BOWLING GREEN — The top-seeded Bowling Green State University volleyball team was ousted from the Mid-American Conference tournament in a five-set semifinal loss Saturday.
Western Michigan, the No. 4 seed, took down the Falcons 25-18, 21-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-8 in front of 1,184 fans at the Stroh Center.
Bowling Green finishes with a 21-9 record. Western Michigan (19-12) advances to Sunday’s 4 p.m. final against No. 3 seed Ball State, which topped No. 2 Central Michigan 25-19, 25-16, 21-25, 21-25, 15-9 in Saturday’s second match. Ball State defeated No. 6 Toledo in Friday’s opening round.
In an evenly played match, Bowling Green dominated at the net with an 18-10 advantage in blocks. And while the teams posted similar attack percentages for the match (.189 for BG to .183 for WMU), the victorious Broncos stepped up their offense in the fifth set with 12 kills to only one error on 23 attempts for a .478 mark.
Western Michigan scored the first seven points of the fifth set, with Madison Merz recording four of team-high 17 kills. Bowling Green came no closer than five points the rest of the way, with the Broncos’ Julia Marr (13 kills) closing out the match with a kill.
Jessica Andrews paced Bowling Green offensively with 16 kills, and she also had 10 blocks. Alexis Mettille and Lauryn Hovey each had 14 kills. Lindsey LaPinta had 25 digs, while Hovey recorded 16. Amanda Otten had 48 asssts.
Anna Calcagno had 15 kills for Western Michigan. Andelyn Simkins recorded 30 digs, and Logan Case had 57 assists.
First Published November 24, 2024, 12:55 a.m.