Falcons Sweep Kent State To Achieve 2-0 MAC Start For Seventh Time In Last Eight Seasons

Friday, September 26

Bowling Green, Ohio

6 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

8-6,2-0MAC

Kent State

5-8,0-2MAC

Kent St.

Bowling Green

Photo by: Jack Walsh, BGSU Athletics

Falcons Sweep Kent State To Achieve 2-0 MAC Start For Seventh Time In Last Eight Seasons

September 26, 2025 | Volleyball

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Hobson Records Second Double-Double With 11 Kills, 11 Digs

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

Ziggyville Population: 148
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team continued their winning ways, sweeping Kent State inside the Stroh Center Friday night (Sept. 26). The Falcons worked to hold the Golden Flashes to a .075 hitting percentage for the match as well as just nine points in the second set. The win moves BGSU to 2-0 to start MAC play for the seventh time in the last eight seasons. Additionally, the Falcons have now won six of their last seven matches overall.

Avery Hobson led the way for Bowling Green, logging her second double-double of the season with 11 kills and 11 digs. Edyta Waclawczyk joined in with a team-leading and career-high 12 kills with both Hobson and Waclawczyk hitting above .300 for the match. Amanda Otten set the attack with 32 assists while Sydnie Hernandez led the way in digs (13), Helen Wilford topped the stat sheet in blocks (8) and Marija Tabak landed her first four BGSU aces to pace the team.

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

Kent State jumped out to a 3-0 lead, rolling into a 5-1 advantage. Another 3-0 KSU run pushed the lead to 8-3 in the early going.
The Falcons worked to chip away at the deficit, using a 5-0 run to knot the score up at 11-11 to force a Kent State timeout.
The tie moved to 12-12 with Kent State moving in front 13-12. The Falcons responded with a 5-0 run to take a 17-13 advantage in the set.
The two teams went back-and-forth before consecutive points for BGSU made it a 20-15 Falcon lead with the Golden Flashes taking their second timeout of the set.
Two more BGSU points followed the timeout, extending the run to 4-0 and the lead to 22-15. A 5-1 stretch for Kent State narrowed the gap to a 23-20 score with Bowling Green calling a timeout.
The two teams traded points after the break with the Falcons claiming the set with a 25-22 score.

Set 2: Bowling Green 25, Kent State 9

The Falcons opened the second set with a 5-0 run, including a pair of aces from Amanda Otten, to force a quick Kent State timeout.
The two teams traded points after the break, but Bowling Green soon tallied another 5-0 run, carrying their score to 11-2 with the second timeout from the KSU bench of the set.
The teams went back-and-forth again to a 15-6 score, but the Falcons answered with another 5-0 run, moving the lead to 20-6 BGSU.
A Kent State point ended the run, but another 3-0 run for Bowling Green pushed the lead to a 23-7 score.
From there, the two traded points through the end of the set with Bowling Green holding Kent State to single digits, 25-9.

Set 3: Bowling Green 25, Kent State 21

Kent State opened the set with a 5-1 lead, but the Falcons battled back with a 4-0 run to knot it up at 6-6 with a KSU timeout.
After the timeout, ties followed at each tally up to 9-9. From there, a 5-0 run for the Falcons built a 13-9 advantage.
The back-and-forth continued with Kent State narrowing the gap to one at 16-15, but a 3-0 run for the Falcons rebuilt the lead back to 19-15.
Kent State ended the run and soon tallied back-to-back points, cutting the score down to 20-18 with the Falcons calling a timeout.
Out of the break, Bowling Green rattled off a 3-0 run, including an ace from Marija Tabak, for a 23-18 advantage and a Kent State timeout.
From there, the teams again traded points through the end of the set for a 25-21 set win and the match sweep.

Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Edyta Waclawczyk (12)
Assists: Amanda Otten (32)
Digs: Sydnie Hernandez (13)
Aces: Marija Tabak (4)
Blocks: Helen Wilford (8)

Falcon Stat Facts

The Falcons held Kent State to nine points in the second set, the first time holding an opponent to single-digits in a set at home since 2022, excluding fifth sets. The mark came in part to forcing the Golden Flashes' attack to a negative percentage at -.097.
With the win, Bowling Green has now won 11 straight matches against Kent State as well as 19 of the last 20 meetings, dating back to the 2015 season.
The win moves BGSU to 2-0 to start MAC play, giving the Falcons a 2-0 start in seven of the last eight seasons.
Amanda Otten recorded 32 assists for the Falcons, giving her 1,947 assists for her BGSU career. The total moves her up to eighth on the program's Rally Scoring Era list for career assists, passing Jaden Walz. Otten added seven digs, three kills, two aces and two blocks to complete her stat line.
Avery Hobson landed 11 kills for the Falcons while adding a season-high 11 digs, finishing second on the team in both stats. The totals give Hobson her second double-double of the season. Additionally, she maintained a .321 hitting percentage, landing the 11 kills on 28 attacks with just two errors.
Edyta Waclawczyk led the BGSU attack with a team-leading and career-high 12 kills. Waclawczyk added a .333 hitting percentage in the process while recording a dig and an assist.
Marija Tabak landed her first four aces as a Falcon, leading the team in the process. While the four aces are Tabak's first for Bowling Green, she did have 46 aces in 2023 for Salt Lake CC.
Helen Wilford paced the BGSU block for the third time in the last four matches, registering eight block assists. With Bowling Green totaling 10 as a team, Wilford was involved in 80-percent of the team's blocks.
Sydnie Hernandez led the team in digs with 13 and added five assists for the Falcons. Hernandez has now led BGSU or tied for the team lead in digs in 10-straight matches as well as 12 of their 14 this season.
Anastasija Bozic recorded her first two aces as a Falcon in the match while also adding a kill to the BGSU effort.
For the match, Bowling Green held Kent State to a .075 hitting percentage. Through three home matches, BGSU is allowing opponents to hit a cumulative mark of .061.
As a team, the Falcons registered 49 digs, the most for the team in a three-set match this season. They also matched their three-set-high in blocks with 10.

Up Next
Bowling Green will continue MAC play next week, but will have to hit the road to do so. The Falcons will start against Eastern Michigan on Friday (Oct. 3) with a 6 p.m. first serve. BGSU will then transition north to Central Michigan on Saturday (Oct. 4) with a 4 p.m. start.

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