Falcons Fall To First-Place Ball State

Friday, October 17

Bowling Green, Ohio

6 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

12-9,6-3MAC

Ball State

13-8,9-0MAC

Ball St.

Bowling Green

Photo by: Drake Harlett, BGSU Athletics

October 17, 2025 | Volleyball

Box Score BGSU-Ball State Box Score Press Conference with Alex DelPiombo, Lauryn Hovey Support Our Student-Athletes

Hovey Logs Second-Straight Double-Double Since Return To Lineup

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

Ziggyville Population: 212
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team took on the Ball State Cardinals in their second match of the week Friday night (Oct. 17) inside the Stroh Center. The Falcons challenged late in each set, but the Cardinals pulled out a 3-0 final score in the contest. For BGSU, Lauryn Hovey tallied her second double-double in as many matches, posting 17 assists and 12 kills for the second-straight match. The loss moves BGSU to 12-9 on the season while being 6-3 within the Mid-American Conference.

How It Happened
Set 1: Ball State 25, Bowling Green 20

Ball State jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the set, but a 3-0 BGSU run tied it up at 4-4. The Cardinals landed a point, but another 3-0 BGSU run made it a 7-5 Falcon lead.
The trading of runs continued with a 5-0 burst for Ball State, pushing out to a 10-7 lead. Bowling Green answered with a point, but another 3-0 Ball State run followed for an 8-1 stretch and 13-8 lead to force a BGSU timeout.
The two teams went back-and-forth after the break until a 4-1 stretch increased the Ball State lead to 18-11 with the second Bowling Green timeout of the set.
Ball State added three more to their run for a 7-1 stretch and 21-11 lead. The score carried to 23-13 before a 4-0 BGSU run chopped the lead down to 23-17 with a timeout from the Cardinals.
The Falcons kept the pressure on late with another 3-0 run, but Ball State held on for the set win.

Set 2: Ball State 25, Bowling Green 20

Ball State started the set with a 4-1 stretch soon followed by a 4-0 run, taking an 8-2 advantage to force a timeout from the Falcons.
The two teams traded points after the timeout until back-to-back points for Ball State pushed their lead to 13-4 with the second BGSU timeout.
The Falcons responded out of the timeout with a 5-0 run soon after, as well as a 7-1 stretch trimming the lead down to 14-11.
The Falcons and Cardinals traded points until a 4-0 run for Ball State increased their lead in the set to 22-15.
Bowling Green put together a 3-0 run down to the stretch, closing the gap to 23-19 with a Ball State timeout. The run extended to 4-0 after the timeout for BGSU.
Ball State worked to end the run before closing out the set with a 25-20 score.

Set 3: Ball State 25, Bowling Green 23

The Falcons started the set with a 3-0 run, rolling into a 4-1 lead. From there, the two teams traded points until a 6-0 run for Ball State pushed them in front with an 11-9 score to force a Bowling Green timeout.
The Falcons tallied a point after the break to end the run, but the Cardinals were able to tally another a 3-0 run to extend the score to 14-10.
Bowling Green worked to pull within two, 15-13, but a pair of points for Ball State later in the rally made it a 19-15 score.
The back-and-forth resumed until a 5-1 stretch in favor of the Falcons trimmed the lead down to 24-23 with a Ball State timeout.
After the pause, Ball State worked for a kill to take the set and the match.

Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Lauryn Hovey (12)
Assists: Anna Sitek (20)
Digs: Sydnie Hernandez (17)
Aces: Lauryn Hovey, Anna Sitek, Kendall Williams (1)
Blocks: Helen Wilford (6)

Falcon Stat Facts

For the second consecutive match, Lauryn Hovey tallied 17 assists and a team-high 12 kills, registering her fifth double-double of the season, now tied for the lead.
Avery Hobson just missed adding a double-double of her own, landing 10 kills and logging nine digs, finishing second on the team in both stats for the match.
Sydnie Hernandez tallied 17 digs for the Falcons in the three sets, leading the team. The total is the most for Hernandez in a three-set match this season.
Helen Wilford led the Falcons in blocking with six total blocks, registering one solo and five block assists. Wilford now has a team-high seven solo blocks this season.

Up Next
The Falcons will hit the road next weekend, heading to Kalamazoo for a pair of matches against Western Michigan. The series will start on Friday (Oct. 24) with a 6 p.m. start before transitioning to a 4 p.m. first serve on Saturday (Oct. 25). BGSU will then return home for a midweek contest on Tuesday, Oct. 28 to host the second leg of this season's Battle of I-75 for a 6 p.m. start.

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