Volleyball Comes Up Short in 3-1 Loss at Kent State on Saturday Night

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Kent, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team picked up double digit kills from both Jelena Sunjic and Nicole Slimko, and totaled seven service aces overall, but could not overcome Kent State and the Golden Flashes' .316 team attack percentage in a 3-1 defeat in conference play on Saturday night in Kent, Ohio.

The Falcons held a lead in every set throughout the tight match and despite taking the second set win at 25-23, Kent State took the other three sets in the 3-1 win with scores of 25-18, 23-25, 25-19 and 25-21.

The match had 31 ties and 14 lead changes overall.

"I have to give credit to Kent State's team that played a very good match tonight. We knew it would be a tough match and that we needed to bring our "A" game in order to win. Unfortunately, that did not happen and they outplayed us in all aspects of the game except serve and serve receive," head coach Danijela Tomic stated.

All we can do now is to bounce back quickly, get in the gym on Monday and work on improving individually and as a team. We need to go back to fundamentals and focusing more on what we do on our side of the net than what our opponents will do.

Bowling Green held a slight 136-133 advantage in attack attempts, yet was unable to put the attempts away as the Falcons had just 43 kills compared to the Golden Flashes' 60 spikes.

Sunjic totaled 13 kills, seven digs and one block assist, while Slimko added 11 kills and three block assists. BGSU's combination of Alyssa Maloney and Madeline Brandewie combined for 13 kills and five total blocks in the middle for the Falcons, while Katie Scholten recorded 35 assists over the four set match.

Three different Falcons picked up eight digs or more on the night led by freshman Kallie Seimet's 15 digs. Madeline Garda and Scholten each had two service aces apiece, while Seimet, Isabel Kovacic and Maloney accounted for the other three Falcon aces.

Kent State had a trio of players with double digit kills in Kelsey Bittinger with a match-high 16 spikes, Kelly Hutchinson with 14 kills and Bridget Wilhelm with a total of 10 kills, while the trio combined for two solo blocks and 11 block assists in the win.

The Golden Flashes totaled 66 digs as a team for the match, as five different players registered double digit digs led by Katarina Kojic's match-high 17 digs.

The two teams opened the match by trading points and tied the match up six times with the last being at 10-10 on a Slimko kill.

The next three points would go in favor of the Golden Flashes who pulled out in front by three at 13-10 on a BGSU error to force a Falcons' timeout.

A BGSU error followed by a Maloney kill put the Orange and Brown down at 16-12 out of the timeout, as the two teams went back-and-forth, point for point, until a Slimko spike put the Falcons down five at 20-15.

Kent State would then score two points to every one of the Falcons' points to close the set out with a 25-18 win over BGSU.

Scholten and the Falcons began the second set with three quick points, including an ace from the sophomore setter and a block from the duo of Maloney and Slimko, to take a 3-1 lead out of the opening serve.

The Falcons would not be able to shake the Golden Flashes, as the two teams tied the score five times and traded the lead twice when a Maloney kill and a Garda service ace gave BGSU its largest lead of the frame at 13-10.

Back-and-forth points went over the next six serves until the Golden Flashes strung together four straight kills from Hutchinson, Bittinger, Kojic and Drew Norberg to retake the lead at 17-15.

It was now the Falcons' turn for a quick scoring run, as a kill from Sunjic jump started an 8-2 BGSU spurt to give the visitors a 23-19 lead on a Scholten ace and a Maloney kill.

Kent State was able to fight off two Falcon set points and get to within one at 24-23, however, a huge Maloney kill sealed the second set win for the Orange and Brown at 25-23 and tied the match up at one set apiece.

Bowling Green fought back from an early 2-0 deficit in the third set to take a two point lead at 6-4 with the help of three straight Golden Flashes' attack errors.

The Falcons stayed in front over the next six points until a Kent State kill and block tied the set up at 9-9.

Five ties and two lead changes later, BGSU picked up a kill from Sunjic and a spike from Brandewie on consecutive serves to push the Falcons out in front at 17-15 and force a Kent State timeout.

The timeout proved to be a huge turning point for the home team, as Kent State got a kill from Norberg out of the break which not only halted the Falcons' scoring run, but also gave new life to the Golden Flashes who ended the set out on a 10-2 run to propel them to a 25-19 set win.

The fourth set would see 10 ties and four more lead changes as neither team led by more than four points for the entire period.

The tight set started with a 3-1 run by the Falcons and then saw Kent State answer with a 3-0 run to tie the set up at 4-4.

After a Sunjic kill put the Falcons back in front at 5-4, BGSU stayed on top of the Golden Flashes until four straight points by Kent State gave the home team the lead back at 12-11 and forced a BGSU timeout.

Kent State extended its lead out to as much as three at 15-12, only to see the Falcons refuse to quit and respond with a kill from Sunjic, an ace from Kovacic and a take advantage of a KSU error to knot the set up once again at 15-15.

The two teams would tie the set up at 16-16, 17-17, 19-19 and 20-20 before Kent State recorded back-to-back kills from Bittinger and Wilhelm to take a late 22-20 lead.

Two straight blocks at the net by the Golden Flashes gave the home team set point at 24-20.

BGSU picked up a big block from Maloney and Slimo to fight off one set point, only to see a Wilhelm kill on the next serve end the set with the Golden Flashes in front 25-21.

For the first time in nearly a month, the young Falcons (4-11, 0-2 MAC) will be at home at the Stroh Center next weekend, Oct. 2-3, when they will host both Akron and Buffalo in MAC East play.

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