FINDLAY — Bowling Green’s volleyball team came painfully close to pulling off a stunning comeback Tuesday
in its Division I district semifinal with Findlay, the 10th-ranked team in the state.
Unfortunately for the Bobcats, there was not enough left in their tank to finish off the upset over a
talented Trojan team. [SEE
PHOTO GALLERY]
After controlling the first two games, Findlay (21-3) held on to win the match in five, 25-13, 25-18,
20-25, 11-25, 15-10. The match was played at Liberty-Benton High School.
The Bobcats, ranked 18th in the final Division I state poll, finish the season at 18-5 overall.
“We just came up a little bit short in the end,” said BG coach Deb Coan-Mathias.
“They could have just rolled over and died and they didn’t do that,” she added of her team. “They came
back and they showed that they’re fighters and they’re a good program. They’re a good team and they
deserve to be out here playing with these guys.”
BG didn’t hold a lead until going ahead 9-8 in the third game, falling victim to Findlay’s quick-strike
offense that had the Bobcats off-balance.
“It’s hard for them to adjust to that really quick, fast offense,” Coan-Mathias said. “It’s like culture
shock because we’re not used to that.”
But BG regrouped, and after a lineup change, began to take over the match in the third and fourth games.

“I switched my lineup, made a couple adjustments, tried to match up a couple people and it worked. The
problem is we just couldn’t pull it out at the end,” Coan-Mathias said. “I can guarantee you if that
fifth game would have been to 25 I think the game would have swung a little bit differently.”
Even with the momentum of winning two straight games to tie the match and then jumping out to a 5-2 lead
in the fifth, BG couldn’t hold on.
Findlay, which swept BG in the teams’ match earlier in the season, scored 13 of the final 18 points to
close out the match.
“This is our first five-game match, and we just weren’t prepared for it,” Coan-Mathias said. “We made too
many unforced errors. We got down and that’s pretty much it. You can’t make that many errors, especially
in a game that only goes to 15 points. You’ve got to have a clean game and the problem was we didn’t.”

The Bobcats got solid matches from their veterans, as senior Ashley Dunn led the team with 16 kills and
five service aces while adding 10 digs. Her cousin and fellow senior Jordan Dunn finished with 39
assists, 14 digs, and three aces.
Sophomore Chelsea Watson had several impressive kills during the match, finishing with 11. Senior libero
Jordan Garza had 19 digs, while sophomore Kelsey Lahey had seven kills and freshman Sarah Sikula
finished with six kills.
The matchup between the two state-ranked teams was not officially announced until late Monday night, as
there was some confusion as to which team BG would actually play in the district semifinals.
Both BG and Findlay advanced from the Otsego High School sectional, and it was thought that the two could
cross over and play the Mansfield district qualifiers and possibly meet up in the district finals rather
than the semifinals.
“It’s tough to go out like this, in a situation where you’ve got two state-ranked teams playing each
other, especially in district semis,” Coan-Mathias said. “It should have been in district finals, I
think. I really wish the district would consider doing a crossover.”
Lima Senior (19-5) won the first semifinal of the night in three games over Ashland (11-14).
This is the second consecutive season Findlay has ended the Bobcats’ season at districts.
BG did win its sixth straight Northern Lakes League title this season.
“We’ve got a good program and it’s going to continue to get better. We just have to keep working
forward,” Coan-Mathias said. “I’m really proud of the effort they gave all season. They had a great
season.”