p.m. EST against Brown. The weekend will wrap up on Saturday (Sept. 14) at 7 p.m. EST with host DePaul.

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