BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team will head on the road this weekend for the final road trip of the regular season, facing Northern Illinois for a pair of matches. The Falcons and Huskies are scheduled for a 7 p.m. EST start on Friday night (Nov. 8) and a 5 p.m. EST first serve on Saturday (Nov. 9). Both games are set to be broadcasted on ESPN+. 

Weekend Schedule
Bowling Green at Northern Illinois | Friday, Nov. 8 | 7 p.m. EST | ESPN+
Bowling Green at Northern Illinois | Saturday, Nov. 9 | 5 p.m. EST | ESPN+

MAC Tournament Scenarios 
Heading into the weekend, the Falcons have a magic number of one to clinch a spot in the MAC Tournament. To clinch, Bowling Green needs either a win or an Ohio loss. Ohio will be hosting Buffalo this weekend. As for the MAC Regular Season title, that is coming into focus for the Falcons as well. The magic number there is four for the Orange and Brown, needing a pair of wins and a pair of Central Michigan losses this weekend for it to be a possibility. Central Michigan hosts Kent State this weekend.

First Serve 

• Saturday's match (Nov. 9) will mark the 50th meeting all-time between Bowling Green and Northern Illinois. 
• In the all-time series, the Huskies hold the advantage with a record of 30-18 against the Falcons after splitting the series last season. 
• As for matches played in DeKalb, the Huskies have the advantage with a 16-3 record. Bowling Green's last win at NIU came on Nov. 3, 2018 with a 3-0 final. 
• The Falcons are in the midst of a seven-match win streak, the longest winning streak of the season and the longest for the program since winning seven-straight last season from Nov. 3-19. The last eight-match winning streak for BGSU was in 2022 from Oct. 29-Nov. 22 and the last nine-match winning streak was part of a 12-match streak from Sept. 19-Oct. 23 in 2021. 
• Over the last three seasons, going back to the 2022 campaign, Bowling Green is 17-1 during the month of November. 
• Alexis Mettille enters the weekend ranked fifth in the nation and first in the MAC for hitting percentage with a mark of .436 for the season. Against MAC opponents, Mettille is hitting .458, which is 61 points higher than the next player in the MAC.
• Jessica Andrews entered the top 10 in the nation for blocks per set, ranking 49th with an average of 1.26. For the season, Andrews has 116 total blocks which are tied for 23rd in the nation. She leads the MAC in both stats. 
• Lauryn Hovey is currently inside the top 30 in the nation for both aces per set and total aces. Hovey's 0.48 aces per set are 29th in the nation while her 44 total aces are tied for 19th in the country.. 

Handling The Huskies
Northern Illinois enters the weekend with a 3-21 record on the season while being 1-13 during MAC play. The lone conference win for NIU came on Oct. 10 against Kent State, claiming a 3-0 sweep. The other two wins during the season were tallied by a 3-2 victory over Tarleton State on Sept. 6 and a 3-1 win over Stony Brook on Sept. 14. Like the Falcons, Northern Illinois played a midweek contest on Tuesday (Nov. 5). The Huskies hosted Western Michigan, coming up short in the 3-0 final. In total, Northern Illinois has lost 15 of their last 16 matches with 11 of the 15 happening in three sets. 

BGSU v. NIU, All-Time
The Falcons and Huskies have met 48 times in program history with Saturday's match (Nov. 9) marking the 50th all-time between the two. All-time, NIU holds the advantage with a 30-18 record while also being 16-3 when hosting the Falcons. The last four meetings have been an even split between the teams, including splitting last year's series in Bowling Green. The Falcons won the first match, 3-1, but the Huskies claimed the second in five sets. For Bowling Green, the last win in DeKalb came during the 2018 season, besting the Huskies in a 3-0 final on Nov. 3. 

Mettille Continues Hot Streak
Alexis Mettille has been one of the most efficient players in the nation this season on the attack. With four matches left in the regular season, Mettille currently ranks fifth in the nation for hitting percentage with a mark of .436. Mettille is second among non-Power 5 players behind only the nation's leader, Shea Rubright of San Diego State (.469). The other three inside the top five are Taylor Trammell (Penn St., .461), Andi Jackson (Nebraska, .456) and Arissa Smith (Mississippi State, .452). Over the last three matches, Mettille has 26 kills on 38 attacks with just one error for a hitting percentage of .658. 

Falcons On The Attack
Bowling Green has been efficient on the attack as of late, registering three matches with a .300 hitting percentage or better in the last four contests. After hitting a season-best .337 against Kent State on Oct. 26, the Falcons followed it up with a .321 mark against Miami (OH) on Nov. 1 and then .336 against Toledo on Nov. 5. In total, BGSU has hit .300 or better four times this season, all coming during MAC play, with the first time being on Sept. 28 against Ball State with a .305 mark. For the season, BGSU is hitting .241, second in the MAC, but when looking at MAC matches only the Falcons lead the conference with a hitting percentage of .280.

LaPinta Moves Into MAC Top 10
Lindsey LaPinta put together an impressive defensive performance against Toledo on Tuesday (Nov. 5), keeping multiple points alive with diving efforts. In total, LaPinta registered a career-high 24 digs in the match, marking her sixth 20-dig match of the season. Over the course of the year, LaPinta has averaged 3.67 digs per set, moving her into ninth in the conference. However, those numbers have increased during MAC play for LaPinta, averaging 4.00 digs per set against MAC opponents which ranks sixth in the conference. 

Follow the Falcons
Be sure to follow the Falcons volleyball team on social media
Twitter - @BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUVolleyball
Instagram - 'bgfalcons' and 'bgsuvolleyball'
Facebook - 'BGSU Athletics' and 'Bowling Green State University Volleyball'
TikTok - @bgsuvolleyball 
YouTube - 'Falcon Athletics'