BGVB To Host Undefeated Ball State In Matchup Between Top Two MAC Teams

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team will host undefeated Ball State for a pair of matches between the top two teams in the Mid-American Conference. Ball State enters atop the standings with a 7-0 record while Bowling Green follows in second with a 6-1 standing. BGSU and BSU will go head-to-head twice this week, first on Thursday (Oct. 16) and then again on Friday (Oct. 17), both with 6 p.m. first serves inside the Stroh Center. Thursday night will be a Falcon Hour leading up to the match as well as Club Sports Night. As for Friday night, it will be Future Falcon Kids Club Night.

BGSU Schedule This Week
Thursday, Oct. 16 | BGSU vs. Ball State | 6 p.m. | Falcon Hour | Club Sports Night | ESPN+
Friday, Oct. 17 | BGSU vs. Ball State | 6 p.m. | Future Falcon Kids Club Night | ESPN+

At The Matches
Thursday, Oct. 16

Thursday will be a Falcon Hour prior to the start of the match. Beginning at 5 p.m. when doors open, select items will be discounted at concessions up until first serve. Arrive early for $2 popcorn, $2 12 oz. soda and $4 select 12 oz. beer (Bud Light, Michelob Ultra, Yuengling).

Friday, Oct. 17

Those coming to the volleyball match on Friday will need to park in the front portion of Lot 24 due to football parking. This includes fans, media and those working the match. Lots 13 and 20 will close at 5 p.m. due to football preparations for Saturday.

First Serve

Bowling Green will host Ball State, pitting the top two teams in the MAC standings against one another. BGSU enters with a 6-1 MAC record, second in the conference. As for Ball State, they are an undefeated 7-0 in MAC play this year, leading the MAC.
During MAC play, Ball State and Bowling Green are first and second for team hitting percentage with Ball State hitting .284 and the Falcons following at .252.
The Falcons will return home on Thursday with a 5-0 home start on the season, the best home record to start a season since going an undefeated 10-0 at home during the 2021 campaign.
Going back to last season, the Falcons have won 10 consecutive matches when playing at home during the regular season.
Bowling Green has held opponents to a cumulative hitting percentage of .080 inside the Stroh Center this season, including not allowing an opponent to hit above .130 in a match when hosting.
For the season, Bowling Green has held opponents to a .171 hitting percentage, ranking 30th in the nation. The national leader is currently Hofstra with a mark of .103.
During last Thursday's four-set match (Nov. 9) against Northern Illinois, the Falcons hit .392 as a team and landed 13 aces. For the program's Rally Scoring Era, the hitting percentage set a new record while the aces matched the record.
The Falcons head into the weekend with wins in 10 of their last 12 contests, dating back to Sept. 12. The only two losses during that span have both been four-set matches, coming against Michigan State and Toledo.
Helen Wilford is currently tied for 35th in the nation for total blocks this season with 80. The nation's leader is Utah Valley's Bella Wooden with 119.
For the season, the Falcons have three players inside the top 10 in the MAC for blocks per set. Kendall Williams ranks fourth (1.21), Helen Wilford is sixth (1.11) and Jessica Andrews is 10th (1.02). No other team in the conference has multiple players in the top 10.

Battling The Birds
Ball State is off to a 7-0 MAC start, the only undefeated team left in the conference. The wins have included Buffalo, Akron, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Miami (OH) and two against Toledo. The Cardinals are paced by the duo of Carson Tyler and Sophie Ledbetter, both coming off MAC Player of the Week awards. Tyler averaged 4.75 kills per set this past week, including 29 kills in the five-set match against Toledo. As for Ledbetter, she tallied 4.42 digs per set, including 21 against Toledo. Ball State's setter duo of Lindsey Green and Reese Axness have been MAC Setter of the Week twice as well.

BGSU vs. Ball State, All-Time
The Falcons and Cardinals have met 72 times in program history entering this week. Despite Ball State leading the all-time series, Bowling Green has won four of the last five meetings, three of which went to five sets. All four of the wins during that span for BGSU either came on the road or a neutral site. With that, Ball State has tallied wins in their last eight trips to Bowling Green with the last home win for the Falcons against Ball State being on Oct. 24, 2008. Last year, BGSU swept the series in Muncie with a five-set win in the first match and a 3-0 sweep in the second.

Defense Dominating In MAC Play
Through the first seven matches of MAC play, the Falcons have established themselves as one of the premier defensive teams in the MAC. During MAC play, BGSU is holding opponents to a .123 hitting percentage, leading the MAC with Central Michigan second at .158. A large part has been BGSU's dominance in the stat at home. During home matches, Bowling Green is holding opponents to an .080 hitting percentage, including holding three teams below .100. So far, no opponent has hit above .130 inside the Stroh Center. As for the season, BGSU is holding opponents to a mark of .171, ranking 30th in the nation.

Home Court Advantage
The Falcons are off to a 5-0 start this season when playing inside the Stroh Center, including sweeps in three of the five matches. Going back to last season, Bowling Green is in the midst of a 10-match winning streak in home regular season matches, dating back to Oct. 25, 2024. Over the last six seasons, going back to the 2020 campaign, Bowling Green holds a record of 55-13 when playing at home for an .809 winning percentage inside the Stroh Center.

Andrews On The Attack
Jessica Andrews has transitioned into a right-side hitter over the last few weeks for the Falcons, opposed to her usual middle blocker role. Since the change, Andrews has flourished on the attack. Over the last five matches, Andrews has hit at least .333 in four of the five while landing a minimum of eight kills in each. In the five-set win over EMU, Andrews landed 16 kills, tying for the team lead, while hitting .467. She also led the team in kills in both matches against NIU with 12 in each, including 12 kills on 17 error-free attacks in the four-set match for a .706 hitting percentage.

Dealing Out Aces
In the Friday match against Northern Illinois, the Falcons landed 13 aces as a team, tying the program's Rally Scoring Era record for a four-set match and coming two shy of the program's all-time record. For the year, Bowling Green has clocked 127 aces, averaging 1.76 per set, to rank second in the MAC, behind only Toledo (154, 2.14) while being tied for 26th in the nation for the total mark.

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'
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