Bowling Green Tops Akron Friday Night To Start Weekend

Friday, October 7

Akron, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

12-6, 2-3MAC

Akron

5-12, 0-5MAC

Bowling Green

Akron

October 07, 2016 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

Final Statistics: NCAA Box/Play-By-Play | HTML

AKRON, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team defeated the University of Akron, 3-1, Friday (Oct. 7) evening at James A. Rhodes Arena. The Falcons and Zips split the first two sets, before BGSU claimed sets three and four to win the match by a score of 25-21; 19-25; 25-19; 25-23.

The Falcons improve to 12-6 overall, and 2-3 in the Mid-American Conference following the victory. Bowling Green is now 7-1 in games played away from the Stroh Center.

"We knew going into this match that we'd have to earn every point and that Akron was a resilient team," said head coach Danijela Tomic. "That was especially obvious in the fourth set, when they scored five points in a row to get within a point at 24-23. Even though it was not always pretty on our side of the net, we found a way to win, so we definitely learned and improved from a week ago.

"I was pleased to see our outside hitters, Jessi Holly and Isabel Kovacic, contribute offensively, which was crucial, because our setter-middle connection wasn't where it needed to be. Jelena and Madeline had their standard, high-level performance and were instrumental in our win."

Madeline Garda had another historic night. The senior, who leads the country in digs per set (6.53) and total digs (418), registered 35 digs. The 35-dig effort is the second most in program history in a four-set match – second only to her program-high 40-dig match against Drake (Sept. 10) earlier in the season.

Offensively, Jelena Sunjic led the Falcons with 17 kills. Sunjic hit .255 (17-5-47), and finished one dig shy of a double-double, as she also added nine digs. Isabel Kovacic picked up 12 kills, while Jessi Holly totaled 11. Madeline Brandewie picked up seven kills, and hit .385 (7-2-13).

Isabelle Marciniak served as BGSU's primary setter, and racked up 46 assists, which fell one assist shy of tying her career high. The freshman also picked up five digs and three blocks. Kallie Seimet chipped in with six digs, while Paulina Iacobelli had five digs.

Bowling Green trailed by scores of 4-0 and 8-5 early, but battled back to tie the opening set at 11-11 behind two kills apiece from Holly, Sunjic and Kovacic. Shortly after, another Holly kill put the Falcons on top for the first time all match, as the Orange and Brown took a 14-13 lead. An Akron attack error and Holly's fourth kill of the match gave Bowling Green a 16-13 lead, but the Zips countered with three-straight points to knot the match, 16-16.

The Falcons went on to take control of the first set, as they scored five of the next six points to take a 21-17 lead. Bowling Green claimed the opening set by a score of 25-21. Sunjic led the way with five kills, and was hitting .333. Holly and Kovacic had four kills each, and were hitting .375 and .400, respectively. Madeline Garda had 11 digs, while Marciniak posted 14 assists.

Akron got off to another quick start in the second set, but for the second-straight set, Bowling Green fought back, and eventually tied things up at 11-11. But the Zips went on to score the next three points, before evening the match, 1-1, at the intermission with a 25-20 victory in the second set. After two sets, Sunjic had posted a team-high nine kills. Kovacic had seven, while Holly had six. Garda had 16 digs at the intermission.

In the third set, it was the Falcons that got off to the hot start, as Bowling Green staked themselves to a 12-7 lead and never relinquished the advantage over the remainder of the set. Akron certainly battled back, much like Bowling Green did in the first two sets, but with the Falcons leading, 17-16, BGSU scored four-straight points to take control. Akron scored just three more points the rest of the way, as BGSU took the third set, 25-19.

In search of the victory, Bowling Green took a 7-3 lead in the fourth set, and quickly forced Akron into a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Falcons ran their lead up to eight points at 12-3, before an Akron kill stopped the 8-0 run. That spurt sparked the Falcons to the victory, and the Orange and Brown went on to take the fourth and final set of the match by a score of 25-23.

Bowling Green will travel to Buffalo tomorrow for a 6 p.m. match. The Falcons have two more road matches next week, as the Falcons will face Eastern Michigan on Oct. 14 and Central Michigan on Oct. 15.