YPSILANTI, Mich. – Bowling Green State University volleyball battled the Eastern Michigan Eagles in five sets on Friday, losing on the road.
The Falcons won the first set before the Eagles evened the match at 1-1 with a second set win. The third and fourth sets played out similarly with BGSU jumping out in front before Eastern Michigan evened the score. In the fifth set, the Eagles were able to come out on top, handing the Falcons just their second MAC loss of the season.
The Falcons were led by three student-athletes reaching double-digit kills and four student-athletes reaching double-digit digs. Lauryn Hovey led the way statistically with her second triple-double of the season, becoming the 13th player in the nation, and just the third freshman, to register multiple triple-doubles this season. Hovey concluded with 20 assists, 13 kills and 10 digs. Petra Indrova (15) and Mia Tyler (13) joined Hovey in double-digit kills while Yelianiz Torres (23), Julia Walz (10) and Indrova (10) reached double-digit digs.
How It Happened
Set 1: Bowling Green 25, Eastern Michigan 21
Eastern Michigan took an early lead in the match following a 4-0 run to go up 9-5 in the first set. The Falcons paused the action with a timeout.
The Eagles tallied two more points out of the timeout to extend the run to 6-0 and push the lead to 11-5. After the Falcon point, EMU added another 3-0 run to make it a 9-1 stretch and bring the score to 14-6 Eastern Michigan.
The Falcons responded with a 4-0 run to bring the score to 15-12.
BGSU quickly put together another run, this time 3-0 and capped by an Alexis Mettille ace, to prompt a timeout from the Eagles with the score at 17-16 EMU.
The 3-0 runs continued to come for the Falcons, utilizing another to take the lead at 20-18. The lead would grow to 22-19 for Bowling Green before Eastern Michigan called a timeout.
The Falcons were able to hold the lead through the end of the set, capturing a 25-21 first set win.
Set 2: Eastern Michigan 25, Bowling Green 19
The Falcons and Eagles played to the media timeout of the second set without a stoppage. The two teams traded points to a 15-12 EMU score at the break.
Eastern Michigan slowly added to their lead, taking a 19-14 advantage into a Bowling Green timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Falcons went on a 3-0 run to cut the EMU lead down to 19-17 and force an Eastern Michigan timeout.
Despite the BGSU push, the Eagles held on for the second set to even the match.
Set 3: Bowling Green 25, Eastern Michigan 16
The Falcons put together a 4-0 run early in the third set to take a 12-8 lead. The run was capped by an effort play with Yelianiz Torres diving to keep the ball up before an Alexis Mettille kill.
The 4-0 run for BGSU turned into a 7-2 stretch that carried into the media timeout with a 15-10 lead.
BGSU tallied two more points out of the media break, including Mettille’s third ace of the night, to force a timeout from the EMU bench.
The Falcons remained in front and continued to add to their lead, holding a 22-14 lead at the next Eastern Michigan timeout.
BGSU stayed in front to claim the third set on Lauryn Hovey’s 10th kill of the night to clinch a double-double and bring the third set to a 25-16 final.
Set 4: Eastern Michigan 25, Bowling Green 17
The fourth set began close as Eastern Michigan slowly built a lead before a Bowling Green timeout paused the action with the score at 14-11.
EMU went on a 4-1 stretch out of the timeout to move the score to 18-12 and bring the second BGSU timeout of the set.
The Eagles claimed the fourth set by a score of 25-17 to force a fifth set.
Set 5: Eastern Michigan 15, Bowling Green 9
The Falcons tallied the first two points of the fifth set, but a 4-0 run pushed EMU in front 4-2 and prompted a BGSU timeout.
The lead for Eastern Michigan stretched to 7-3 at the next stoppage, coming from the second Bowling Green timeout of the set.
The Falcons came battling back with a 3-0 run later in the set to close the gap to 13-9 and force a timeout from Eastern Michigan.
Eastern Michigan held on for the set and match with a 15-9 fifth set score.
Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Petra Indrova (15)
Assists: Jaden Walz (25)
Digs: Yelianiz Torres (23)
Aces: Alexis Mettille (3)
Blocks: Alexis Mettille (2)
Falcon Stats
Hovey tallied her second triple-double of the season, concluding the match with 20 assists, 13 kills and 10 assists. Hovey is the 13th player, and just the third freshman, in the nation to register multiple triple-doubles this season.
Indrova logged her eighth double-double for the Falcons, finishing with a team-high 15 kills and 10 digs.
Torres led Bowling Green in digs with 23, marking her eighth 20-dig match this season.
Mia Tyler registered a career-high 13 kills for the Falcons on a career-high 39 attack attempts, tying for second on the team. Tyler added seven digs, also a career-high, to her stat line.
Jaden Walz paced the Falcons with 25 assists and added nine digs, coming just one shy of a double-double.
Julia Walz concluded the match with 10 digs, giving the Falcons four players in double-digit digs for the match.
“A tough loss that we will need to learn from and put behind us fast,” said BGSU coach Danijela Tomic.“EMU was a better team tonight and earned the win with the way they competed and executed. We struggled to get in an offensive rhythm and made too many errors. We have a chance to show that we learned a valuable lesson and redeem ourselves tomorrow.”
The Falcons and Eagles will conclude their weekend series on Saturday with a 4 p.m. first serve in Ypsilanti. The Falcons will then return home next weekend to host Ball State on Oct. 28 and Toledo on Oct. 29.
