By Nicholas Huenefeld

Special to the Sentinel-Tribune

Lauryn Hovey’s 16 kills helped the Bowling Green State University volleyball team (17-12, 11-7 MAC) conclude the regular season in strong fashion with a 25-15, 25-14, 25-13 win over Miami University inside the Stroh Center Wednesday.

“I thought tonight was a special night for a lot of reasons,” said BGSU associate head coach Alex DelPiombo, who is filling in for head coach Danijela Tomic as she tends to a family matter.

“It was our last home match of the year, we got to be a part of Carolyn Condit’s last match as a coach in the MAC, and (there was) a lot of really cool emotions as part of it.

“We really wanted to make sure we were in the moment and feel those emotions but also kind of put them aside when the whistle blew. I thought our team did a really good job of that.”

With the victory, the Falcons have won 10 of their past 11, including five straight. The latest triumph was their eighth sweep in that stretch. It is quite the turnaround from a six-match losing streak from Sept. 22 to Oct. 13.

“From injuries to losses to personal things, it’s been hard, but we’ve stayed together every single step of the way,” junior outside hitter Hannah Best said.

“We’re peaking as a team, not so much in athletic performance, but we’re peaking as a team, and I think that’s a really important part of it.”

Hovey had 16 of BG’s 33 kills at a .480 clip, which was her third-best percentage of the season. Jaden Walz led all players with 21 assists while adding 11 digs for her team-best 10th double-double of the season.

“Lauryn’s Lauryn,” DelPiombo said. “She’s a stud. She shows up every night. My favorite part about her is that she’s still a team player. She won’t walk away tonight thinking she played well. She’ll walk away thinking what she had to do for her team, and what she could have been better at.”

Alex Laboy, who added a team-best 15 digs and five aces, helped the Falcons keep the pressure on the RedHawks from the service line. She had half of BG’s 10 aces while Miami conversely had zero.

“Volleyball is a momentum sport, and I think we have a really, really tough serving team,” DelPiombo said. “That’s one of our gifts, something we work really hard on, something we take pride in.

“And Alex did a good job of keeping pressure on them with her serve. When you feel like you’re getting blown up again and again, it really sets the tone for the match.”

Hovey’s lefty swing penetrated Miami’s defense early with four kills, helping lead her team to a 10-0 run that made it 13-2 as the RedHawks exhausted both timeouts early.

Miami responded with a 7-1 run but Kat Mandly produced BG’s first non-Hovey termination to stem the tide, and Hovey ultimately finished off the set with her eighth kill.

In the second and third sets, the Falcons sided out at 73 and 84%, respectively, while cruising.

Best had all five of her kills at a .714 clip in the second, where Hovey’s 10th kill of the match made it 12-6 and a left-side termination from Best made it 17-7. A 4-0 run from Miami pulled them within eight after the lead stretched to 22-10, but the Falcons called a timeout and won three straight out of the break to finish the frame.

The final set featured strong play from BG defensively at the net as the Falcons registered six of their 10 blocks in the match, led by two from Helen Wilford.

BG now turns its attention to the MAC Tournament where they will be the No. 6 seed, opening against No. 3 Ball State in a quarterfinal on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in Kalamazoo. A win would have them face No. 2 Buffalo on Sunday.

“We’re excited,” Best said. “What’s really special about this year is that it’s been a difficult year. It hasn’t been smooth sailing as previous years have been.

“So, I think for us, we’re embracing every single moment and everything that comes our way. We’re approaching it with grace and we’re doing that together. I’m excited to see what we can do in the tournament.”

Miami (5-25, 1-17 MAC) competed in its final match under the direction of Condit, who announced her retirement after a 40-year career and nearly 700 wins.