AKRON, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team tallied their second sweep in as many days, topping Akron in a 3-0 final Friday night (Oct. 18). After taking the first two sets in extra points, including a 30-point first set, the Falcons claimed a 25-18 third set for the victory. BGSU has now won 10 straight over the Zips all-time and moved to 12-8 on the season as well as 7-2 in the Mid-American Conference. 

How It Happened 
Set 1: Bowling Green 30, Akron 28

• Akron began the match with a 6-1 stretch, including a 4-0 run that forced an early Bowling Green timeout. The Zips added a point after the timeout for a 5-0 run and 7-1 lead.
• The Falcons registered back-to-back points with kills from Mia Tyler and Alexis Mettille to cut into the lead, 7-3, before the teams began trading points to a 9-5 score.
• Akron registered two points, but the Falcons put together a 3-0 run, including back-to-back aces from Sydnie Hernandez, cutting the lead down to 11-8.
• The Zips tallied two points before the back-and-forth battle continued with the trading of points stretching to 15-10, but the Falcons fired back with a pair of points to cut it back down to three at 15-12.
• A 4-1 stretch for Akron pushed their lead back to 19-13 with Bowling Green taking their second timeout of the set.
• Out of the timeout, the Falcons tallied a 3-0 run of their own to trim the lead down to 19-16 to force the first Akron timeout of the match.
• Akron tallied the first point out of the timeout, but Bowling Green went on to rattle off a 4-0 run to make it a 7-1 stretch, resulting in the second Zip timeout of the set with the score knotted up at 20-20.
• Out of the timeout, the ties stretched to 21-21, 22-22, 23-23 and 24-24 to force the set into extra points. 
• The ties continued into the extra points at 25-25, 26-26, 27-27 and 28-28 before a 3-0 run swung the score to the Falcons for the first set win.

Set 2: Bowling Green 26, Akron 24

• The second set began similarly to the end of the first, going to a 2-2 tie, but the Falcons put together a 3-0 run to move in front 5-2.
• Akron answered back with a 3-0 run of their own to tie the set up at 5-5 before stretching the run to 4-0 with a 6-5 lead, but the Falcons knotted it up at 6-6 with a Jessica Andrews kill.
• Another ace from Hernandez, her third of the match, pushed BGSU in front 7-6, but the ties resumed at 7-7 and carried to 8-8.
• The Falcons registered a 4-0 run to reclaim the lead, building the score to 11-8 with Akron taking a timeout. BGSU added a kill after the break for a 5-0 run and 12-8 lead.
• The two teams traded points until a 3-0 Akron run cut the BGSU lead down to one with a 16-15 score.
• Bowling Green tallied a pair of points to stretch the lead back to 18-15, but the Zips recorded another 3-0 run to tie the set at 18-18.
• The tie carried into a 19-19 score before Akron moved ahead for a 20-19 advantage with the Falcons taking a timeout.
• Bowling Green tied it up after the timeout at 20-20, following at 21-21 before a BGSU point made it 22-21 Falcons with an Akron timeout.
• Out of the timeout, Akron tied it at 22-22 with the score carrying to 23-23 and 24-24 to force the set into extra points.
• The Falcons were able to tally back-to-back points to take the set, 26-24.

Set 3: Bowling Green 25, Akron 18

• Akron jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third set, but the Falcons closed the gap to 5-4 in the set. The Zips pushed back ahead to a 9-5 advantage, resulting in a BGSU timeout.
• The Falcons chipped away with a 5-1 stretch, including a 3-0 run, to pull within one at 12-11 before the teams traded service errors to a 13-12 tally. 
• The service error was the first point in a 3-0 BGSU run to put the Falcons in front 14-13, forcing an Akron timeout.
• Akron tied it up out of the timeout at 14-14 with another tie at 15-15 before kills from Jordan Newblatt and Tyler made it a 17-15 BGSU lead.The Zips answered to tie it back up at 17-17.
• The back-and-forth continued with two more BGSU points to push the score to 19-17 Falcons with Akron taking their second timeout.
• The run for the Falcons carried through the timeout, adding five more points for a 7-0 run and 24-17 lead.
• Akron landed a point, but the Falcons secured the set with a 25-18 score for the 3-0 match sweep.

Falcon Stat Leaders 
Kills: Lauryn Hovey, Mia Tyler (12)
Assists: Amanda Otten (39)
Digs: Lindsey LaPinta (19)
Aces: Sydnie Hernandez (3)
Blocks: Amanda Otten (6)

Falcon Stat Facts

• The Falcons have now won 10 straight over Akron going back to the 2019 season. All-time, Bowling Green holds the advantage with a record of 51-17 against the Zips as well as being 25-8 in Akron.
• As a team, the Falcons set new season-highs for a three-set match in kills (52), digs (61) and assists (48). 
• Lauryn Hovey tied for the team-lead in kills with 12, bringing her BGSU career total to 1,049. The mark puts Hovey inside the top 10 during the program's Rally Scoring Era, surpassing Nicole Slimko (2014-17) for 10th. 
• Jessica Andrews recorded five block assists in the match, bringing her career total to 250. That moves Andrews up to eighth during the Rally Scoring Era of the program, passing Danielle Tonyan on the list. 
• Andrews also posted an efficient .571 hitting percentage, topping the team's stat sheet on top of setting a new season-best, landing eight kills on 14 error-free attacks. 
• Alexis Mettille registered a total of four blocks, including one solo. Mettille now has 42 career solo blocks, tying her with teammate Jessica Andrews, Stephanie Swiger (2004-07) and Taylor Twite (2002-04) for fifth during the program's Rally Scoring Era.
• Mettille's three block assists moved her career total to 266 to put her past Madeline Brandewie (2015-18) for sixth during the Rally Scoring Era at BGSU. 
• Lindsey LaPinta logged a team-high 19 digs, just missing another 20-dig match. The total for LaPinta gives her 267 digs this season, setting a new career-high for a single-season, besting her 252 from last season. 
• Amanda Otten filled the stat sheet for the Falcons, leading the team with 39 assists as well as six blocks, her first time this season leading the team in blocks. Otten added seven digs and four kills to fill out her stat line. 
• Sydnie Hernandez led the team in aces with three while tallying 13 digs, both matching her career-highs. Hernandez has now paced BGSU in aces four times this season with the Falcons being 4-0 in those matches. 
• Jordan Newblatt landed nine kills for the Falcons on the attack, giving BGSU five different players with six kills or more in the match. 

Up Next
The Falcons will return home next weekend to host the Kent State Golden Flashes. Friday's match (Oct. 25) is set for a 6 p.m. start while Saturday (Oct. 26) is slated for a 5 p.m. first serve.   

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