Photo by: Jack Walsh, BGSU Athletics
October 21, 2026 | Volleyball
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball team returns home for two matches against Central Michigan on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23-24. Friday's match is scheduled for 6 p.m. while first serve on Saturday is slated for 4 p.m. Both matches will be available on ESPN+.
Weekend Schedule
Friday, October 23
Central Michigan at Bowling Green | 6 p.m. | ESPN+
Saturday, October 24
Central Michigan at Bowling Green | 4 p.m. | ESPN+
Â
At The MatchesÂ
Friday | Falcon Friday Family Pack/ Trick or Treat at the Stroh
- Student-athletes will on the concourse of the Stroh handing out candy, beginning at 5 p.m.!
- Anyone wearing a costume can get free admission into the match!
- Get 4 game tickets and 4 $5 food vouchers, all for only $40! Â
Saturday | Teal Attack
- The first 1,000 fans will receive a free teal rally towel.
- BG Athletics will be distributing the fourth edition of the BGSU Volleyball trading cards!
- Following the match, fans are invited to stay for post-match autographs!
First Serve - The Falcons return home for a two-match weekend series with Central Michigan on Oct. 23-24. First serve on Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m. while Saturday's match is slated for a 4 p.m. start. Both matches will be available on ESPN+.
- BGSU has won seven of its eight conference contests this season for the sixth time in the past ten years.
- Bowling Green averages 17.65 points, 13.1 assists and 2.61 blocks per set during conference play. Each of those figures lead the MAC through the initial eight matches.
- The Orange and Brown have recorded 14 double-doubles this season which leads the conference. Sophomore Anastasija Bozic leads the charge with six double-doubles while senior teammate Amanda Otten has posted five. Sophomore Avery Hobson has added three.
- Otten has tallied 2,981 career assists and sits 138 away from surpassing Amber Mareski (2002-04) for third-most in the Rally Scoring Era and sixth place on the all-time leaderboard.
- Junior Sydnie Hernandez collected her 1,000th career dig in last Friday's victory at Buffalo. She sits 44 digs away from tenth-most in the Rally Scoring Era, currently held by Yelianiz Torres (2019-22).
- Opponents are hitting at a frigid .165-clip against the Falcons' who own the lowest opponent attack percentage in program history at this point in a season since the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign (.148). That .165 mark is the lowest by any MAC team and is the 22nd lowest in the nation.
- BGSU has amassed 196.5 total blocks this season which leads the conference and is 11th-most among the nation. In last Friday's win over Buffalo, the Falcons were credited with 14.0 blocks which is the third-highest single-match total for BGSU this season and the second-highest in their eight conference matches.
- Four Falcons have at least 95 kills this season: Hobson (271), Bozic (252), Karli Molnau (186) and Helen Wilford (95).
- Sophomore Cecily Waynar ranks second among the team with 79 total blocks and has recorded five-or-more blocks in seven matches this season. When Waynar led the team in blocks, BGSU posted a perfect 5-0 record.
KEEPING 'EM QUIET
Bowling Green has held opposing hitters to a combined .165 hitting percentage throughout the 2026 season and has held conference opponents to a .155-clip. Overall, the Falcons have limited opponents to 877 kills while forcing 436 attacking errors on 2,665 attempts. BGSU has held opponents below the .200 mark in 15 matches this season.
Â
LOCKED IN ON DEFENSE
Bowling Green continues its best defensive start for the program in six seasons with a .169 opponent attack percentage. That is the program's lowest opponent attack percentage through 17 matches since the 2020-21 season. During that COVID-shortened campaign, when BGSU played a MAC-only schedule, opponents hit just .157 through the first 15 contests. Since then, Falcon opponents have hit .200 (2021), .202 (2022), .220 (2023), .212 (2024), and .200 (2025) through 17 contests.
Â
OTTEN EYES 3,000
Senior setter Amanda Otten continues to move up Bowling Green's career assists list leaderboard during her final season. Otten entered 2026 with 2,333 career assists after three seasons in Orange and Brown and has since moved into fourth-most during the Rally Scoring Era and seventh-most all-time with 2,902 assists. Otten sits 217 assists away from claiming the third-place spot in the Rally Scoring Era and sixth-place all time by surpassing Amber Mareski (2002-04) who amassed 3,119 career assists. The all-time record belongs to Linda Popovich, who recorded 4,406 assists from 1986-89 and Isabelle Marciniak's 3,916 assists (2016-19) are the most in the Rally Scoring Era. Otten's 2024 season, when she totaled 1,179 assists, ranks seventh on BGSU's Rally Scoring Era single-season list.
Â
FALCON FIREWALL
Bowling Green's success this season has been anchored by one of the MAC's top blocking units. The Falcons have recorded 196.5 total blocks, averaging 2.66 blocks per set. Bowling Green's total blocks figure ranks 11th among the nation while the Falcons' blocks per set is the 27th-best in the NCAA. BGSU has amassed 307 block assists and 43 solo blocks through 19 matches this season.
Â
WILFORD'S BLOCKBUSTER SEASON
Helen Wilford has been at the forefront of the Falcon's blocking success, leading the conference in total blocks (99) and blocks per set (1.39) with her total blocks ranking 11th-most in the nation. The redshirt junior enters this weekend with 243 career block assists, 33 career solo blocks, and 276 total career blocks, putting her within striking distance of several top-10 spots in the rally-scoring era record book. Wilford needs four block assists and three solo blocks to move into the top 10 in each of those categories. Her 19 solo blocks this season are already among the MAC leaders and leave her just one away from the rally-scoring era top 10 for a single season, held by Jelena Sunjic (2015).
Â
THE BIG FOUR
Bowling Green's offense has continued to produce at a high level, hitting at a .230-clip as a team with 1,014 kills on 2,717 attempts, while averaging 13.7 kills per set. BGSU has utilized an attack that is led by Avery Hobson's 271 kills, Anastasija Bozic's 252 kills, Karli Molnau's 186 kills and Cecily Waynar's 105 kills, giving the Falcons four players that have tallied triple digit kills this season. The quartet has combined for 814 of Bowling Green's 1,014 kills (80.3%), helping the Falcons maintain one of the MAC's most consistent attacks.
Â
NO PLACE LIKE STROH
The Falcons enter this weekend with a 7-2 overall record at home this season which includes winning all four conference matches that have taken place inside the Stroh Center. In those nine home matches, BGSU has recorded 488 kills on 1,279 attempts to hit at a .247-clip.
Up Next
The Falcons return home for a two-match weekend against Central Michigan on Friday, Oct. 23Â and Saturday, Oct. 24. Friday's contest is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start while Saturday's match is slated for a 4 p.m. start. Both matches will air live on ESPN+.
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 - @bgsuvolleyballÂ
YouTube - 'Falcon Athletics'
Bowling Green has held opposing hitters to a combined .165 hitting percentage throughout the 2026 season and has held conference opponents to a .155-clip. Overall, the Falcons have limited opponents to 877 kills while forcing 436 attacking errors on 2,665 attempts. BGSU has held opponents below the .200 mark in 15 matches this season.
Â
LOCKED IN ON DEFENSE
Bowling Green continues its best defensive start for the program in six seasons with a .169 opponent attack percentage. That is the program's lowest opponent attack percentage through 17 matches since the 2020-21 season. During that COVID-shortened campaign, when BGSU played a MAC-only schedule, opponents hit just .157 through the first 15 contests. Since then, Falcon opponents have hit .200 (2021), .202 (2022), .220 (2023), .212 (2024), and .200 (2025) through 17 contests.
Â
OTTEN EYES 3,000
Senior setter Amanda Otten continues to move up Bowling Green's career assists list leaderboard during her final season. Otten entered 2026 with 2,333 career assists after three seasons in Orange and Brown and has since moved into fourth-most during the Rally Scoring Era and seventh-most all-time with 2,902 assists. Otten sits 217 assists away from claiming the third-place spot in the Rally Scoring Era and sixth-place all time by surpassing Amber Mareski (2002-04) who amassed 3,119 career assists. The all-time record belongs to Linda Popovich, who recorded 4,406 assists from 1986-89 and Isabelle Marciniak's 3,916 assists (2016-19) are the most in the Rally Scoring Era. Otten's 2024 season, when she totaled 1,179 assists, ranks seventh on BGSU's Rally Scoring Era single-season list.
Â
FALCON FIREWALL
Bowling Green's success this season has been anchored by one of the MAC's top blocking units. The Falcons have recorded 196.5 total blocks, averaging 2.66 blocks per set. Bowling Green's total blocks figure ranks 11th among the nation while the Falcons' blocks per set is the 27th-best in the NCAA. BGSU has amassed 307 block assists and 43 solo blocks through 19 matches this season.
Â
WILFORD'S BLOCKBUSTER SEASON
Helen Wilford has been at the forefront of the Falcon's blocking success, leading the conference in total blocks (99) and blocks per set (1.39) with her total blocks ranking 11th-most in the nation. The redshirt junior enters this weekend with 243 career block assists, 33 career solo blocks, and 276 total career blocks, putting her within striking distance of several top-10 spots in the rally-scoring era record book. Wilford needs four block assists and three solo blocks to move into the top 10 in each of those categories. Her 19 solo blocks this season are already among the MAC leaders and leave her just one away from the rally-scoring era top 10 for a single season, held by Jelena Sunjic (2015).
Â
THE BIG FOUR
Bowling Green's offense has continued to produce at a high level, hitting at a .230-clip as a team with 1,014 kills on 2,717 attempts, while averaging 13.7 kills per set. BGSU has utilized an attack that is led by Avery Hobson's 271 kills, Anastasija Bozic's 252 kills, Karli Molnau's 186 kills and Cecily Waynar's 105 kills, giving the Falcons four players that have tallied triple digit kills this season. The quartet has combined for 814 of Bowling Green's 1,014 kills (80.3%), helping the Falcons maintain one of the MAC's most consistent attacks.
Â
NO PLACE LIKE STROH
The Falcons enter this weekend with a 7-2 overall record at home this season which includes winning all four conference matches that have taken place inside the Stroh Center. In those nine home matches, BGSU has recorded 488 kills on 1,279 attempts to hit at a .247-clip.
Up Next
The Falcons return home for a two-match weekend against Central Michigan on Friday, Oct. 23Â and Saturday, Oct. 24. Friday's contest is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start while Saturday's match is slated for a 4 p.m. start. Both matches will air live on ESPN+.
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 - @bgsuvolleyballÂ
YouTube - 'Falcon Athletics'
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
OPP/MB
/ Volleyball
S/RS
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
MB
/ VolleyballSunday, October 11
Saturday, October 10
Saturday, September 26
Friday, September 25