CHICAGO, Ill. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team picked up a win over Stephen F. Austin on Friday (Sept. 12) with a 3-1 victory. In the four-set match, each set was settled by just two points including two of the sets going to extra points. After coming up short in the first set, the Falcons battled back with three straight set wins. The win marks the first for head coach Alex DelPiombo on the bench for BGSU as the head coach. It also is the first win for the program over SFA.

Avery Hobson led the attack for the Falcons with a career-high 24 kills and a .404 hitting percentage. Lauryn Hovey followed with a double-double, finishing with 13 kills and 10 digs. Joining on the attack, Marin Dunaway made her BGSU debut, finishing with eight kills. Amanda Otten set the attack with 44 assists while adding nine digs and a season-high six kills. 

How It Happened
Set 1: Stephen F. Austin 26, Bowling Green 24

• Helen Wilford started the match with a quick kill for the Falcons, but Stephen F. Austin soon responded with a 5-0 run to move out to a 6-2 advantage in the match.
• A pair of points for the Falcons pulled the score back to 6-4, but SFA answered with a 4-0 run to push the score to 10-4. Bowling Green paused the run with a timeout.
• The Falcons responded out of the timeout with a 5-0 burst to cut the deficit down to one at 10-9, forcing a timeout from the SFA bench. 
• The two teams traded points after the timeout, but a pair of tallies for the Falcons tied the set up at 12-12. The run for BGSU turned into a 3-0 burst for a 13-12 advantage.
• The Jacks answered with a 3-0 run of their own, swinging the score back to them at 15-13. Lauryn Hovey landed a kill, but another 3-0 run for SFA followed for a 6-1 stretch and 18-14 lead.
• From there, the two teams went back-and-forth to a 20-16 score. BGSU tallied consecutive points, drawing within two at 20-18. SFA recorded a point, but another pair of BGSU points, including an ace from Jessica Andrews, made it a 21-20 score with the Jacks taking a timeout.
• SFA ended the burst out of the timeout, but a solo block from Wilford kept the Falcons within one. On the next rally, Hovey registered a solo block of her own to tie it up at 22-22.
• The tie moved to 23-23, but a point for SFA pushed them to the advantage with a BGSU timeout at 24-23. Out of the timeout, Hovey landed a kill to knot it up at 24-24, forcing the set to extra points.
• Back-to-back blocks for the Jacks tallied two points to give them the first set, 26-24.

Set 2: Bowling Green 25, Stephen F. Austin 23

• Amanda Otten opened the second set with an ace for the Falcons. The two teams traded points to a 2-2 tie, but a kill from Wilford followed by an ace from Sydnie Hernandez gave BGSU a 4-2 lead.
• SFA worked to build a 3-0 run, moving in front 6-5 before BGSU tied it again at 6-6. Another 3-0 Jack run followed for a 6-1 stretch and 9-6 lead for SFA. 
• The Falcons responded with a 4-0 run, including back-to-back aces from Andrews, to reclaim the lead at 10-9 and force a timeout from the SFA bench.
• Coming out of the break, the Jacks used a pair of points to swing the score back to them. However, a kill from Avery Hobson knotted it up at 11-11. An ace from Otten pushed BGSU back in front, 12-11.
• The back-and-forth continued with ties at 12-12, 13-13 and 14-14. Back-to-back BGSU points, including an ace from Hovey, made it a 16-14 Falcon lead.
• The Jacks again answered, this time with a 4-0 run to push back in front with an 18-16 score, resulting in a timeout from the BGSU bench. SFA added three more points to the run for a 7-0 stretch and 21-16 lead with the second Falcon timeout.
• After the second BGSU timeout, the two teams went back-and-forth to a 23-19 score. The Falcons were able to register a 3-0 run of their own, trimming the SFA lead down to 23-21 with the Jacks taking a timeout.
• The run carried through the stoppage, reaching 5-0 to tie it up at 23-23. A block from Hobson and Wilford moved the Falcons in front. A kill from Hobson granted BGSU the set behind a 7-0 run after trailing 23-18.

Set 3: Bowling Green 26, Stephen F. Austin 24

• The third set began back-and-forth with the first consecutive points going to SFA for a 6-2 score with a 4-0 run.
• Marin Dunaway ended the run with her first collegiate kill. An ace followed from Hovey to pull the Falcons back within two, 6-4.
• The Jacks tallied consecutive points for an 8-4 lead before the trading of points resumed, carrying the score to 10-6. Back-to-back points for SFA made it 11-6 with a BGSU timeout.
• Out of timeout, the back-and-forth again resumed, pushing the tally to 13-8 before the next set of consecutive points. BGSU was able to register back-to-back points to cut the lead down to 13-10.
• The point trading moved the score to 15-11. Bowling Green broke the trend with a 4-1 stretch, cutting the SFA lead down to one, 16-15, with a timeout from the Jacks.
• The teams traded points to an 18-17 SFA lead, but a kill from Dunaway gave BGSU back-to-back points to tie it up at 18-18.
• The run for the Falcons expanded to 3-0, moving out to a 19-18 advantage. SFA tied it at 19-19, but a solo block for Dunaway put BGSU back in front with the lead reaching 21-19 with a timeout from SFA.
• The timeout resulted in a Jack point, but a 3-1 BGSU stretch followed for a 24-21 score. SFA extended the set with back-to-back points, forcing a BGSU timeout with the score at 24-23.
• An ace out of the timeout for SFA made it a 3-0 run and tied the set at 24-24 to send the set into extra points. A kill from Hobson pushed BGSU in front before she added a solo block to clinch the set.

Set 4: Bowling Green 25, Stephen F. Austin 23

• The fourth set started like the others with a back-and-forth battle. The first signs of separation came from a 5-1 stretch for the Falcons, creating a 7-4 lead to force a timeout from the SFA bench.
• Out of the break, the run continued for Bowling Green with another tally added before the Jacks ended the span. However, BGSU went back to work with two more points for an 8-2 stretch, creating a 10-5 lead.
• The Jacks were able to utilize a 3-0 run to cut into the Bowling Green lead, trimming the score to 11-9. The Falcons extended the lead back to 13-9, but another 3-0 SFA run followed to pull them within one at 13-12.
• The two teams went back-and-forth. BGSU used back-to-back points for a 15-12 lead. SFA pulled within one again, 16-15, before later tying it up at 18-18 to force a BGSU timeout.
• A pair of points pushed the Falcons back in front with a 20-18 lead.The lead for BGSU grew to 23-20 with Andrew and Hobson rejecting a Jack attack to force a timeout from SFA.
• Out of the timeout, another block from Andrews and Otten made it a 3-0 BGSU run for a 24-20 advantage. SFA used a 3-0 run to pull back within one, 24-23, with the Falcons taking their second timeout.
• Out of the timeout, Hobson landed a kill to secure the set and the match for the Orange and Brown.

Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Avery Hobson (24)
Assists: Amanda Otten (44)
Digs: Sydnie Hernandez (15)
Aces: Jessica Andrews, Lauryn Hovey (3)
Blocks: Jessica Andrews (7)

Falcon Stat Facts

• The win will go down as the first on the bench for Alex DelPiombo as head coach of the Falcons. DelPiombo missed the first two wins for BGSU this season following the birth of her son.
• With the match being the first all-time between Bowling Green and SFA, the Falcons are now 1-0 in program history against the Jacks. 
• The Falcons hit .208 as a team while holding SFA to a mark of .118. BGSU is now 3-0 this season when hitting a higher percentage than their opponent. 
• Avery Hobson led the BGSU attack with a career-high 24 kills while also maintaining a .404 hitting percentage in the match. Hobson added eight digs, five blocks and two assists to complete her stat line. The block total also set a new career-high. 
• Lauryn Hovey landed 13 kills and added 10 digs, both second on the team for the match. The double-double gives Hovey three this season and 21 for her career at BGSU. The Falcons have had at least one double-double in five consecutive matches. 
• Jessica Andrews logged a team-high seven blocks for the Falcons. The mark moves her career total to 371 blocks for BGSU, passing Alexis Mettille for fourth on the program's Rally Scoring list. 
• After entering the match with four career aces, Andrews added three aces in the match, tying for the team-lead in the match and nearly doubling her career total. 
• Entering in the third set, Marin Dunaway made her BGSU debut and had a big impact. Dunaway totaled eight kills on 25 attacks while adding a solo block and a block assist. 
• Amanda Otten set the Falcon attack with 44 assists while filling up the stat sheet with a season-high six kills, nine digs, four blocks and two aces. 
• Sydnie Hernandez paced the team in digs with 15 and added five assists, continuing her streak of at least three assists in each match this season. 

Up Next
The Falcons will wrap up the weekend on Saturday (Sept. 13) against host Loyola with a 3 p.m. EST start. From there, Bowling Green will return home to the Stroh Center on Wednesday (Sept. 17) to host Oakland for a 6 p.m. first serve. 

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