YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team went the distance with Eastern Michigan Friday night (Oct. 3), picking up a thrilling five-set victory over the Eagles. Bowling Green took the first set, but Eastern Michigan pushed ahead with the second and third. BGSU forced a fifth set before claiming the match with a 15-13 fifth set score. The Falcons hit over .360 in each set they won and utilized a team-effort across the board for the win. With the victory, Bowling Green moves to 3-0 in the MAC with wins in seven of their last eight and extends a 12-match regular season road MAC winning streak that dates back to Nov. 3, 2023.

The Falcons were paced by a group effort in every facet. Jessica Andrews, Avery Hobson and Edyta Waclawczyk all tied for the team-lead in kills with 16 with Andrews and Waclawczyk both hitting above .375. As for Hobson, she posted one of two BGSU double-doubles, adding 13 digs. Amanda Otten registered the other double-double, logging 48 assists and 15 digs. Despite the high dig totals from Hobson and Otten, it was Sydnie Hernandez who led the team, recording her second 20-dig match of the year with a career-high 22. 

How It Happened
Set 1: Bowling Green 25, Eastern Michigan 18

• Eastern Michigan opened the match with an ace, beginning a 4-0 run to start the match. A block by Helen Wilford and Avery Hobson ended the run for the first Falcon point of the match.
• The BGSU point began a back-and-forth in the set between the two teams, moving the score to a 6-3 tally. The point trading ended with a 3-0 run for the Falcons, pulling Bowling Green within one, 6-5.
• Eastern Michigan ended the run, but another 3-0 run for Bowling Green followed to push the Falcons out to an 8-7 lead behind a 6-1 stretch.
• From there, ties took over with knotted up scores at 8-8, 9-9, 10-10 and 11-11. A 4-1 stretch for the Falcons allowed separation with a 15-12 advantage, including an Anastasija Bozic ace just before the media timeout.
• Out of the timeout, the score for the Falcons expanded to 18-13 with another 3-1 stretch after the break. EMU worked to close the gap, narrowing the deficit to 19-16 on the scoreboard.
• The Falcons were able to put together a 3-0 run to rebuild the lead to 22-16, forcing a timeout from the Eastern Michigan bench.
• After the timeout, the teams traded points to the end of the set with a 25-18 BGSU set win.

Set 2: Eastern Michigan 25, Bowling Green 20

• Bowling Green opened the second set with a 3-1 stretch. Eastern Michigan landed a point, but the BGSU lead extended out to 5-2 after winning a challenge.
• The teams battled back-and-forth before a 4-1 stretch for the Eagles swung the score to their favor, 10-9. The Falcons quickly tied it up again at 10-10, but EMU pushed out to a 12-10 lead.
• The Falcons worked to tie it up at 12-12 and again at 13-13, but consecutive points for the Eagles made it a 15-13 EMU lead at the media timeout.
• BGSU landed the first point out of the media break, but another pair of EMU points pushed their lead to 17-14 with a Bowling Green timeout pausing the action.
• After the timeout, the Falcons utilized a 3-1 stretch to trim the Eastern lead down to one, 18-17. However, Eastern Michigan put together a 3-0 run to rebuild their lead to 20-17 with the second BGSU timeout of the set.
• Jessica Andrews landed a kill after the break, but the Eagles tallied back-to-back points for a 23-18 advantage. Back-to-back kills from Edyta Waclawczyk kept the Falcons close, but Eastern Michigan closed it out to even the match.

Set 3: Eastern Michigan 25, Bowling Green 20

• Eastern Michigan began the third set the same way they started the first, taking a 4-0 lead. The run ended with Wilford sending a kill down for the first BGSU point. 
• The Wilford kill sparked a 6-0 run for the Falcons, including an ace from Amanda Otten, to jump out to a 6-4 advantage. 
• The trading of runs continued with a 3-0 burst from the Eagles, reclaiming the lead with a 7-6 score. The Falcons ended the run with an Andrews kill tying it up at 7-7.
• The tie moved to 8-8, but a pair of EMU points put them in front with a 10-8 score. The back-and-forth resumed with the Falcons tying it up at 10-10 before taking the lead following a 3-0 run. 
• An EMU point again tied the set, this time at 11-11 followed by a tie at 12-12. A 4-0 run for the Eagles granted Eastern Michigan a 15-12 lead at the media timeout.
• Another tally after the timeout made it a 5-0 run and 16-12 lead for EMU. Otten ended the run with a kill, allowing back-to-back BGSU points to cut the lead down to 16-14.
• Eastern Michigan answered the points with two of their own, pushing the score to 18-14 with a Bowling Green timeout being called. The Eagles continued after the break to a 3-0 run and 19-14 lead.
• The lead for EMU extended to 21-15 with Bowling Green calling their second timeout. The break sparked a 3-0 run for the Falcons, cutting the lead down to 21-18.
• Eastern Michigan tallied two, but Bowling Green matched the points, including an ace from Sydnie Hernandez, to pull the score to 23-20. However, the Eagles held on to take the set.

Set 4: Bowling Green 25, Eastern Michigan 15

• Helen Wilford landed the first point of the fourth set, beginning a back-and-forth to a 3-3 tie. The Falcons tallied a 4-0 run from there, jumping out to a 7-3 advantage.
• Eastern Michigan registered a point, but another 3-0 run for the Falcons followed, creating a 7-1 stretch, to jump out to a 10-4 lead, prompting an EMU timeout.
• A 3-1 spurt out of the break for Eastern Michigan cut the Bowling Green lead down to 11-7. The Falcons answered with back-to-back points for a 13-7 lead.
• EMU again chipped away, this time using a 4-1 stretch to bring the score to 14-11. However, consecutive BGSU points, including an ace from Hernandez, made it a 16-11 lead with the second Eagle timeout of the set.
• The Eagles tallied two points after the break, but the Falcons responded with a 5-0 run to push the lead to 21-13 in the set.
• A point for EMU stopped the run, but the Orange and Brown went back to work with a pair to make it a 7-1 run and 23-14 lead.
• The Falcons were able to close out the set, forcing a fifth with a 25-15 set score, holding EMU to an .069 hitting percentage in the set.

Set 5: Bowling Green 15, Eastern Michigan 13

• Eastern Michigan began the fifth set with back-to-back points with a block from Andrews and Wilford giving BGSU their first point of the set.
• From there, the two teams went back-and-forth, trading points up to a 4-3 score. The Falcons were able to register a 3-0 run to take a 6-5 lead, but EMU knotted it up at 6-6.
• Two points for BGSU followed, including an ace from Marija Tabak, creating an 8-6 lead and switching sides with a media timeout.
• A 3-1 stretch in favor of the Eagles after the side switch resulted in ties at 8-8 and 9-9. The Falcons broke the tie with back-to-back points, including a successful challenge, to take an 11-9 lead.
• BGSU added a point, but a successful challenge, this time by EMU, resulted in a replay of the point, keeping the score at 11-9.
• After the challenge, the teams resumed going back-and-forth to a 14-13 score. Avery Hobson ended the match with a kill, giving the Falcons the set.

Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Jessica Andrews, Avery Hobson, Edyta Waclawczyk (16)
Assists: Amanda Otten (48)
Digs: Sydnie Hernandez (22)
Aces: Anastasija Bozic, Sydnie Hernandez (2)
Blocks: Helen Wilford, Kendal Williams (6)

Falcon Stat Facts

• Jessica Andrews recorded a season-high 16 kills, tying for the team lead as well as matching her career-high. The total pushed Andrews past the 500-kill mark for her BGSU career, now with 512 in the Orange and Brown. Andrews' 16 kills included a team-best .467 hitting percentage, landing the total on 30 attacks with just two errors. 
• Andrews added five block assists in the match, bringing her career block total to 395. The mark adds Andrews' name to the top 10 all-time for career total blocks, passing Nicky Mudrak for 10th on the list. 
• As a team, the Falcons logged a season-high 65 digs, including three players with double-digits. Sydnie Hernandez topped the stat sheet with a career-high 22, her second 20-dig match this season. 
• Avery Hobson recorded her second-straight double-double, finishing with 16 kills and 13 digs, her kill total tying for the team-lead and her dig total being a new season-high. Her 52 attacks also set a new season-high while matching her career-high. Hobson added a season-high three assists and two blocks to finish out her stat line. 
• Amanda Otten added her team-leading fifth double-double of the season, logging a team-high 48 assists as well as a career-high 15 digs. Otten nearly had a triple double, landing seven kills while adding three blocks and an ace to complete her stat line.
• With Hobson and Otten having double-doubles, it marks the second time this season BGSU has had multiple double-doubles after posting two as a team against Purdue on Sept. 4. Through three MAC matches, the Falcons have four double-doubles as a team.
• Edyta Waclawczyk joined Andrews and Hobson for the team lead in kills with a career-high 16. For the third-straight match, Waclawczyk hit above .300 with a .379 mark, landing her 16 kills on a season-high 29 attacks with five errors. 
• Helen Wilford and Kendall Williams tied for the team-lead in blocks, each with six. For Williams, the mark matches her season-high. 
• Anastasija Bozic landed a pair of aces, tying for the team-lead while matching her season-high. She also recorded seven digs, tying her season-high, as well as three assists, setting a new career-high.
• The Falcons have now won seven of their last eight contests, including the last four to advance to 9-6 on the year and 3-0 in the MAC. 
• The win for Bowling Green marks the 399th MAC win in program history, just one shy of becoming the fourth team in conference history to eclipse 400. 
• With the win, BGSU now has a 12-match regular season road winning streak against MAC opponents, dating back to Nov. 3, 2023. 
• The win is the first five-set win of the season for the Falcons after falling short in their two five-set matches earlier this year. 

Up Next
The Falcons will continue their MAC road trip with a match against Central Michigan on Saturday (Oct. 4) with a 4 p.m. start. Bowling Green will remain on the road for a non-conference midweek match against Toledo on Tuesday (Oct. 7) with a 6 p.m. first serve.

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