Battle Of I-75 Home Midweek Match Leads Three-Match Week For BGVB

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team will have a trio of matches this week in the MAC, beginning at home before hitting the road. The Falcons will first host the second leg of this season's Battle of I-75, welcoming the rival Toledo Rockets to the Stroh Center Tuesday night (Oct. 28). BGSU and UT are set for a 6 p.m. start at the Stroh Center with the night including an Orange Wave and Trick or Treat. From there, the Falcons will hit the road for a pair of matches against Miami (OH). The first will be Friday (Oct. 31) with a 6:30 p.m. first serve followed by a 7 p.m. start on Saturday (Nov. 1). All three matches for the Falcons this week will be available to stream on ESPN+.

BGSU Schedule This Week
Tuesday, Oct. 28 | BGSU vs. Toledo | 6 p.m. | Orange Wave | Trick or Treat | ESPN+
Friday, Oct. 31 | BGSU at Miami (OH) | 6:30 p.m. | ESPN+
Saturday, Nov. 1 | BGSU at Miami (OH) | 4 p.m. | ESPN+

At The Match Tuesday

Tuesday Night will be Trick or Treat at the Stroh Center. Prior to the match, SAAC will be set up on the concourse handing out candy. Kids dressed in costumes will receive a free ticket to the match.
The Falcons will be hosting the Battle of I-75 with an Orange Wave. With a target goal of 2,500 fans in the building, all BGSU supporters are asked to wear orange for Bowling Green.
Before the match against the Rockets there will be a Chalk Talk for fans in the Schmidhorst Hall of Fame, beginning at 5:15 p.m.

Battle of I-75 Presented by Fremont Federal Credit Union

The Battle of I-75, presented by Fremont Federal Credit Union, is a head-to-head, points-based competition between Bowling Green and Toledo. The event promotes a friendly rivalry between the two NW Ohio schools.
Five points are on the line Tuesday. BGSU currently leads the series 21-5.
Visit bgsufalcons.com/sports/2025/9/26/battle-of-i-75 for more information and updated standings.

First Serve

Bowling Green begins the week against Toledo, concluding the regular season series against the Rockets. Toledo won the first match with a 3-1 final. There will be five points to claim in the Battle of I-75 series presented by Fremont Federal Credit Union.
The Falcons will transition back to the road for the weekend, facing Miami (OH) in Oxford. BGSU has won the last 12 meetings against the RedHawks.
Bowling Green enters the week leading the conference in blocks and blocks per set for the season with 217.5 total, averaging 2.42 per set. The total for the Falcons also ranks 11th in the nation.
Helen Wilford has contributed to mark, breaking into the nation's top 30 on her own as well. Wilford has totaled 102 blocks this season, ranking 27th in the nation and fourth in the MAC.
The Falcons rank second in the conference for opponent hitting percentage both overall and during MAC play. For the season, BGSU is holding opponents to a .182 mark with that number moving to .165 against MAC opponents.
As a team, Bowling Green has registered 1,042 assists this season, ranking 37th in the nation. In total, more than half the MAC ranks inside the nation's top 50 for the stat with seven making the list.

Take Two With Toledo
Since the last meeting between Bowling Green and Toledo the Rockets have posted a 3-3 record. UT swept a series against Northern Illinois, was swept by Ball State and split with Miami (OH). Each of the six matches went at least four sets, creating a streak of 10-straight four or five set matches for the Rockets. The last sweep for Toledo came in the MAC opener over Kent State. As for the MAC standings, Toledo enters tied with Western Michigan for second with an 8-3 MAC record.

BGSU vs. Toledo, All-Time
Bowling Green holds the all-time advantage over Toledo with a record of 61-19 over the 80 meetings. As for matches hosted in Bowling Green, the Falcons are 30-5 over the Rockets. However, Toledo has won two of the last four matches at BGSU with both of their wins going to five sets. In fact, each of the last 20 meetings have been either four or five set matches. The last sweep for either team in the series favored the Falcons at home with a 3-0 win on Oct. 25, 2008. As for the first meeting this season, Toledo won in four sets at Savage Arena.

Meeting With Miami
The RedHawks enter the week with an 11-12 record on the season while being 5-6 in MAC play. Like the Falcons, Miami (OH) has a Tuesday contest, heading to Ball State before taking on BGSU. Miami started the MAC schedule with a five-set win over Akron and a three-set sweep over Buffalo. However, since then, the RedHawks have posted a 3-6 record with the wins including a three-setter over NIU and a pair of five set wins over Kent State and Toledo.

BGSU vs. Miami (OH), All-Time
The Falcons and RedHawks have met 95 times previously in the series history with the series leaning to Miami, 55-41. Despite the overall, Bowling Green has dominated of late, winning 12-straight over the RedHawks as well as 15 of the last 16. The 12-match streak dates back to Oct. 10, 2019 in Oxford, giving BGSU a five-match winning streak inside Millett Hall that goes back to Oct. 20, 2021. Overall, Miami has the advantage when hosting the series with a record of 24-18 when the series is played in Oxford. Additionally, of the last six meetings, the Falcons have won five of them via three-set sweep.

You Get A Double-Double!
Over the two matches against Western Michigan, the Falcons had four different players log a double-double. In the first match, Avery Hobson posted her fifth double-double of the season, tying for the team-lead. As for the second match, Anastasija Bozic, Anna Sitek and Edyta Waclawczyk all posted double-doubles with Bozic and Waclawczyk logging the first of their careers. This season, BGSU has had a total of 19 double-doubles from six different players. In addition to Hobson, Lauryn Hovey and Amanda Otten both have five as well. Sitek has posted two while Bozic and Waclawczyk round out the list with one each.

Falcons At The Net
This season, the Falcons have proven to be one of the top teams in the MAC defensively. Bowling Green enters the week as the top team in the conference for blocks per set, averaging 2.42 for the season. Similarly, the Falcons rank second in opponent hitting percentage, holding teams to a mark of .182. As for MAC play only, it's a similar story. Against MAC opponents, the Falcons are holding teams to a .165 hitting percentage, again ranking second in the conference behind only WMU (.153).

Andrews Moving Up Record Book
Jessica Andrews moved up a few lists in the record book lately. Andrews is now up to third during the program's Rally Scoring Era in both career solo blocks (56) and career total blocks (431) with the total ranking eighth all-time. As for block assists, Andrews has 375 as a Falcon, ranking fourth during the Rally Scoring Era and sixth all-time. For the Rally Scoring Era, Andrews is chasing Katie Kidwell who holds the record in all three. Kidwell finished with 608 total blocks, consisting of 80 solo and 528 block assists.

Hernandez Digging In
Over the last two weeks, Sydnie Hernandez has moved up the MAC charts for digs per set. Combining the Ball State and Western Michigan matches, Hernandez totaled 79 digs, including two 20-dig matches, averaging 4.39 digs per set. The stretch improved Hernandez's average during MAC play to 4.23, sitting fourth in the conference. For the season, Hernandez has recorded a team-leading 345 digs with four 20-dig matches, including a career-high 26 in the five-set match against Ball State.

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