Ziggyville Population: 143
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team closed out the week with a three-set sweep over Northern Illinois Friday night (Oct. 10). The win keeps the Falcons undefeated at home this season, 5-0, with a 10-match home regular season winning streak dating back to last season. In the match, Bowling Green held Northern Illinois to an .098 hitting percentage, the third team to be held under .100 by the Falcons inside the Stroh this season with all five home opponents hitting under .130. The win pushes BGSU to 12-7 on the season while being 6-1 in the MAC. The Falcons will be back at home for their next two matches, hosting Ball State next Thursday and Friday (Oct. 16-17) for 6 p.m. starts. 

How It Happened 
Set 1: Bowling Green 25, Northern Illinois 23

• The Falcons quickly jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the match, hitting a perfect 1.000 over the stretch to force an early timeout from the Northern Illinois bench.
• A 4-1 stretch for the Huskies pulled NIU within one, 5-4. The teams went back-and-forth from there until a 5-0 run for Northern Illinois pushed them to a 12-9 lead with a BGSU timeout.
• Bowling Green chipped away at the NIU lead, scoring two points to their one until a 3-0 BGSU span created a 17-16 Falcon lead with the second Huskies timeout of the set.
• NIU worked to tie the score up at 18-18 with ties stretching all the way to 23-23, but consecutive kills for the Falcons with one from Jessica Andrews and one from Edyta Waclawczyk clinched the set.

Set 2: Bowling Green 25, Northern Illinois 21

• Northern Illinois started the set with a 3-1 lead, later using a 3-0 run to extend their advantage to 7-3 with a Bowling Green timeout pausing the action. 
• The two teams went back-and-forth, but a 4-0 run for Northern Illinois made it a 14-8 tally with the second BGSU timeout of the set. 
• After the timeout, Bowling Green utilized a 4-1 stretch to narrow the gap to 15-12 with Northern Illinois taking a timeout.
• The Falcons continued to chip away at the deficit, using a 3-0 run to draw within one, 18-17, with the second NIU timeout of the set.
• The Huskies ended the run after the break, but the Falcons managed to tie it up at 19-19 before taking the lead, 20-19 with another 3-0 run.
• Ties followed at 20-20 and 21-21, but Bowling Green put together a 5-0 run to close out the set, including an ace from Anna Sitek to secure the score. 

Set 3: Bowling Green 25, Northern Illinois 23

• Northern Illinois jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third set, but the Falcons worked to chip away at the deficit, using a 3-0 run to pull within one, 5-4.
• The two teams traded pairs of points until a 3-0 run by the Falcons tied the score up at 9-9. NIU inched ahead at 10-9, but back-to-back BGSU tallies made it an 11-10 Bowling Green lead with an NIU timeout.
• The teams battled back-and-forth, switching leads across ties to a 17-17 score, but a 3-0 run for the Huskies made it a 19-17 NIU advantage with a timeout from BGSU.
• The teams traded points until a 22-20 NIU lead with the Huskies pausing the action with a timeout.
• After the break, the Falcons tallied a 3-0 run to swing the score to their favor. NIU landed a point, but two more BGSU points ended the match with a 5-1 stretch for a 25-23 score. 

Falcon Stat Leaders 
Kills: Jessica Andrews (12)
Assists: Anna Sitek (24)
Digs: Sydnie Hernandez (14)
Aces: Avery Anders, Anna Sitek (1)
Blocks: Kendall Williams (5)

Falcon Stat Facts

• The win continues the Falcons' undefeated home record, now 5-0 inside the Stroh Center, the best home start since going 5-0 in 2021 as well. Going back to last season, BGSU has now won 10-straight home regular season matches. 
• Through five home matches, the Falcons have yet to allow a team to have a hitting percentage north of .130 inside the Stroh Center. BGSU held NIU to a mark of .098 in the match, the third time holding a team under .100 at home this season. 
• As a team, the Falcons registered 53 digs, the most by the team in a three-set match this season, surpassing the 49 against Kent State on Sept. 26. 
• For the second-straight match, Jessica Andrews led the BGSU attack with 12 kills. Andrews maintained a .333 hitting percentage while adding four blocks and a dig.
• Avery Hobson followed Andrews on the attack with 11 kills and just missed a double-double, adding nine digs to her stat line.
• Edyta Waclawczyk added 10 kills to the attack while also adding five digs and three block assists for the Orange and Brown.
• Anna Sitek and Isabelle Laube again split the setting duties. Sitek finished with 24 assists, four digs and an ace while Laube posted 13 assists and four digs, matching her season-high for both stats. 
• Sydnie Hernandez paced the team in digs with 14 and added an assist. Avery Anders posted a similar line with eight digs and one of the team's two aces. 
• Marija Tabak landed a season-high seven kills, matched her career-high with five digs and tallied her first assist as a Falcon. 
• Kendall Williams led the team in blocks with five, followed by four from both Andrews and Helen Wilford.

Up Next
The Falcons will remain at home for their next two matches, hosting Ball State on Oct. 16 and 17 with 6 p.m. starts both nights. For Friday night, the match will be Future Falcon Kids Club Night. 

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'