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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team kicked off the home portion of their 2025 schedule with a 3-0 win over Oakland inside the Stroh Center Wednesday night (Sept. 17). The win extends BGSU's streak of home opener wins to seven-straight, dating back to 2019. The Falcons were led by a strong defensive effort that forced a negative hitting percentage from Oakland, -.054, the first negative mark by a BGSU opponent in just over seven years. The win moves the Falcons to 5-5 on the season and 1-0 at home heading into the final non-conference weekend of the regular season slate.

Avery Hobson led the BGSU attack with 13 kills while Marin Dunaway followed with 10. Sydnie Hernandez and Alivia Brown each landed three aces as the Falcons went on to log 10 as a team. Hernandez added a team-high 14 digs as well. Similarly, BGSU tallied 10 team blocks, paced by Kendall Williams' five. 

How It Happened 
Set 1: Bowling Green 25, Oakland 17

• Oakland opened the match with a 3-0 run, but the Falcons answered back with a 4-0 run, including back-to-back Sydnie Hernandez aces, for a 4-3 lead.
• The Golden Grizzlies battled back with another 3-0 run, moving out to a 6-4 lead. Bowling Green worked to tie the score at 7-7 before a 5-0 run granted BGSU an 11-7 lead to force an Oakland timeout.
• An ace out of the timeout from Avery Anders made it a 6-0 run for BGSU with a 12-7 advantage. 
• Later in the set, another 5-0 run for the Falcons, including three-straight Avery Hobson kills, pushed the team's lead to 18-10 with the second Oakland timeout.
• A 3-0 burst for the Golden Grizzlies cut into the lead with a 19-14 score, resulting in a timeout from the BGSU bench. 
• The two teams went back-and-forth through the end of the set before a Kendall Williams ace clinched the set for BGSU, 25-17.

Set 2: Bowling Green 25, Oakland 14

• In the second set, Oakland jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but the Falcons quickly worked to tie it up at 3-3. 
• The Golden Grizzlies edged ahead, 4-3, but a 4-0 BGSU run followed to grant the Falcons a 7-4 advantage.
• Oakland battled back again, pulling within one, 8-7, but back-to-back kills from Hobson extended the BGSU lead to 10-7. The two teams traded points from there until back-to-back Bowling Green points, including an ace from Alivia Brown, made it 15-11 with the media timeout.
• The Falcons added two more points after the break, including another Brown ace, for a 4-0 burst and 17-11 lead.
• The two teams traded a few points, but another 4-0 run for the Falcons with an Oakland timeout in the middle pushed the advantage to 22-13 in the set with the second OU timeout called.
• Oakland logged a point, but another 3-0 burst for the Orange and Brown made it a 7-1 stretch to close out the set with a 25-14 score.

Set 3: Bowling Green 25, Oakland 18

• Bowling Green opened the third set with a 3-0 run, including an ace from Hernandez. Oakland battled to pull within one, 4-3, but another 4-0 BGSU run pushed the lead to 8-3 in the early going. 
• The Falcons continued adding points to their lead, including a 3-0 stretch that carried the score to 15-6 with the media timeout pausing the action. 
• Out of the break, Oakland put together a 3-0 run, cutting the score down to 15-9. However, the Falcons answered with a 3-0 run of their own to rebuild the lead to 18-9 with Oakland taking a timeout.
• The trading of runs continued with an Oakland 3-0 spurt for an 18-12 score followed by another 3-0 BGSU burst for a 21-12 tally.
• The Falcons expanded their lead to 24-16 with Oakland taking a timeout. The Golden Grizzlies registered a pair of points to keep the match alive, but a kill from Hobson secured the win for BGSU. 

Falcon Stat Leaders 
Kills: Avery Hobson (13)
Assists: Amanda Otten (30)
Digs: Sydnie Hernandez (14)
Aces: Alivia Brown, Sydnie Hernandez (3)
Blocks: Kendall Williams (5)

Falcon Stat Facts

• The Falcons held Oakland to a negative hitting percentage, finishing with a mark of -.054. It's the first time BGSU has held an opponent to a negative mark since holding Nicholls State to a -.019 hitting percentage on Sept. 15, 2018.
• With the win, the Falcons have now won seven straight home openers, dating back to the 2019 season. BGSU is also in the midst of a three-match winning streak overall. 
• Coming off a MAC Offensive Player of the Week award, Avery Hobson continued to lead the BGSU attack, landing a team-high 13 kills. She just missed another double-double, finishing with nine digs. 
• Sydnie Hernandez led the team in digs with 14 and tied for the team-lead in aces with three, matching her season-high. Hernandez added four assists, continuing her streak of at least three assists in every match this season. 
• Amanda Otten set the BGSU attack with 30 assists and filled the stat sheet, logging five digs, three kills and three blocks for the Orange and Brown. 
• Kendall Williams led the Falcons defense in blocks with five, consisting of a solo and four block assists. Williams also landed her first two collegiate aces in the match. 
• Alivia Brown tied for the team-lead in aces, landing a career-high three to more than double her season total. Brown added six digs and an assist, both marks matching her career-highs. 
• Helen Wilford finished with four blocks for the Falcons, giving her a total of 41 this season. The mark already matches Wilford's career-high for a single-season, previously set during the 2023 campaign. 
• Avery Anders logged a season-high eight digs for the Falcons while adding a pair of aces to match her season-high as well as an assist.

Up Next
The Falcons will head back on the road for their final two non-conference tests, facing Michigan State and Binghamton at the Kathy DeBoer Invitational in East Lansing. The Falcons will first face the Spartans on Friday (Sept. 19) with a 6 p.m. start before turning around to face Binghamton on Saturday (Sept. 20) at 3 p.m.

Follow the Falcons
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Twitter - @BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUVolleyball
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