Broncos Battle Back Against Bowling Green In Five-Set Match

Friday, October 24

Kalamazoo, Mich.

6 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

12-10,6-4MAC

Western Michigan

10-13,7-3MAC

Bowling Green

Western Mich.

October 24, 2025 | Volleyball

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Hobson Posts Double-Double; Andrews, Laube, Sitek Come Close

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team took on the Western Michigan Broncos Friday night (Oct. 24). The Falcons jumped out to a two-set lead, but Western Michigan made adjustments during the break between the second and third periods that changed the course of the match. From there, the Broncos battled back to take a 3-2 final score, completing the comeback. The two teams will be back on the court Saturday (Oct. 25) at 4 p.m. to complete the weekend series.

How It Happened
Set 1: Bowling Green 25, Western Michigan 23

The Falcons started out strong with the first two points of the match for a 2-0 lead. Bowling Green continued to expand their lead, reaching 4-1 in the early going.
Western Michigan battled back with a 4-0 run, moving out to a 6-5 lead in the set. A kill from Avery Hobson ended the run, tying the score up at 6-6.
From there, the ties carried through at 7-7, 8-8 and 9-9. Western Michigan broke the string with back-to-back points for an 11-9 lead.
The back-and-forth continued until Marija Tabak registered back-to-back points for the Falcons to tie the score up at 13-13. However, WMU answered with a pair of their own to make it 15-13 at the media timeout.
After the break, the Falcons registered another pair of points to again tie it, this time at 15-15. The ties started another string of back-and-forth points with ties returning at 16-16, 17-17 and 18-18.
Bowling Green worked to force back-to-back attack errors, including a block by Kendall Williams and Jessica Andrews, to push ahead 20-18 with a Western Michigan timeout.
The Falcons extended their lead to 24-21. Initially, Bowling Green won the set 25-21, but a successful challenge by Western Michigan kept the set alive. The Broncos pulled within one, 24-23, with a BGSU timeout.
Out of the timeout, Tabak landed a kill to give the Orange and Brown the set.

Set 2: Bowling Green 25, Western Michigan 19

Jessica Andrews started the second set with a kill, but WMU responded with a pair, beginning a back-and-forth. The Falcons tied it up at 2-2 with the tie moving to 6-6 with a stop at each number along the way.
The Falcons broke the string of ties with back-to-back kills from Hobson to push head 8-6, but Western Michigan responded with a 4-0 run to move in front, 10-8.
Bowling Green quickly responded, utilizing a 5-0 run, including a pair of blocks from Andrews and Helen Wilford, to take a 13-10 lead in the set.
WMU worked to chip away at the BGSU lead, pulling within one at 14-13, but another point for the Falcons made it a 15-13 Bowling Green advantage at the media timeout.
After the stoppage, two points for Western Michigan tied the set at 15-15. The tie moved to 16-16, but a 3-0 run from the Falcons followed to take a 19-16 advantage.
A 3-1 stretch for the Broncos closed the gap to one again, 20-19, with Bowling Green taking a timeout.
Out of the break, Bowling Green tallied a 3-0 run of their own, including an ace from Anna Sitek, to force a WMU timeout with the score at 23-19.
The run continued after the break with two more BGSU points for a 5-0 run to close out the set.

Set 3: Western Michigan 25, Bowling Green 17

Western Michigan began the third set with a 4-0 run, but the Falcons answered back with a 3-0 run to pull within one, 4-3.
The two traded points back-and-forth up until a 3-0 run for Western Michigan stretched their lead back to 11-7.
The Falcons answered back with a 5-0 run, swinging the score to BGSU's favor with a 12-11 tally. WMU tied it up at 12-12 with the tie moving to 13-13 and 14-14 before a 15-14 Bronco lead to bring about the media timeout.
The run for Western Michigan reached 3-0 with back-to-back WMU points after the media timeout, prompting a BGSU timeout with the score at 17-14.
The back-and-forth continued with the score moving to 22-17 Western Michigan with the second Bowling Green timeout of the set.
Western Michigan kept the pressure on, closing out the set with a 5-0 run to force a fourth.

Set 4: Western Michigan 25, Bowling Green 17

The Falcons jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the fourth set, including an ace from Sitek. However, WMU responded with a 4-0 run to take a 4-2 lead.
Bowling Green added a point, but another 3-0 run followed for a 7-1 stretch and 7-3 lead for Western Michigan, forcing a timeout from BGSU.
The two teams traded points before a 3-0 run for Western Michigan extended the score to 16-9 with the second Bowling Green timeout of the set.
Later in the set, a 3-0 run for Western Michigan pushed their lead to 21-12, but BGSU responded with a 3-0 run of their own to trim the lead to 21-15.
The two teams traded points through the end of the set with WMU forcing a fifth.

Set 5: Western Michigan 15, Bowling Green 6

Western Michigan opened the fifth set with a 4-0 start. A kill from Tabak ended the run, but two more WMU points followed to force a BGSU timeout with a 6-1 score.
After the timeout, Western Michigan extended their lead to 8-2 with the teams switching sides of the court at the midway point of the fifth set as well as the second Bowling Green timeout.
The Falcons landed a point after the break, but a 5-1 stretch followed for Western Michigan for a 13-4 score.
Bowling Green worked down the stretch, but the Broncos closed out the set and the match.

Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Edyta Waclawczyk (15)
Assists: Isabelle Laube (21)
Digs: Sydnie Hernandez (20)
Aces: Anna Sitek (2)
Blocks: Jessica Andrews (7)

Falcon Stat Facts

Jessica Andrews totaled a team-high seven blocks for the Falcons, matching her season-high and giving her 427 total blocks for her BGSU career. The total moves her past Stephanie Swiger on both the all-time and Rally Scoring Era lists, now ranking third in rally scoring and eighth all-time.
Sydnie Hernandez led the back line for the Falcons with 20 digs. The total marks her fourth 20-dig match of the season and second in as many weeks after posting 26 against Ball State on Oct. 16.
Avery Hobson posted 14 kills and 12 digs for the Falcons, finishing second on the team in both stats. The double-double marks the fifth of the season for Hobson, tying with Lauryn Hovey and Amanda Otten for the most on the team this season.
Isabelle Laube led BGSU in assists for the first time, logging a career-high 21. She added a career-high seven digs to her stat line, nearing a double-double.
Anna Sitek nearly matched Laube's stat line with 20 assists and eight digs while also landing a team-high two aces in the match.
Marija Tabak landed eight kills on 24 attacks for the Falcons, setting new season-highs for both stats while matching her career-highs in each as well.
As a team, the Falcons totaled 69 digs in the five-set match, tying for the team-high for the season after having 69 in the five-set match against Ball State last week as well.

Up Next
BGSU and WMU will continue their weekend series on Saturday (Oct. 25) with a 4 p.m. first serve. From there, the Falcons will return home for a quick turnaround, hosting Toledo on Tuesday (Oct. 28) with a 6 p.m. start at the Stroh Center.

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