PITTSBURGH — At the Panther Challenge Bowling Green State University volleyball opened against Towson Friday morning, and the Falcons came up short, 25-15, 25-23, 29-27 Friday.
In the second match of the day, Bowling Green took on No. 7 Pittsburgh and played a tough match against the Panthers.
The Falcons saw eight different players land a kill in the match and matched Pitt with seven total blocks as a team but fell short, 25-17, 25-16, 25-19 in the match.
“I am proud of how our team responded after the first disappointing loss and performance this morning,” BGSU coach Danijela Tomic said.
“Playing one of the best teams in the nation on their home court is a big challenge for anyone. I am proud of how we embraced the challenge and played with grit and the level of effort that made us hold our heads high even though we lost.”
With her first assist of the third set against Towson, BGSU 5-foot-7 junior setter Jaden Walz brought her season assist total to 131, marking a new single-season-high for her collegiate career.
As for the match against Pitt, Walz logged her first two block assists of the season.
Against Towson, BGSU’s 5-7 senior defensive specialist Yeliantz Torres tallied a season-high 24 digs to register her third 20-plus dig match of the season.
Lindsey LaPitna tallied eight digs against Towson to begin the weekend, logging a new career high as a Falcon.
Against Pittsburgh, BGSU 6-0 freshman outside hitter Lauryn Hovey led the Falcons with 11 kills, recording a new single-season-high for the freshman outside hitter. Hovey also landed her first collegiate ace in the match.
There were other areas of both matches that impressed Tomic.
“Our serve receive game was strong in both matches today and our serving is getting better. We still need to work on reducing our hitting errors and do a better job of bettering the ball in every situation,” Tomic said.
“We learned a lot about ourselves and got better today. We have another chance tomorrow to bounce back and earn a win against another tough opponent.”
The Falcons will round out their weekend in Pittsburgh on Saturday against American University.
