Miami Outlasts BGSU In Four Sets

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4 p.m. EST

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Bowling Green, Ohio – A young Bowling Green State University volleyball team showed promise but the Falcons were unable to do enough things right in an 18-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-20 loss to Mid-American Conference rival Miami Thursday night at the Stroh Center.

BGSU looked strong early, winning the first set 25-18 and leading 15-11 in the second. But a veteran Miami squad turned the tide of the match with an 8-1 run and the Falcons were unable to recover over the remainder of the contest.

"We made too many unforced errors," BGSU head coach Danijela Tomic said in regard to the second-set momentum swing that turned the match. "They got us a little bit out of system. It was a combination of things. Miami is an experienced team and we need more experience on our side of the net."

But Bowling Green did much well. Miami entered the match ranked in the top 20 in the country in digs but the Falcons held a 73-61 edge in that statistical category, led by Madeline Garda with 20, Katie Scholten with 17 and Erica Fullenkamp with 12. Bowling Green also had 49 kills, four more than Miami, and seven aces, also four more than the RedHawks.

"I thought our team got better from last week," Tomic said. "It's always hard to lose but we set a goal for serve receive and we met that goal. We outdug Miami, so defensively we did well. We made too many hitting errors but the positive thing about that was that we made those errors while making the right choices."

But those hitting errors were costly for the Falcons. Bowling Green had 33 attack errors compared to just 20 for Miami and that included four in succession during that 8-1 second-set run that turned the complexion of the match.

After Miami posted that 25-18 victory to even the match up, the Falcons looked strong early in the third, taking a 12-10 lead. However, Miami outscored BGSU 15-5 the rest of that stanza as Bowling Green had six attack errors during that spurt, including the final three of the set.

In the fourth, Miami jumped out to an early lead and kept Bowling Green from getting closer than three points the rest of the way. The Falcons had chances to put pressure on the RedHawks with the score 21-18 and then again at 22-19, but each time Miami answered to hold off a rally.

The Falcons took control in the first set by using a 5-0 run after the score was tied at 13-13. Back-to-back kills by Kelsey Bates put the Falcons ahead 18-13 and BGSU continued to extend the lead until Nicole Slimko's ace closed out the stanza.

In the second set, the Falcons were clicking on all cylinders in building a 15-11 lead, posting 11 kills and just one error prior to Miami's turnaround.

Slimko, just a freshman, ended with a match-high 18 kills and added seven digs. Jelena Sunjic, in her first match back after missing 13 in a row, had 13 kills. Fullenkamp posted a double-double with 42 assists to go with her 12 digs and she recorded three aces as well. Bates finished with eight kills, four blocks and three digs.

With the win, Miami improves to 9-6 on the season and 2-1 in MAC play. Bowling Green falls to 3-12 overall and 0-3 in the conference. The Falcons will be at home again Saturday to host Western Michigan at 7 pm for Alumni Night during the University's Homecoming weekend.

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Nicole Slimko

Jelena Sunjic

Kelsey Bates

Alyssa Maloney

Players Mentioned

Kelsey Bates

Erica Fullenkamp

Madeline Garda

Katie Scholten

Nicole Slimko

Jelena Sunjic

Players Mentioned

Kelsey Bates

Erica Fullenkamp

Madeline Garda

Katie Scholten

Nicole Slimko

Jelena Sunjic

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