OXFORD, Ohio – Bowling Green State University volleyball earned Co-Champions of the Mid-American Conference Regular Season on Wednesday with a 3-0 sweep over Miami (OH).
The Falcons logged a .540 attack percentage in the match, the sixth-best mark for a three-set match in the nation this season, to clinch the program’s 20th win of the season. With the win, the Falcons have now logged four straight 20-win seasons.
Bowling Green utilized a balanced attack with 10 different Falcons landing a kill in the match and having just one error as a team over the three sets. The attack was complimented by 12 aces and 14 blocks by the Falcons.
BGSU will now shift attention to the MAC Tournament, set to begin on Sunday. The Falcons have earned a first round bye and will see their first action in the tournament on Monday in Muncie, Indiana.
How It Happened
Set 1: Bowling Green 25, Miami 7
The Falcons came out swinging in the match, tallying the first four points to jump to a quick 4-0 lead.
Bowling Green continued to push forward with a 3-0 run to increase the lead to 9-3 and force Miami to call the first timeout of the match.
The Falcons added to their lead with a 4-0 run to bring the advantage to 14-5. The score moved to 16-6 when the RedHawks used their second timeout following an ace from Alexis Mettille.
The Falcons rattled off six straight points out of the timeout, including four straight aces by Mettille to bring her total to five in the set.
Bowling Green closed out the set with an 11-1 run to take the set with a 25-7 score.
Set 2: Bowling Green 25, Miami 15
The second set began close before a 4-0 run for the Falcons gave BGSU an 8-3 lead early in the set.
Bowling Green added to the lead later in the set with a 4-1 stretch, bringing the score to 14-7 and forcing a Miami timeout.
The BGSU lead moved up to 19-10 at the next stoppage, coming via Miami timeout.
The momentum stayed for the Falcons, running to a 25-15 second set win to increase the match lead to 2-0.
Set 3: Bowling Green 25, Miami 11
The third set saw the Falcons use an early 6-1 stretch to take a 13-6 lead and prompt a timeout from the RedHawks.
The lead continued to grow for Bowling Green, reaching double-digits with the score at 19-9.
The Falcons were able to hold the lead through the end of the set to capture a 25-11 third set final score for the sweep.
Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Petra Indrova, Mia Tyler, Katelyn Meyer (6)
Assists: Jaden Walz (15)
Digs: Yelianiz Torres (13)
Aces: Alexis Mettille (5)
Blocks: Jessica Andrews (7)
Falcon Stat Facts
Bowling Green concluded the match with a .540 attack percentage, hitting at least .476 in each set and having just one error as a team. The output came just shy of the program record, set at .553 from the 2007 season, and is the sixth-best mark for a three-set match in the nation this season.
BGSU had three outside hitters reach a team-high six kills. Meyer did so on a team-high 13 attacks, registering a season-high. 462 attack percentage. Indrova was close behind with 12 attacks while Mia Tyler had 10 for a career-high .600 attack percentage.
Lauryn Hovey and Andrews added five kills on nine attacks each. The .556 attack percentage was a career-high for Hovey. As for Andrews, she added a team-high seven blocks with one solo and six assists.
Mettille landed five aces for the Falcons, including four straight in the first set. This is the second time this season that Mettille has had five aces in a three-set match.
Torres once again paced the Falcons in the digs column, ending the match with 13. Torres now needs 21 digs to enter the Top 10 all-time for digs in a single season.
Walz and Hanna Laube combined for 25 assists with 15 and 10, respectively. Laube also landed her second kill of the season.
The Falcons held Miami to just seven points in the first set, the lowest mark for an opponent this season for BGSU. The last time Bowling Green held an opponent to seven or fewer points in a set was the 2020-21 season when the Falcons topped Buffalo 25-7 in the second set on March 27.
Bowling Green has now won 11 of the last 12 matches against the RedHawks and three of the last four matches played in Oxford.
The win brings BGSU’s win total to 20 this season, marking the fourth straight 20-win season for the Falcons. Bowling Green has won six straight matches.
The Falcons will advance to the MAC Tournament, which will be played Nov. 20-22. The full bracket and tournament information will be released in the coming days.
