Falcons Down Austin Peay in Four Sets

Friday, September 11

Cincinnati, Ohio

3 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

6-1,0-0MAC

Austin Peay

4-3,0-0UAC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Bowling Green	25	21	25	26	3
Austin Peay	21	25	21	24	1

Team huddles after a point against Northern Kentucky at the Stroh Center.

Photo by: Drake Harlett, BGSU Athletics

September 11, 2026 | Volleyball

Box Score Support Our Student-Athletes

The Falcons Won Their Third Straight Match to Improve to 6-1

By: by Sam Hughes, BGSU Athletics

Cincinnati, Ohio – Sophomore Karli Molnau exploded for a seaon-high x kills on x attempts to hit at a .xxx efficiency to lead Bowling Green to a 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-21, 26-24) victory over Austin Peay in the opening match of the Xavier Invitational Friday afternoon at the Cintas Center.

The Falcons won its third straight match and improved to 6-1 overall. Austin Peay slipped to a 4-3 overall mark with the loss, snapping a two-match win streak.

Sophomore Anastasija Bozic aided Molnau's efforts with 15 kills throughout the contest. Senior Amanda Otten dished out a team-high 32 assists while Sydnie Hernandez collected 13 digs.

For the Governors, Nicole Okojie landed 10 kills on 15 attempts to hit at a match-high .667 clip. Brooklyn Merrell handed out 17 assists while teammate Sarah Butler added 14. Reagan Anderson was led all players with 16 digs.

Austin Peay opened the match by taking five of the first seven points, but Bowling Green mounted a response to even up the score at 9-9. With the contest level at 12-12, the Falcons outscored the Governors 13-9 for the remainder of the set to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Governors evened up the match in the second set, using a pair of 6-2 runs throughout the set to take the frame by a 25-21 margin.

In the third frame, BGSU won seven of the set's initial nine points and went on to build a 20-11 advantage. Austin Peay responded with a 9-2 run to draw within two points. After Bowling Green called a timeout, Molnau and Bozic teamed up with back-to-back kills to close out the set and retake the lead in the match.

The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair that featured five lead changes and 13 tie scores. Austin Peay forced set point with a block to take a 24-23 lead, however, Molnau evened up the score with her 19^th kill of the contest. The Falcons subbed in sophomore Kate Eigner who aced the serve to force match point before Bozic sealed the deal with a kill on the ensuing point.

Falcon Facts

Bowling Green matched up with Austin Peay for the first time in program history.
Molnau's 19 kills are the most as a Falcon and tie her career-high set during her time at Loyola Chicago in the A-10 Championship against VCU.
Bozic notched her second double-double of the season. BGSU has recorded four double-doubles this season with Bozic and Otten each accounting for two.
Helen Wilford registered back-to-back matches with six blocks and has tallied five-or-more in five of the Falcons' seven matches this season.
Bowling Green held Austin Peay to a .158 hitting efficiency. The Falcons have limited their opponents to hit under .200 in all six victories this season.

Up Next
The Falcons finish out play in the Xavier Invitational with doubleheader tomorrow. BGSU is scheduled to battle Saint Louis at 10 a.m. before matching up with host Xavier at 7:30 p.m.

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