KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Bowling Green State University volleyball program picked up their second five-set victory of the season on Saturday, besting the Western Michigan Broncos 3-2.
The Falcons were led by freshman Lauryn Hovey who registered the program’s first triple-double since 2019, finishing with 22 assists, 13 kills and 11 digs. Katelyn Meyer moved up in the history books for the Falcons, logging a team-high 16 kills to move into second all-time for career kills with 1,566.
The Falcons battled back after falling in the first set to win both the second and third sets of the match. Western Michigan was able to force a fifth set with a fourth set win, but Bowling Green secured the victory in the fifth set to remain a perfect 2-0 in five-set matches this season. Petra Indrova and Jaden Walz each added a double-double to the effort while Yelianiz Torres tallied her second consecutive 20-dig match.
The win moves the Falcons to 10-7 on the season and 5-1 within the Mid-American Conference.
How It Happened
Set 1: Western Michigan 25, Bowling Green 19
The first stoppage of the match came with the score at 11-6 Western Michigan via a Bowling Green timeout.
The Falcons again paused the action with a timeout, trailing 17-8 in the first set.
A 3-0 run for BGSU later in the set pulled the score to 21-13 WMU. Another 3-0 run for the Falcons pushed the score to 23-17 and forced a timeout from the Broncos.
The Falcons continued the late push, but the first set went to Western Michigan 25-19.
Set 2: Bowling Green 25, Western Michigan 21
The Falcons put together an early 3-0 run in the second set to take a 3-1 lead, but the Broncos soon battled back to tie it up at 4-4.
BGSU had another 3-0 run later in the set to take a 13-9 lead, taking a 15-10 advantage into the media timeout.
Coming out of a BGSU timeout, the Falcons went on a 3-1 stretch to move the score to 20-16 Bowling Green and force a timeout from Western Michigan.
Out of their own timeout, the Broncos went on a 3-0 run to cut the deficit to 20-19 and prompt Bowling Green to burn their second timeout.
The Falcons were able to close out the set with a 4-1 stretch to take the second set 25-21 and even the match at 1-1.
Set 3: Bowling Green 25, Western Michigan 22
The third set began close before a 4-0 run allowed the Falcons to create a 14-10 lead to force a timeout from Western Michigan. The run continued for Bowling Green coming out of the timeout, extending to 6-0 to give the Falcons a 16-10 advantage.
Western Michigan was able to regroup and create a 3-0 run, cutting into the lead at 18-15.
The next stoppage came from a Western Michigan timeout with the Falcons out in front 22-17.
A 4-1 stretch for the Broncos trimmed the BGSU lead to 24-21 with the Falcons pausing the action with a timeout.
Lauryn Hovey soon landed the final kill of the set, giving Bowling Green the set 25-22.
Set 4: Western Michigan 25, Bowling Green 18
A 4-0 run early in the set for Western Michigan prompted a Bowling Green timeout with the score at 9-7 WMU. The run extended to 5-0 for WMU, taking a 10-7 lead.
The Broncos had another 3-0 run later in the set to extend their lead to 16-12. The score moved to 20-16 when the Falcons took a timeout.
A Western Michigan run carried through the timeout, extending to 6-0 with a 24-16 lead. The Broncos took the set 25-18 to force a fifth set.
Set 5: Bowling Green 15, Western Michigan 12
An early 3-0 run for the Falcons pushed BGSU ahead 4-2 in the fifth set. The Falcons held the lead, taking a 10-7 advantage into a Western Michigan timeout.
The lead increased to 12-8 at the next stoppage, being the second WMU timeout of the set.
The Falcons were able to hold on for the set, 15-12, to secure the 3-2 win.
Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Katelyn Meyer (16)
Assists: Jaden Walz (30)
Digs: Yelianiz Torres (22)
Aces: Alexis Mettille (2)
Blocks: Lauryn Hovey, Alexis Mettille (7)
Falcon Stats
Meyer tallied a team-high 16 kills for the Falcons, bringing her career total to 1,566 and moving her into second all-time in program history. Meyer passes Paige Penrod who totaled 1,574 kills from 2010-13. Meyer ended the night with a .302 hitting percentage and matched her season-high for attack attempts with 43 for the second straight match.
Hovey registered the program’s first triple-double since the 2019 season and became the 26th player in the NCAA this year to have one. Hovey ended the match with 22 assists, 13 kills and 11 digs. Hovey also added seven block assists, tied for the team-lead, to her stat line, coming just three shy of a quadruple-double. The 11 digs and seven block assists were also both new career-highs for Hovey.
Indrova logged her sixth double-double of the season and second of the weekend, concluding the night with 14 kills and 12 digs.
Jaden Walz joined the double-double parade with a team-high 30 assists to go with 12 digs. That will go down as Walz’s seventh double-double this season. The 30 assists and 12 digs for Walz were both just one shy of tying her season-high for each respective stat.
Torres led the team in digs with her second consecutive 20-dig match. Torres finished with 22 digs, marking her sixth 20-dig match of the season. The night also brings Torres’ season total for digs to 288, setting a new single-season-high for her collegiate career. Her previous high stood at 285 from 2021.
Mettille tied for the team-high in block assists on the night with seven. The total set a new career-high for Mettille. She added a career-high seven kills to her stat line, going along with a team-high .538 hitting percentage.
Mia Tyler was the fourth Falcon to reach double-digit kills on the night, logging 10.
Julia Walz finished the night second on the team for digs with 15, setting a new season-high.
With the win, the Falcons have now won nine of the last 10 meetings against Western Michigan, including five straight in Kalamazoo.
Bowling Green is now 2-0 in five-set matches this season. This is also the first time this season the Falcons have won the match after losing the first set.
The Falcons will return home to the Stroh Center next weekend, hosting Central Michigan for two matches. Friday’s match is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start and will be Pride Night. Saturday is set for 4 p.m.
