No Place Like Home: BGVB To Open MAC Play Against Ohio, Kent State At Stroh Center

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team will begin the MAC portion of their season with back-to-back home matches. Bowling Green will first host Ohio on Thursday (Sept. 25) before transitioning to Kent State on Friday (Sept. 26). Both matches are scheduled for 6 p.m. starts inside the Stroh Center. Thursday will be Casino Night while Friday's theme will be Teal Attack. Both matches will also be available to stream on ESPN+.

BGSU Schedule This Week
Thursday, Sept. 25 | BGSU vs. Ohio | 6 p.m. | ESPN+
Friday, Sept. 26 | BGSU vs. Kent State | 6 p.m. ESPN+

At The Matches
Thursday vs. Ohio | Casino Night

Fans can arrive early to the Stroh Center to play games on the concourse and spin a wheel to win prizes. Fans will have chips to play with the games lasting into the first set.

Friday vs. Kent State | Teal Attack

Friday night will be Teal themed to raise awareness for Ovarian Cancer. Fans are invited to wear teal in support.

First Serve

The Falcons will open MAC play with a pair of home matches, hosting Ohio on Thursday (Sept. 25) and Kent State on Friday (Sept. 26), both 6 p.m. starts.
Bowling Green enters the MAC portion of the season with a record of 6-6. However, the Orange and Brown are 6-2 when playing teams that aren't receiving votes in the nation's top 25 poll.
Teams that BGSU has lost to this year have a combined record of 39-14 (.736). Overall, the Falcons had the third-hardest non-conference schedule in the MAC behind Ball State and Ohio with Bowling Green's ranking 109th in the nation.
The Falcons closed out the non-conference schedule with a 4-1 record in their last five matches with the only loss being to undefeated Michigan State in four sets.
BGSU has recorded a win in their MAC opener in each of the last seven seasons as well as adding a win in their MAC home opener in each of the last five seasons.
In the all-time series against Ohio, Bowling Green has won 12 of the last 14 meetings while also registering a win the last seven times they've hosted the Bobcats.
In the all-time series against Kent State, the Falcons have won each of the last 10 meetings as well as 18 of the last 19, dating back to the 2015 season.
The Orange and Brown head into the MAC schedule with 396 MAC wins in program history, just four away from reaching 400. So far, only two schools have hit the mark, being Western Michigan and Ball State.

Bash With The Bobcats
Ohio enters MAC play with a record of 2-10 on the season, including a seven-match losing streak. The Bobcats have tallied two wins, beating both Bucknell and Chattanooga in four sets. OU is coming off the Charlotte Invitational where they went five sets with both Maryland Eastern Shore and Furman. As for the stat sheet, Ohio is led by freshman middle blocker Bailey Blair. Blair leads the team in kills (128), blocks (28) and points (154.5) so far this season.

BGSU vs. Ohio, All-Time
Bowling Green holds the advantage all-time over Ohio with a record of 55-40 over the Bobcats during the history of the series. The mark includes being 24-17 when hosting Ohio. As of late, the Falcons have increased their hold on the series, winning six of the last seven meetings as well as 12 of the last 14, spanning back to the 2018 campaign. The two losses for BGSU during that stretch were in Athens, giving the Falcons a seven-match win streak when taking on the Bobcats inside the Stroh Center. The last win for Ohio in the Stroh came in five sets on Nov. 3, 2017.

Going Against The Golden Flashes
Kent State heads into MAC play with a record of 5-6 and will face Toledo the night before taking on the Falcons. KSU started 0-3, but have since gone 5-3, including a five-set win over Youngstown State to conclude their non-conference schedule. The Golden Flashes also took Texas Tech to four sets and beat UTSA in five sets. Statistically, senior outside Hitter Mackenzie McGuire leads the team in kills (183) while junior setter Christina Vigil tops the stat sheet in assists (396) and digs (103).

BGSU vs. Kent State, All-Time
The Falcons and Golden Flashes have met 93 times previously, soon approaching the 100th meeting all-time. Bowling Green leads the all-time series with a record of 69-24, including a 38-9 record when hosting the Golden Flashes. In the series, the Falcons have won 10-straight over Kent State, dating back to the 2020-21 campaign. Additionally, the last five matches, as well as seven of the last eight, have been via 3-0 sweep. For Kent State, their last win came on Nov. 1, 2019 with a 3-1 final inside the Stroh Center. Aside from that match, BGSU has won 18 of the last 19 meetings, going back to 2015.

Starting MAC Play Strong
The Falcons will look to open MAC play in the win column for what would be the eighth-straight year. Bowling Green has won their MAC opener each season dating back to the 2018 campaign. During the seven-year stretch, BGSU advanced to at least 2-0 in six of the seasons, including an 11-0 start in 2021 and a BGSU Athletics record 18-0 start during the 2020-21 campaign. The Falcons closed out their non-conference schedule with wins in four of their last five.

Home Sweet Home
Bowling Green will be looking to extend their streak of wins in their MAC home opener as well. BGSU has won their first home MAC match each of the last five seasons, going back to 2020. During that five-year stretch, the Falcons have put together an impressive 42-8 record at home against MAC opponents, producing an .840 winning percentage. The streak includes an undefeated 9-0 home MAC record during the 2021 season. This year, BGSU won their lone home match so far, topping Oakland in a 3-0 final on Sept. 17.

BGSU Approaching MAC Milestone
As a program, Bowling Green is nearing a milestone in the way of conference wins. Entering the 2025 MAC schedule, the Falcons hold 396 wins all-time against MAC opponents, leaving the team just four shy of reaching 400 MAC wins as a program. Entering MAC play, only two teams in the conference have reached 400 wins, being Western Michigan (457) and Ball State (446). However, in addition to BGSU, both Miami (OH) (398) and Ohio (392) have less than 10 wins to hit the mark.

Hobson Finding Role
Avery Hobson has been on fire for the Falcons over the last five matches, logging double-digit kills in each. Over the last five matches, Hobson is averaging 4.78 kills per set while maintaining a .314 hitting percentage. Hobson has led BGSU in kills in four of those five matches and has added an average of seven digs per match as well. For the season overall, Hobson has one of BGSU's three 20-kill matches, logging 24 against SFA, as well as one of BGSU's seven double-doubles, registering 17 kills and 10 digs against Georgia Tech.

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