Tomic Earns Win No. 200 In Sweep Of Akron

Friday, October 31

Bowling Green, Ohio

5 PM

Bowling Green State University

6-17, 3-8MAC

Akron (Halloween Game)

8-18, 2-9MAC

Akron

Bowling Green

Photo by: Bianca Garza, BGSU Marketing and Communications

October 31, 2014 | Volleyball

Box Score

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

Box score
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Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team won a critical Mid-American Conference match and head coach Danijela Tomic earned her 200^th career victory in a 25-17, 25-15, 25-18 victory over Akron Friday evening.

"I'm not always satisfied, even after we win," Tomic said. "But I'm very happy with this performance and I'll always remember my 200^th win and the way we performed tonight. When a team does what we did – being disciplined, executing the game plan, and playing with energy – it's fun to watch. I'm very happy for the girls to see that it's worth coming to the gym every day and working hard and to see the results now."

Bowling Green flirted with a .300 attack percentage, finally settling at a season-best .297 and the Falcons never trailed after the very early stages of the first set. For most of the night, BGSU held a comfortable lead and took Akron out of everything it wanted to do. Bowling Green also had its best serving percentage of conference play at .973 and its most service aces, with five, in a three-set match all year.

Although Akron took an early 2-1 lead in the opening set, Madeline Garda had a service ace that sparked a 7-1 run that put the Falcons ahead 8-3. BGSU extended the lead to as many as nine points at 17-8 and the Falcons hit .407 to roll to the 25-17 win.

Bowling Green steamrolled through the second set, scoring six of the first seven points and then scoring 10 straight behind the strong serving of sophomore Delaney Arkeilpane for a 19-4 edge. Akron rebounded by outscoring the Falcons 11-6 the rest of the way but BGSU still eased its way to the 25-15 win.

With an opportunity of a sweep, Bowling Green came out strong in the third set. The Falcons scored the first three points of the frame and extended that lead to six points at 10-4. Akron did cut the deficit to three points on a pair of occasions midway through the set but freshman Nicole Slimko posted three of her match-high 15 kills down the stretch as BGSU pulled away.

Slimko, in fact, was the only player to post double-digit kills for either team in the match. Her 15 kills came with a .382 attack percentage and she added four digs and three blocks. Sophomore Alyssa Maloney added eight kills with a .375 attack percentage, while sophomore Jelena Sunjic and freshman Paige O'Connor posted six kills each. Sophomore libero Madeline Garda finished with a match-best 19 19 digs and senior Kelsey Bates posted four blocks. Senior Erica Fullenkamp dished out 35 assists and had six digs, four kills and two aces.

With the win, Bowling Green's hopes of a bid to the MAC Tournament, by virtue of a top eight finish in the regular season, remain intact. At 6-17 overall and 3-8 in MAC play, the Falcons must play well over the final five league matches but are within striking distance of a tournament spot. Akron falls to 8-18 overall and 2-9 in conference play.

The Falcons will host Buffalo Saturday at 5 pm for Senior Night. The Bulls enter the contest at 14-11 overall and 4-7 in conference action, just one game ahead of Bowling Green in the league standings. BGSU will recognize two seniors, Kelsey Bates and Erica Fullenkamp, following the conclusion of Saturday evening's contest.