Falcons To Begin New Era Of BGVB This Weekend With NDSU/UND Tournament
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team will start the 2025 season on the road with a trio of matches at the NDSU/UND Tournament. The Falcons will begin the season with a Friday doubleheader, playing Temple at 2 p.m. EST before taking on host North Dakota State at 7 p.m. EST. BGSU will shift from NDSU's campus to UND's on Saturday, facing St. Mary's with a 12 p.m. EST first serve. The matches hosted by North Dakota State will be available to stream on the Summit League Network through Midco Sports.
Weekend Schedule
Friday, Aug. 29Bowling Green vs. Temple | 2 p.m. EST | Fargo, N.D.
Bowling Green vs. North Dakota State | 7 p.m. EST | Fargo, N.D.
St. Mary's vs. North Dakota | 7 p.m. EST | Grand Forks, N.D.
Bowling Green vs. St. Mary's | 12 p.m. EST | Grand Forks, N.D.
North Dakota State vs. Temple | 12 p.m. EST | Fargo, N.D.
North Dakota vs. Temple | 11:30 a.m. EST | Grand Forks, N.D.
North Dakota State vs. St. Mary's | 12 p.m. EST | Fargo, N.D.
First Serve
- The Falcons will begin the season on the road for the first time since the 2023 season, starting off with the NDSU/UND Tournament against Temple, North Dakota State and St. Mary's.
- Of the teams in the field, Temple is the only one that the Falcons have played multiple times previously in program history, holding a 5-1 record against the Owls. BGSU and NDSU have played once, being a five-set NDSU win in 1988. As for St. Mary's, this will be the first meeting between the two programs all-time.
- BGVB will be entering a new era this season. For the first time since 2012, the Falcons will have a new coach at the helm as Alex DelPiombo moves into the head coaching role after nine seasons as an assistant or associate head coach with BGSU.
- In the MAC Preseason Poll, the Falcons were selected to finish first in the conference as well as chosen as the MAC Tournament favorite. Individually, Jessica Andrews, Lauryn Hovey and Amanda Otten were all named Preseason All-MAC.
- In 2024, the Falcons broke the program's Rally Scoring Era record for aces in a single-season with 231. This year, the Falcons will return players that accounted for 73.2-percent of those aces, totaling 169 of the 231.
- Bowling Green is in the program's 50th varsity season with the program beginning during the 1976 season. This year marks the 43rd season in the Mid-American Conference for BGVB, officially joining the sports in the MAC in 1983.
Taking A Look At Temple
Temple is coming off a 14-16 standing during the 2024 season, including a 6-10 record in the American Conference. However, new blood will enter the fold for Temple this year. The Owls will welcome ten newcomers, consisting of eight freshmen and two transfers. The new arrivals join a group of nine returners, including Christiana Greene who earned All-AAC Freshman honors a season ago. As for the transfers, Temple added graduate student Leia Harper from Georgia Tech following three seasons with the Yellow Jackets as well as sophomore Jaya Moore from Charlotte.
Battling The Bison
The Bison are coming off a 12-14 record in the 2024 season, posting an 8-8 standing in the Summit League. NDSU will also be looking to replace the production of Ali Hinze who graduated from the program. Hinze was a three-time Summit League All-Tournament honoree and a five-time All-League recipient. North Dakota State will have five newcomers on their roster, including two transfers. Junior defensive specialist Abi Banitt comes to NDSU from SIUE where she led the team in digs as a freshman. Sophomore outside hitter Zoe John will arrive from Pacific as well.
Going Against The Gaels
Like the Falcons, St. Mary's will welcome a new head coach to the bench this season, hiring Tyler Hildebrand who had been USC's associate head coach after being the head coach at Long Beach State from 2022-23, going 40-19 over two seasons. He was also chosen to the Volleyball Magazine list of up-and-coming Coaching Hotshots. As for preseason polls, the Gaels had redshirt senior outside hitter Genevieve Bane named to the WCC Preseason All-Conference list for the third straight season. Bane was named an All-WCC Honorable Mention in 2023 before earning First Team All-WCC honors in 2024.
Falcons Selected As MAC Favorite
On Monday, the Mid-American Conference released the 2025 Preseason Poll for the upcoming volleyball season. For Bowling Green, the Falcons received 10 first place votes and totaled 119 points, being slotted as the preseason favorite. The other two first place votes went to Ball State. As for the MAC Tournament, BGSU received 10 votes to win while Buffalo and Central Michigan each had one. The Falcons have been selected to finish either first or second in the preseason poll each of the last seven seasons, going back to 2019. During that span they've also been the MAC Tournament favorite five times while being second the other two years.
Three Named Preseason All-MAC
The Falcons had three student-athletes named to the Preseason All-MAC Team with Jessica Andrews, Lauryn Hovey and Amanda Otten all receiving the recognition. The trio of selections are the most for BGSU since having three in 2022 with Petra Indrova, Katelyn Meyer and Julia Walz. Andrews, Hovey and Otten were all named to All-MAC teams following the 2024 season, including Hovey earning the MAC Player of the Year award.
Setting From New Heights
Amanda Otten is listed as the second-tallest player on BGSU's roster, measuring in at 6-foot-3. In total, there are 15 student-athletes in the MAC listed at 6-foot-3 or taller. Of those 15, Otten is the only setter of the group with 10 middle blockers and four outside hitters. Including Otten, there are only six setters listed at 6-foot or taller in the MAC. Last year, Otten totaled 1,179 assists for the Falcons, ranking seventh during the Rally Scoring Era. As for her career marks, she enters the campaign with 1,436 assists, ranking 10th in the Rally Scoring Era.
Entering A New Era Of BGVB
For the first time since 2012, the Falcons will have a new coach at the helm. After nine years as an assistant or associate head coach, Alex DelPiombo takes over the reins of the Falcons in 2025. During her time with the Falcons, BGSU has posted a 186-91 (.671) record, including a 125-32 (.796) MAC standing. DelPiombo will take over for Danijela Tomic who spent 13 seasons with BGSU.
Aces Up The Sleeve
In 2024, the Falcons broke the program's Rally Scoring Era record of aces in a single season as a team with 231. This year, the Falcons will return players that accounted for 73.2-percent of those aces, totaling 169 and the 231. Among the returners include Lauryn Hovey who tied her own Rally Scoring Era record with 59 aces last season. She's joined by Sydnie Hernandez (40) and Amanda Otten (38) who both broke into the Top 10 during the Rally Scoring Era for aces in a season with Hernandez tying for fourth and Otten tying for eighth.
Hovey Record Book Check
Lauryn Hovey heads into the 2025 campaign with 144 career aces, ranking fourth all-time with the Rally Scoring Era record already taken care of. She's added 1,275 career kills, currently eighth in the Rally Scoring Era. Similar to Andrews, Hovey has made her mark in blocks as well. She's posted 255 block assists and 267 total blocks, both ranking ninth during the program's Rally Scoring Era.
Andrews With Team Canada
Jessica Andrews will miss the start of the season for the Falcons due to the honor of being part of Team Canada at the World Championships in Thailand. Play for Andrews and Team Canada began on Aug. 23 with a 3-1 win over Bulgaria. They followed it up with another win on Aug. 25 in a 3-2 final over Spain. In the match against Bulgaria, Andrews recorded a kill and a block.
Andrews Record Book Check
Going into the 2025 season, Jessica Andrews has already placed her name in five sections of the career blocks record book. For career block assists, Andrews has 307, ranking fifth during the Rally Scoring Era and 10th all-time in program history. She's added 51 solo blocks in the Orange and Brown, currently fourth during the Rally Scoring Era. The marks give Andrews 358 total blocks for BGSU, ranked fifth in the Rally Scoring Era.
New Look On The Bench
The coaching change brings with it a new staff, adding assistant coaches Chelsi Carter, Alexa Wharton and Lukas Pytlak as well as Director of Volleyball Operations Dominic Bennett. The changes will be the first for the Falcons in a while. Previously, the Falcons had the longest tenured full-time staff in the MAC with Tomic, DelPiombo and Alison Cooke.
Life Changes
For head coach Alex DelPiombo, becoming the new head coach of BGSU Volleyball wasn't the only life event during the offseason. DelPiombo welcomed her first son, Elias, on Aug. 9. With that, the assistant coaches for the Falcons will be taking the lead on the bench during the opening series of the season. Additionally, we ask that media questions regarding Elias be delayed until the end of the season to give privacy to Alex and family as well as keep focus on the team throughout the season.
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Latest Women's Volleyball News
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