PERRYSBURG — With five straight Northern Lakes League championships, Bowling Green’s volleyball team goes
into each league match with the expectation to win.
Thursday at Perrysburg High School was no different, as the Bobcats came out strong to start and finished
off their match with the Yellow Jackets in three games, 25-14, 25-21, 25-21.
BG is 6-2 overall and 6-0 in the NLL. Perrysburg is 6-3, 4-2. [SEE
PHOTO GALLERY]
The Bobcats scored eight of the first nine points in Game 1 and though Perrysburg battled, the Bobcats’
consistent play throughout the match was too much for the ’Jackets to overcome.
“It was a little closer than I would have liked it to be at times,” BG head coach Deb Coan-Mathias said.
“(Perrysburg) had quite a few runs on us, which is something that we obviously need to adjust to.”
Still, the Bobcats had its key players step up when needed, most notably senior outside hitter Ashley
Dunn. Dunn, who recently made a verbal commitment to Bowling Green State University to play volleyball,
led BG with 14 kills while adding 11 digs and two aces.
“I expect that from her,” Coan-Mathias said of Dunn.
“This was really important to stay on top of the league and not let up, don’t show any weakness,” Dunn
said. “We don’t want to lose anything. This league is really important to us. We’ve won five years in a
row and no one wants to be the grade to let that down. We just want to keep the winning tradition
alive.”
But Dunn wasn’t the only Bobcat making plays, as sophomore Chelsea Watson played big in the middle. The
6-foot-2 Watson, who at age 14 is one of BG’s youngest players, finished with 10 kills.
“I actually have high expectations for Chelsea Watson and she really came through and played her game
tonight,” Coan-Mathias said.
Also having solid games for BG were Jordan Dunn, 32 assists, 12 digs, two aces and Jordan Garza, 23 digs.

For Perrysburg, which had some momentum in Game 2 when it led 16-15 after a kill by sophomore Jessica
Doore, there wasn’t enough consistent play to beat a team like BG.
“Had we came out stronger we probably would have played better the entire match. The slow start really
took the energy from the entire match. It was hard to come back from that,” Perrysburg coach Rachel
Spitulski said. “I don’t think that they quit at all. I think BG just played their game and got back
into the game exactly how they should have been and did their jobs.”
Leaders for the ’Jackets were: Bailey BredenbeckCorp, 14 assists; Stephanie Messenger, 18 digs; Erin
Mesker, six kills; Emily Treece, five kills; and Lindsay Matolyak, 11 digs.
Both teams have one more match to complete the first round of matches in the NLL. BG is yet to face
Anthony Wayne while Perrysburg is still to face Rossford. Each team plays 14 league matches.
“I’m never too confident until it’s over,” Coan-Mathias said. “I never like to say I’m confident because
anything can happen in this league and you never know, somebody always beats somebody you don’t expect
them to … I don’t take anything for granted.”
“I think it’s possibility,” Spitulski said of Perrysburg’s chances of contending for the NLL title. “I
think there’s a lot of teams that have beat teams that people didn’t expect. I think there’s definitely
a battle still. I definitely see us still placing in the top half at least, if not better.”