QUEENS, N.Y. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team overcame a 2-0 deficit to capture a 3-2 win on Saturday (Dec. 14) over St. John's in the NIVC Fab Four. The Falcons are the first MAC team in conference history to log a reverse sweep in the postseason and it marks the third for Bowling Green this season. The Falcons recorded 18 blocks as a team, matching the season-high, and 12 aces in the win. Bowling Green will now advance to the NIVC Championship for the second time in program history, remaining the only team in the MAC to do so. The Falcons will take on Arizona in the championship on Tuesday (Dec. 17) with an 8 pm. EST start. 

How It Happened 
Set 1: St. John's 25, Bowling Green 19

• St. John's logged the first point of the match, but the Falcons answered to begin trading points in the early going. An early 5-0 burst for the Red Storm pushed them in front, 7-2 with a Bowling Green timeout.
• Coming out of the timeout, the Falcons ended the run to resume trading points with the Red Storm, rolling the score to 8-4.
• St. John's tallied another 4-0 run, stretching their lead in the set to 12-4 with Bowling Green utilizing their second timeout.
• The Red Storm added a point after the timeout, but the Falcons responded with a 3-0 run to trim the St. John's lead to 13-7 with the Red Storm calling timeout.
• The Falcons kept the momentum through the timeout, adding two points to the run for a 5-0 stretch and 13-9 score. 
• The back-and-forth continued with St. John's tallying consecutive points a few times to a 23-16 score. Back-to-back points for the Falcons cut into the deficit, 23-18, with the Red Storm calling their second timeout of the set.
• The run continued after the timeout with an Amanda Otten ace for a 3-0 burst and 23-19 score. However, two St. John's points finished the first set, 25-19.

Set 2: St. John's 25, Bowling Green 20

• St. John's opened the second set with consecutive points, but the Falcons responded with a 3-0 run to move in front for the first time in the match with a 3-2 advantage. 
• From there, the trading of points returned, carrying to a 5-5 tie before a 4-0 St. John's run pushed the Red Storm in front 9-5 to force a Bowling Green timeout.
• St. John's added a point after the timeout, but the Falcons put together a 3-0 run to cut into the lead, 10-8, with a Red Storm timeout.
• The back-and-forth continued with the Falcons drawing within one at 13-12 following an Otten ace, again at 15-14 and again at 18-17.
• Two points for the Red Storm extended their lead to 20-17, resulting in the second BGSU timeout of the set.
• The lead for St. John's extended to 21-17 with another point, but two for the Falcons followed, including an ace from Sydnie Hernandez, with a 21-19 tally.
• The Red Storm recorded a 3-0 run to push the score to 24-19. BGSU answered, but St. John's took the set, 25-20.

Set 3: Bowling Green 25, St. John's 23

• The Falcons logged the first two points of the set, but a 6-0 St. John's run followed to push the Red Storm in front 6-2 with a BGSU timeout.
• The timeout jump started a 4-0 run for the Orange and Brown, including an ace from Alexis Mettille, tying the score at 6-6.
• Ties followed the 6-6 score at 7-7 and 8-8 before the Falcons pushed ahead with a 9-8 score to force a St. John's timeout.
• The tied scores continued through the timeout, occurring at 9-9, 10-10, 11-11, 12-12 and 13-13. A 3-0 run for the Falcons pushed BGSU in front 15-13 in the set, breaking the run of ties. 
• The lead for BGSU stretched to 17-14 following a 5-1 stretch in favor of the Falcons with St. John's taking their second timeout.
• The two teams traded points, but a 3-0 run to St. John's cut into the BGSU lead, 20-19, with a Falcon timeout.
• Coming out of the break, St. John's worked to tie the set back up, this time at 22-22. Two points for the Falcons gave BGSU the 24-22 advantage. The Red Storm added a point, but a Lauryn Hovey kill sealed the set for the Falcons.

Set 4: Bowling Green 25, St. John's 17

• St. John's recorded the first point of the fourth set, going back-and-forth for the first six points to a 3-3 tie. Back-to-back aces by Hovey broke the trading of points for a 5-3 BGSU lead and a St. John's timeout.
• After the timeout, the Red Storm registered back-to-back points to tie it at 5-5. The Falcons followed with a 5-0 run to reclaim the lead at 10-5 forcing the second St. John's timeout of the set.
• St. John's halted the run after the timeout with a point, but the Falcons quickly put together a 5-1 stretch, pushing the lead to 15-7.
• A similar sequence followed. The Red Storm landed a point, but a 4-0 BGSU run followed for a 19-8 BGSU lead.
• The two teams began trading pairs of points, carrying the score to a 21-12 tally. The pairs then switched to single points, rolling to 23-13.
• A late 4-0 run for St. John's cut into the lead, 24-17, with the Falcons taking a timeout. Out of the timeout, a service error gave BGSU the set.

Set 5: Bowling Green 16, St. John's 14

• St. John's logged the first point of the set, but the Falcons followed with a pair to move in front before the Red Storm tied it at 2-2.
• The second Red Storm point began a 4-0 run for St. John's, taking a 5-2 lead in the set with a BGSU timeout.
• Out of the timeout, the two teams traded points to a 6-4 score. Consecutive BGSU points pulled the Falcons within one, 6-5.
• The back-and-forth battle carried the score to 8-6 St. John's with the teams trading sides.
• The Falcons rattled off back-to-back points to tie the score at 8-8, resulting in a St. John's timeout.
• St. John's regrouped in the timeout, recording back-to-back points to move back in front 10-8. BGSU registered a point, but another for the Red Storm made it an 11-9 score with a BGSU timeout.
• Coming out of the break, the Falcons put together a 3-0 run to take a 12-11 lead, forcing a timeout from St. John's.
• The two teams went back-and-forth out of the timeout with ties at 12-12 and 13-13 and 14-14 to force the set into extra points.
• Andrews logged a kill to put the score in BGSU's favor before teaming up with Mia Tyler on the match-sealing block for the Falcons.

Falcon Stat Leaders 
Kills: Lauryn Hovey (17)
Assists: Amanda Otten (39)
Digs: Lindsey LaPinta (24)
Aces: Amanda Otten (5)
Blocks: Alexis Mettille (10)

Falcon Stat Facts

• For the second time in program history, the Falcons will advance to the NIVC Championship, joining the ranks of the 1992 BGSU squad as the only MAC teams to make it to a postseason championship.
• Overcoming the 2-0 deficit, it marks the first time in MAC postseason history that a team has won in reverse sweep fashion.
• As a team, the Falcons logged 18 total blocks, matching the most for the team this season. Bowling Green logged 18 in the five set match against Western Michigan on Nov. 23 as well.
• For the second straight match, Bowling Green logged 12 aces. The Falcons have now recorded 10 or more aces in three of their four NIVC matches. The 12 aces are also the most in a five set match for BGSU this year. 
• Jessica Andrews registered five blocks for the Falcons, breaking the program's Rally Scoring Era record for blocks in a season with 155. She's also now seventh on the all-time list. 
• Of Andrews' five blocks, four were block assists, giving her 132 this season. That moves her up to four all-time on the single-season block assists list. 
• Andrews added 10 kills for the Falcons while maintaining a .474 hitting percentage on 19 attacks with just one error. 
• Lauryn Hovey landed two aces for the Falcons, giving her 55 this season and 141 for her BGSU career. Hovey is now tied with Linda Popovich's 1986 season for third on the all-time single-season list. As for career aces, Hovey is now up to fourth on the all-time list. 
• Hovey led the team with 17 kills for the Falcons, giving her 432 this season. That pushes Hovey up to eighth on the program's Rally Scoring list for kills in a single season. 
• Hovey narrowly missed a double-double as well with a season-high nine block assists in the match, matching her career-high. She now has 252 career block assists, moving up to ninth on the Rally Scoring list. Additionally, she has 265 career total blocks, putting her inside the top 10 on the all-time list at ninth. 
• Alexis Mettille recorded a team-high and career-high 10 block assists in the match, giving her 126 this season. That pushed her up to a tie for fourth during the Rally Scoring Era for single-season block assists. It also moves Mettille into the top 10 all-time for single-season blocks, now tied for ninth. As for total blocks, Mettille is up to 144 this season, jumping up to fifth on the Rally Scoring list.
• Sydnie Hernandez tallied three aces for the Falcons, giving her 39 this season. Not only does that put Hernandez inside the top 10 during the Rally Scoring Era, but moves her up to a tie for sixth on the list. 
• Amanda Otten filled the stat sheet for the Falcons with 39 assists, five aces, five blocks, four digs and four kills. Her assist total gives her 1,136 assists this year, moving up to ninth on the Rally Scoring list for single-season assists. The four kills for Otten also give her 114 this season, marking a new career-high.
• As for aces, Otten's career-high five marks the first time a Falcon has had five or more aces in a match since Hovey had five against Brown on Sept. 13, 2024.
• Lindsey LaPinta led the Falcons in digs with 24, coming one shy of her career-high. The outing marks her eighth 20-dig match of the season. She added seven assists as well, matching her career-high.
• Jordan Newblatt added 10 kills for the BGSU attack, finishing with a .364 hitting percentage. She filled out her stat line with two digs, an assist and a block. 
• Avery Anders finished second on the team in digs with 11 while recording two assists and an ace for the Falcons. 
• After walking at graduation Friday night, Mia Tyler landed six kills for the Falcons while adding four digs and a season-high four block assists. 
• This marks the first ever win for Bowling Green over St. John's, now holding a 1-1 record against the Red Storm all-time.
• Bowling Green now has 25 wins this season, the most since winning 25 during the 2008 campaign. 
• This is the third time this season BGSU has overcome a 2-0 deficit and the second it has happened on the road. 

Up Next
The Falcons will advance to the NIVC Championship, taking on the University of Arizona. BGSU and Arizona are scheduled to face off on Tuesday (Dec. 17) with an 8 p.m. EST start. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.

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