BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team will begin play in the MAC Tournament on Saturday (Nov. 23) against the Western Michigan Broncos at 4 p.m. inside the Stroh Center. Winning the regular season MAC Championship, the Falcons are the host and No. 1 seed in the tournament, receiving a first round bye. Four teams remain in the field with BGSU being joined by No. 2 Central Michigan, No. 3 Ball State and No. 4 Western Michigan. All matches in the MAC Tournament will be broadcasted on ESPN+. Additional information regarding the tournament can be found in the overall tournament preview. 

First Serve 

• The Falcons earned the program's eighth MAC Regular Season Championship and enter the MAC Tournament as the top seed in the field.
• This is the first time Bowling Green has hosted the MAC Tournament since the 2020-21 season and the third time since 2019. 
• Bowling Green has now made eight-straight MAC Tournaments, going back to 2016, while making the championship match each season from 2019-2023. 
• BGSU won 16 MAC matches this season, tying for the second-most during an 18-match MAC schedule, winning 16 in 2021 and 17 in 1992.
• The Falcons are in the midst of an 11-match win streak, the longest since winning 12-straight during the 2021 season and a program record 18-straight during the 2020-21 COVID season.
• In total, Bowling Green has won 21 matches this season and are one win away for tying the most during Coach Tomic's tenure at Bowling Green and two away from setting a new career-high for Tomic with the Falcons. 
• The Mid-American Conference announced the All-MAC awards for the season. In total, six different Falcons collected seven total awards. Lauryn Hovey was named MAC Player of the Year and First Team All-MAC while head coach Danijela Tomic was named MAC Coach of the Year. Alexis Mettille and Amanda Otten joined Hovey on the First Team while Jessica Andrews and Mia Tyler were named Second Team All-MAC. 

Battling The Broncos
Bowling Green and Western Michigan met twice this season, both at the Stroh Center. The Falcons took the first meeting on Oct. 4 with a reverse sweep, overcoming a 2-0 deficit. Bowling Green followed it up with a 3-0 win on Saturday night (Oct. 5), securing a regular season sweep over WMU. Bowling Green and Western Michigan faced off in last year's MAC Championship match that went five sets. Western Michigan has won 11 of their last 12 matches with the lone loss being a 3-0 loss to Ball State on Nov. 15 in Muncie. WMU bested Buffalo, 3-1, in the first round of the MAC Tournament. 
 
Centering On Central
The Falcons and Chippewas and gone down to the wire in the last two meetings, both being five set finishes that have swung to CMU. This year's 3-2 final was on Oct. 11 at the Stroh Center while the teams played to the same result last season in Mount Pleasant on Oct. 27. The pair of five-set wins for Central snapped a seven-match BGSU win streak that included four-straight 3-0 sweeps. As for in the MAC Tournament, the Falcons and Chippewas last met during the 2019 MAC Tournament, also hosted in Bowling Green. In a semifinal contest, the Falcons claimed a 3-1 final. 

Contesting The Cardinals
Bowling Green and Ball State met twice this season, both being played in Muncie. The Falcons took the first match in five sets before following it up with a 3-0 sweep in the second. The pair of wins granted BGSU three-straight over Ball State, including a five-set win during last year's first round of the MAC Tournament. For the Falcons, their last win at home over Ball State came during the 2008 season with a 3-2 score. Ball State has won 11 of their last 12 matches with the lone loss being a five-set final against Western Michigan in the regular season finale. They beat Toledo, 3-0, in the first round. 

Mettille On Pace For New Record
Alexis Mettille has been one of the most efficient players on the attack this season. Mettille's .439 hitting percentage ranks fifth in the nation and is on pace to break the Falcons' program record for hitting percentage in a season. No player in BGSU Volleyball history has hit over .400 in a season with the record currently belonging to Tammy Schiller's .393 season in 1991. The season for Mettille has pushed her career hitting percentage to .362, which would break that record as well. Currently, the career record is held by Schiller's .344 mark from 1988-91. 

Hovey Heating Up In November
In the regular season finale, Lauryn Hovey landed a season-high 23 kills, her first time eclipsing the 20-kill mark this season. In November, Hovey is averaging 4.44 kills per set and 15.9 kills per match across seven matches. During that stretch, Hovey has landed 16+ kills in five matches. In addition to the high kill total, Hovey has been efficient as well. During the seven-match stretch, she's hit .370 or better six times, .400 or better five times and logged a career-best .609 against NIU on Nov. 9. In total, she's posted a .369 hitting percentage in the month of November. 

November Success For BGSU
The Falcons have had success in the month of November over the last few seasons. Going back to the start of the 2022 season, Bowling Green has a record of 21-1 in the month of November with the only loss being a five-set loss to Western Michigan in last year's MAC Championship. Going back further, since 2019 Bowling Green has a record of 32-6 in the month of November, not playing then in 2020-21 due to COVID. The Falcons have added to the tally with a 7-0 record in November this season. 

New Team, Similar Results 
This year, the Falcons tallied 16 wins during the MAC season and enter the tournament with 21 overall wins, aiding head coach Danijela Tomic to her third MAC Coach of the Year recognition. The success for the Falcons has come despite 50% of the roster being new to the program this year. Of BGSU's 18 players on the roster, six are freshman and three are transfers that came to Bowling Green ahead of this season. With the new faces, Bowling Green tied for the second-most MAC wins during an 18-match conference season, tying the 2021 season and being one shy of the 17 from 1992. Additionally, BGSU's 21 wins mark the seventh 20-win season under Tomic and are two shy of the most under Tomic, needing 23.

Follow the Falcons
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Twitter - @BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUVolleyball
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YouTube - 'Falcon Athletics'