Eastern Michigan Defeats Falcons In Three Sets

Saturday, October 18

Ypsilanti, Mich.

7 PM

Bowling Green State University

4-16, 1-7MAC

Eastern Michigan

12-10, 3-5MAC

Bowling Green

Eastern Michigan

October 18, 2014 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: by Jason Knavel, Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications

Ypsilanti, Mich. – The Eastern Michigan volleyball team used eight service aces to defeat Bowling Green in three sets Friday night, 25-20, 26-24, 25-18. The Falcons got 10 kills and five digs from sophomore Jelena Sunjic in the defeat.

Eastern Michigan had long runs in each of the three sets to either overcome early deficits (in the first and third sets) or to take control of a see-saw battle (in the second set). Bowling Green rallied on numerous occasions but was unable to take the lead late in any of the sets.

"Our serve receive was a major issue and we could never get into a good offensive rhythm because of that," BGSU head coach Danijela Tomic said. "As in many of our matches this year, we had chances to win, but we made unforced errors at crucial times and were not able to take advantage of those opportunities. We need contributions from everyone and that didn't happen tonight."

Bowling Green's best chances came in the second set as the Falcons rallied from a five-point deficit. Trailing 18-13, the Falcons scored five consecutive points to tie the frame. BGSU was unable to take the lead and Eastern Michigan got an ace to take a 24-22 lead. Kelsey Bates and Paige O'Connor answered with kills to tie the score once more and Eastern Michigan used a timeout. Coming out of the break, the Falcons had a pair of errors that gave EMU a 26-24 win.

That came on the heels of a first set that saw the Eagles use a 10-2 run after falling behind 6-3 early. The Falcons rallied with a 6-1 run to tie the score at 14-14, but Eastern Michigan bounced back by posting the next five points. Bowling Green was unable to get closer than three the rest of the way and the Eagles picked up a 25-20 win.

In the third set, Bowling Green again started quickly, building a 5-2 lead. But Eastern Michigan scored the next eight points and the Eagles never let up, building the lead to as many as 10. EMU closed out the match with the 25-18 victory.

Bowling Green hit .394 in the second set and .183 for the match, while EMU hit .205 for the contest. Madeline Garda's 22 digs helped BGSU to a 54-52 advantage in that category. Eastern Michigan, though, had 11 more kills than the Falcons and 1.5 more blocks.

Individually, Sunjic hit .381 on her 10 kills and Alyssa Maloney added seven kills and a .353 attack percentage. Bates assisted on six of the team's seven blocks during the match.

Eastern Michigan improves to 12-10 overall and 3-5 in MAC play with the win. Bowling Green falls to 4-16 overall and 1-7 in conference play. The Falcons will return home for a four-match home stand beginning Friday with the Battle of I-75 against Toledo at 7 pm. That contest is designated as Overflow The Stroh and is Youth Volleyball Night.