Undefeated MAC Matchup In Battle Of I-75 Headlines Three-Match Week For BGVB
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team will put their 4-0 MAC record to the test this week with three conference contests on deck. The Falcons will begin against the rival Toledo Rockets on Tuesday (Oct. 7) at Savage Arena with a 6 p.m. start. Both Bowling Green and Toledo will head into the match with undefeated 4-0 records in MAC play. From there, the Orange and Brown will transition back home to the Stroh Center to host Northern Illinois for two matches on Oct. 9 and 10, both 6 p.m. first serves. Thursday night will be a White Out at the Stroh Center while Friday will be Alumni Night for the program.
BGSU Schedule This Week
Tuesday, Oct. 7 | BGSU at Toledo | 6 p.m. | ESPN+
Thursday, Oct. 9 | BGSU vs. Northern Illinois | 6 p.m. | White Out | ESPN+
Friday, Oct. 10 | BGSU vs. Northern Illinois | 6 p.m. | Alumni Night | ESPN+
First Serve
- Bowling Green begins the week against Toledo, a match between two of the three teams in the MAC to start 4-0. Additionally, the Falcons have won 13-straight road conference regular season matches while Toledo is 5-0 at home this season.
- The Falcons will return home on Thursday with a 3-0 home start on the season, the best home record to start a season since beginning 5-0 during the 2021 campaign. Going back to last season, the Falcons have won eight consecutive matches when playing at home during the regular season.
- Bowling Green is off to a 4-0 start this season. A win would give the Falcons a 5-0 MAC start in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2020-21.
- The Falcons head into the weekend having won eight of their last nine matches. The only loss during the streak was to Michigan State, who was 8-0 at the time. MSU is now 12-2 with their only losses being a three-setter to #12 Minnesota and a five-set match against Illinois, who was receiving votes at the time of the match.
- Bowling Green had the third-hardest non-conference schedule in the MAC behind only Ball State and Ohio. While BGSU is 10-6 on the season, they hold a record of 10-2 when playing teams that aren't receiving votes in the nation's top 25 poll.
- With the 4-0 MAC start, the Falcons have now won 400 MAC regular season matches, in program history, becoming the fourth team in the conference to hit the mark, joining Western Michigan, Ball State and Miami (OH).
Taking On Toledo
Toledo is off to a strong start in the MAC, joining BGSU as one of three teams with a 4-0 start. Toledo and BGSU have played the same MAC opponents so far with Toledo sweeping Kent State, going four sets with Ohio and Eastern Michigan and winning in five sets against Central Michigan. Additionally, Toledo holds an undefeated home record this season, being 5-0, while also riding a seven-match overall win streak entering the week.
BGSU vs. Toledo, All-Time
Bowling Green holds the all-time advantage over Toledo with a record of 61-18 over the 79 meetings. When playing in Toledo, the record shifts to 26-13 in favor of BGSU. For the overall series, the Orange and Brown took the last two meetings. As for the series at Savage Arena, the Falcons have won five-straight, dating back to the 2017 campaign. While the series overall has leaned to the Falcons, each match has been close. The last sweep for either team came in 2008 for the Falcons, creating a string of 19 consecutive matches in the rivalry that have gone to either four or five sets.
Hounding The Huskies
Northern Illinois enters the week with a record of 9-4 on the season and a 2-2 standing in the MAC, but will host Western Michigan on Tuesday (Oct. 7) before facing the Falcons. NIU's wins came at home against Central Michigan in five sets and Eastern Michigan in three. However, they followed it up with three-set losses to both Ball State and Miami (OH) on the road. The losses pushed the Huskies' record to 1-3 in true road matches, excluding neutral sites, with the lone win being a five-set victory over IU Indy.
BGSU vs. NIU, All-Time
The Falcons and Huskies will be meeting for the 51st and 52nd times in program history. While NIU leads the all-time series, BGSU has the advantage when hosting with a record of 13-11. Last year, Bowling Green swept Northern Illinois in a pair of matches, but the last meeting at the Stroh Center went the way of the Huskies with a five-set finish in 2023. Despite that, the Orange and Brown have managed to win nine of the last 11 meetings, dating back to the 2017 season, including a record of 6-1 when hosting Northern Illinois during that span.
BGSU Reaches MAC Milestone
Starting the MAC schedule 4-0, the Falcons quickly hit a MAC milestone, reaching 400 conference wins as a program. Bowling Green is the fourth team in conference history to reach the mark, joining Western Michigan, Ball State and Miami (OH). The RedHawks also hit the mark earlier this season. Ohio is also nearing the mark, currently with 392 MAC wins. During BGSU's program history the Falcons have put together a record of 400-276 for a .592 winning percentage in MAC regular season matches.
Road MAC Warriors
The Falcons head into the week riding a 13-match winning streak in regular season road MAC contests. The streak dates back to Nov. 3, 2023 after going a perfect 9-0 on the road in the MAC last season. A win over Toledo would also give BGSU a 3-0 record on the road against MAC foes this year, which would be the first time with a 3-0 road MAC start in back-to-back seasons since going 5-0 in 2021 and an undefeated 11-0 in 2020. On the other side, Toledo is undefeated this year at home with a 5-0 record while also riding a seven-match overall win streak.
Strong Start To Conference Play
Bowling Green is one of three teams still undefeated in MAC play entering the week, holding a record of 4-0 and joined by Ball State and Toledo. The Falcons are one win away from back-to-back 5-0 MAC starts for the first time since starting 11-0 in 2021 and 18-0 in 2020. Additionally on the home front, the Falcons are 2-0 at home against MAC opponents for the fifth time in the last six seasons. A 3-0 start or better at home would be the first time since 2022 when they began 5-0.
Daily Double-Double
So far this season, BGSU as a team has posted 11 double-doubles through the first 16 matches. Amanda Otten has led the way with five double-doubles, but has been a dig shy of four more and two digs shy of another two. For the year, Otten is nearly averaging a double-double with 36.4 assists and 8.9 digs per match. In addition to Otten, both Lauryn Hovey and Avery Hobson have posted three double-doubles each. For Hobson, two of her three have come in MAC play, averaging 13.3 kills and 7.8 digs per match against MAC opponents.
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Latest Women's Volleyball News
- Jessica Andrews Named MAC Offensive Player Of The WeekCLEVELAND, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference announced the MAC Players of the Week Monday afternoon (Oct. 6). Of those named, Bowling Green's Jessica Andrews was named the Offensive Player of the Week. For Andrews, this is her seventh MAC weekly award of her career, but the first offensive with the previous six being defensive honors. It also marks the first for Andrews this season. As for the team, Andrews is the fifth different Falcon this season to be named a MAC Player of the Week and the third different to earn an Offensive Player of the Week honor, joining Lauryn Hovey (Sept. 8) and Avery Hobson (Sept. 15).
- BGVB Logs Program’s 400th MAC Win With Sweep Over CMUMOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team continued their winning ways on Saturday (Oct. 4) with a 3-0 sweep over Central Michigan in Mount Pleasant. The Chippewas kept each set close with all three settled by three points or fewer, but the Falcons were able to stay in front for the win. For Bowling Green, the win gives them a 4-0 start in MAC play for the fifth time in the last six seasons while also going down as the program's 400th MAC win all-time. Winners in eight of their last nine, BGSU will now transition to a midweek contest against Toledo, who is also undefeated in MAC play, on Tuesday (Oct. 7).
- Falcons’ Full Team Effort Earns Five-Set Victory Over Eastern MichiganYPSILANTI, 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 Nest Coaches Show with Todd Walker Returns on Monday Night at Fricker’s with Eddie George and Alex DelPiomboBOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The weekly Falcons Nest Coaches Show, presented by Fricker's, returns Monday night on the Falcon Sports Radio Network. The Jan Wilcox Head Football Coach Eddie George and volleyball head coach Alex DelPiombo will join Todd Walker from 6-7 p.m. at the Bowling Green Fricker's. Coach George will kick off the show at 6 p.m.
- The Duke of the left side: Avery HobsonIn many instances in college athletics, a program could be one or two players from a championship team. While for most of NCAA history, they had no way to add impact players, colleges can now turn their great teams into championship teams with the transfer portal.
- Falcons Fly North For First MAC Road Contests, Facing EMU, CMUBOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team will hit the road for the first time during MAC play this season, heading to the state of Michigan for a pair of matches. The weekend will begin for the Orange and Brown on Friday (Oct. 3) with a 6 p.m. first serve against Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti. From there, the Falcons will transition a bit further north to Mount Pleasant, facing Central Michigan on Saturday (Oct. 4) at 4 p.m. Both matches will be available to watch on ESPN+ with radio streams available from BG Falcon Media.
