Falcons Battle Buckeyes In Front Of Record-Breaking Stroh Crowd

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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team took on the Ohio State Buckeyes in front of a record-breaking 4,201 fans on Friday (Sept. 20) at the Stroh Center. Bowling Green broke not only the program's attendance record, but the MAC attendance record, going back to 2011 via available records. In the match, BGSU and OSU played a tight four sets. Ohio State took the first set before the Falcons stormed back for the second. However, the Buckeyes tallied the third and fourth for the 3-1 final. The two teams will return to the court on Sunday (Sept. 22), this time in Columbus to conclude the home-and-home series with a 1 p.m. start.

How It Happened
Set 1: Ohio State 25, Bowling Green 22

The Falcons landed the first point of the match, but Ohio State responded with a 5-0 run to move to a 5-1 lead.
Bowling Green battled back with a 5-0 run of their own, including two aces by Lauryn Hovey, to tie the set up at 7-7.
BGSU and OSU traded 3-0 runs to bring the score to 11-11 before the Buckeyes moved in front 15-12 at the first media timeout.
After the media break, Ohio State pushed their lead to 18-14 to force a Bowling Green timeout.
The Falcons worked away at the Ohio State lead, utilizing a 4-1 stretch to narrow the gap to 20-19 resulting in an OSU timeout.
The two teams continued to go back-and-forth before the second BGSU timeout of the set with the score at 23-21 Ohio State.
Out of the timeout, Ohio State closed out the set for the 25-22 score.

Set 2: Bowling Green 25, Ohio State 23

The Falcons started the set on a roll, opening up with a 9-1 lead, including aces by Hovey and Alexis Mettille as well as a won challenge by BGSU, forcing an Ohio State timeout.
The Buckeyes chipped away at the lead before a 3-0 run brought the lead down to 11-7 for Bowling Green with the Falcons taking a timeout.
Ohio State continued to work down the deficit, coming within one at 16-15 Falcons with the second BGSU timeout of the set after a 4-0 OSU run.
After the timeout, Ohio State tied it up at 16-16, seeing ties at 17-17, 18-18, 19-19, 20-20, 21-21, 22-22 and 23-23.
The back-and-forth battle resulted in the Falcons inching ahead 24-23 to force the second Ohio State timeout of the set.
Out of the timeout, Lauryn Hovey landed a kill to take the set 25-23, ending on a 3-0 run.

Set 3: Ohio State 25, Bowling Green 20

Bowling Green and Ohio State began the third set the way the second ended, going back-and-forth before back-to-back OSU points forced a BGSU timeout with the score at 9-5 Buckeyes.
The Falcons registered a pair of 3-0 runs, including back-to-back blocks by Hovey and Jessica Andrews to make it a 12-12 tie and a 6-1 stretch.
Ohio State responded with a 3-0 run of their own to push ahead 15-12 before the two teams resumed trading points.
A 3-0 BGSU run tied it up once again, this time at 18-18, to force a timeout from Ohio State.
A challenge on the next point swung the score to Ohio State at 19-18. Going back-and-forth, the Falcons called timeout trailing 21-19.
Ohio State tallied three more points after the timeout to make it a 5-0 run before taking the set 25-20.

Set 4: Ohio State 25, Bowling Green 21

Bowling Green and Ohio State traded points early in the set before a 3-0 run for the Falcons pushed them to an 8-4 lead.
Ohio State answered with a 3-0 run to come within one of the Falcons, 8-7, before tying the set at 9-9.
BGSU pushed ahead 11-9, but Ohio State utilized a 3-0 run to move in front 14-13. Back-to-back kills by Andrews and Alexis Mettille then gave BGSU back-to-back points and a 15-14 lead, bringing about the media timeout.
The back-and-forth battle continued with ties at 16-16, 17-17 and 18-18 before a 3-0 burst pushed Ohio State to a 20-18 lead with Bowling Green taking a timeout.
The first points out of the timeout went to the Falcons, but OSU added two more to their tally in response to bring the second BGSU timeout with the score at 22-19.
The teams traded points through the end of the set from there for the 25-21 score.

Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Alexis Mettille (9)
Assists: Anna Sitek (15)
Digs: Lauryn Hovey (14)
Aces: Lauryn Hovey (3)
Blocks: Jessica Andrews (5)

Falcon Stat Facts

The Falcons had 4,201 fans in attendance, the largest home MAC volleyball crowd in history with the NCAA attendance database goes back to 2011. The previous record was set by Ohio with 4,184 on Sept. 4, 2015 when they hosted both LSU and Xavier in an invitational. The BGSU-OSU match is just the second with 4,000+ in the MAC since 2011 and the only one that spanned a single match. The previous program record in the Stroh was set at 2,961.
As a team, the Falcons totaled 11 blocks while registering five solo blocks. The solo block count is the most for BGSU since facing Ohio State a season ago on Aug. 26, 2023 when they had seven.
Jessica Andrews registered a solo block in the match, bringing her career total to 34. That mark moves her past teammate Alexis Mettille on the program's Rally Scoring Era list, now tied for 9th with Shari Luther (2007-09).
As a team, BGSU landed seven aces, the most they've had in a four-set match so far this season.
Lauryn Hovey landed a team-high three aces for BGSU, bringing her career total to 110 and giving her sole possession of second during the Rally Scoring Era and 10th all-time. She is now four shy of tying Paige Penrod (2010-13) for the next spot up on both lists.
Hovey added six kills and a season-high three assists to her stat line while setting a new season-high and matching her career-high with a team-leading 14 digs.
For the second time this season, Alexis Mettille led the Falcons in kills, landing nine on 20 attacks with just two errors for a .350 hitting percentage. She added a career-high seven digs as well.
Edyta Waclawczyk made an impact off the bench for the Falcons, logging a long list of career-highs and firsts. Waclawczyk tallied six kills on 20 attacks, both career-highs, while logging her first two solo blocks, first assist and first dig of her collegiate career.
Anna Sitek led the team in assists with 15 and matched her career-high in multiple categories, including digs (6), aces (2), attacks (3) and kills (1).
Sydnie Hernandez tallied a career-high four assists for the Falcons and added six digs to her stat line in the match.

Up Next
The Falcons and Buckeyes will continue their home-and-home series on Sunday (Sept. 22) in Columbus. BGSU and OSU are set for a 1 p.m. first serve.

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