The Bowling Green State University volleyball team battled the Akron Zips through five sets on Friday at the Stroh Center, capturing a 3-2 victory.
The Falcons were able to jump out in front with a first set win, but the Zips came surging back, taking the second and third sets. The Falcons were able to rally from behind to win the fourth set to force a fifth, taking the final set by a 15-11 score.
Petra Indrova paced the Falcons’ offense with 16 kills followed closely by Mia Tyler’s 15 kills with a .414 hitting percentage. Lauryn Hovey added 11 kills on the attack while Alexis Mettille contributed 10 on a .667 hitting percentage. As for the defensive side, Yelianiz Torres logged a season-high 34 digs for the Falcons in the victory. The win moves BGSU to 16-9 on the season while being 11-3 within conference play.
How It Happened
Set 1: Bowling Green 25, Akron 19
The Falcons tallied a 4-0 run to start the match, but Akron quickly closed the gap with a 3-0 run of their own. The match continued through to the media timeout of the first set with BGSU up 15-12 at the break.
The Zips continued to chip away at the lead, utilizing a 3-0 run to tie the score at 17-17 and prompt a Bowling Green timeout.
The Falcons quickly logged two points of the timeout to reclaim the lead at 19-17 with Akron electing to use a timeout of their own.
The run continued for the Falcons, tallying three more points to extend the run to 5-0. The Zips burned their second timeout to pause the action with the score at 22-17.
The momentum held for the Falcons as they closed out the set with a 25-19 score to go up 1-0 for the match.
Set 2: Akron 25, Bowling Green 18
The first stoppage of the second set came via a BGSU timeout with Akron leading 12-8.
A 3-0 run out of the timeout pushed the Akron lead to 15-8. The Falcons fought back, but later called a timeout, trailing 19-11.
The Falcons continued to push through in the set, using a 5-1 stretch to close the gap to 20-16 Akron and force a timeout from the Zips.
Akron took the second set with a 25-18 score to even the match at 1-1.
Set 3: Akron 25, Bowling Green 21
The third set began close, but a 5-1 stretch for Akron pushed the Zips out in front 11-9 before a Bowling Green timeout.
The Falcons put together a 3-0 run later in the set to close the deficit to 16-14 Akron, forcing the Zips to use a timeout.
The Falcons brought the score within one point, but Akron pulled away a bit to a 23-20 score, bringing the second BGSU timeout of the set.
The Zips stayed in front for a 25-21 set win to go up 2-1 for the match.
Set 4: Bowling Green 25, Akron 18
Bowling Green strung together a 4-0 run early in the fourth set to take a 10-6 lead and prompt an Akron timeout.
The Falcons stretched their lead with a 4-1 run later in the set to take a 19-11 advantage and bring the second Akron timeout of the set.
BGSU was able to keep the lead through the end of the set with a .600 attack percentage, claiming a 25-18 score to force a fifth set.
Set 5: Bowling Green 15, Akron 11
The set began close, but a 4-0 run for the Falcons created a 7-3 lead that forced an Akron timeout.
The Falcons held the lead going into the next stoppage, being an Akron timeout with the score at 14-9.
Akron registered the next two points out of the timeout to bring the score to 14-11, seeing BGSU use a timeout.
Out of the BGSU timeout, the Falcons landed a kill to win 15-11.
Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Petra Indrova (16)
Assists: Hanna Laube (28)
Digs: Yelianiz Torres (34)
Aces: Jaden Walz, Petra Indrova (2)
Blocks: Jessica Andrews (6)
Falcon Stat Facts
Indrova paced the Falcons’ attack with a team-high 16 kills. She added 10 digs to her stat line for her team-leading 10th double-double this season.
Torres tallied a season-high 34 digs for the Falcons. The mark led the team and came just two shy of Torres’ career-high. The performance is the 10th time this season that Torres has tallied at least 20 digs in a match.
Mia Tyler finished second on the team in kills with 15 and registered a .414 hitting percentage in the process. Tyler chipped in two block assists and a dig as well.
Alexis Mettille logged a career-high 10 kills for the Orange and Brown, doing so on 15 error-free attacks for a .667 hitting percentage. Mettille also tallied five block assists in the match, tied for second on the team.
Laube ended just two digs shy of her first double-double of the season. Laube tallied a team-high 28 assists in the match, including a season-high eight digs.
Jaden Walz came close to a double-double as well, ending the match with 25 assists and seven digs for the Falcons.
Lauryn Hovey joined the double-digit kills with 11 on 26 attacks. Hovey added five block assists and three assists to the winning effort as well.
Kat Mandly registered eight kills and two digs for the Falcons. The pair of digs brings Mandly’s season total to 49, setting a new single-season-high for her collegiate career.
Jessica Andrews tallied a team-high six blocks for the Falcons, ending with one solo and five block assists.
The Falcons have now won 21 of the last 23 meetings against the Akron Zips.
The Falcons and Zips will conclude their weekend series on Saturday to mark the final home match of the season for Bowling Green. The match is set for a 4 p.m. start with BGSU recognizing the team’s seniors following the match.
