Mario Bautista
BGSU volleyball improved to 7-6 as they dominated the Ball State Cardinals (7-6) in a three-set sweep with scores of 25-12, 25-23, and 25-13. With the series win, the Falcons now move to 2-0 in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play.
“We were pushed a little, but we played to our standard, and I am happy that we are leaving this place with two wins,” said head coach Danijela Tomic. “When you have all options open there’s a lot of stress to our opponent’s defense, we can create many opportunities but it is up to us to execute, we were consistently good, and occasionally we were great.”
The Falcons recorded a season-best .305 hitting percentage in the match while holding the Cardinals to a mark of just .021, which is the lowest hitting percentage by a Bowling Green opponent so far this season.
Here is how the game played out:
First Set:
The set started back and forth offensively as both junior opposite hitters, Bowling Green’s Lauryn Hovey and Ball State’s Madison Buckley, each had a pair of early kills. The Falcons gained early momentum as Ball State committed a few errors and senior outside hitter Mia Tyler took advantage with a few kills of her own, forcing Ball State to call the first timeout with a score of 10-5 for the Falcons.
Bowling Green’s offense came out hot of the first timeout as they went on an impressive 12-2 run highlighted by Tyler that forced Ball State to call their second timeout very early on in the first set.
The Cardinals had multiple errors that the Falcons had no problem taking advantage of in this first set. The Cardinals had 10 attack errors compared to the Falcons three. Tyler was virtually unstoppable in the first set as she had five kills, which helped the Falcons win the set 25-12.
Second Set:
The second set started great for the Falcons as sophomore setter Amanda Otten got three service aces to give the Falcons an early 5-1 advantage. Once again, Bowling Green got off to an early lead thanks to Otten’s early service aces and a pair of Jordan Newblatt kills for a 9-3 Falcon advantage.
The Cardinals showed more confidence later in the set, as a couple of attack errors from the Falcons and a couple of kills from Buckley kept the Cardinals in the set heading into the second timeout with an 11-8 Falcon advantage.
The set got a lot closer than the Falcons would have liked as Ball State kept chipping away at the lead little by little. Buckley and Tyler have been offensive juggernauts for each of their teams heading into the second timeout with a 22-19 Bowling Green advantage.
Some communication errors by the Falcons allowed Ball State to get back into the game and tie things up at 22-22. Luckily for the Falcons, the reliable Hovey got a clutch kill to give the Falcons the set with a score of 25-23.
Third Set:
The third set started just like the previous two had: an early run for the Falcons and attacking errors for the Cardinals. An early timeout was again called by the Cardinals with a 6-1 Falcon lead.
Any shred of momentum that the Cardinals get, Tyler and the Falcons stop it with a powerful kill. Players like Hovey, Tyler, and Newblatt have very spread out the offense in this one set by the Falcons.
One of the more surprising things during this game is the number of errors committed by redshirt sophomore outside hitter Aniya Kennedy during this set and in the game in general. She is one of Ball State’s better offensive players, and her lack of offense has shown as the Falcons continue to dominate the set.
The game ends with how it has gone all day for the Cardinals, with an attack error.
The main thing that stood out in the game was the difference in attack errors, with the Cardinals having 26 while the Falcons only had 10. The offense was very spread out throughout the whole game; the two Falcons leading the way were Tyler with 11 kills and Hovey with 10 kills.
Next up, the Orange and Brown travel to Savage Arena on Tuesday, Oct. 1, to take on their rivals, the Toledo Rockets. Falcon Media Sports Network’s Ben Corak and Chas McNeil have the call for the game starting at 5:45 p.m. on WBGU 88.1 FM.
