MUNCIE, Indiana — Bowling Green State Volleyball advanced to the MAC Championship by defeating Buffalo 25-22, 25-16, 25-16 in the MAC tournament semifinals on Monday night.
The Falcons played the Bulls by a score of 25-22 in the first set and completed the sweep with set scores of 25-16 in both the second and third sets.
The win advances the Falcons to their fourth straight MAC Championship, where they will face Ball State on ESPN+ at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
With the Falcons winning their first two championship meetings, BGSU will face Ball State for the MAC title for the third time in the past four years. The winner advances to the NCAA Tournament.
Against Buffalo on Monday, the Falcons picked up the pace with an even more efficient offense, finishing the game with a .407 offensive percentage.
Bowling Green started with a .432 attacking average in the first set and posted a .500 mark in the third.
As a team, BGSU only made three offensive errors in the first set, two in the second set, and one in the third set.
6-foot freshman outside hitter Lauryn Hovey paces the offense with a .550 offensive percentage with 13 kills, while 6-0 senior outside hitter Petra Indrova and 6-1 sophomore outside hitter Mia Tyler added 10 kills each.
Recognized as MAC Freshman of the Year, Hovey posted a team-best and career-best .550 attacking percentage with just two errors in 20 attacks.
Both Indrova and Tyler finished with over .400 attack rates. Indrova went his one dig shy of double-doubles and he surpassed 300 kills during the season while Tyler recorded his team-high 23 offenses.
The Falcons quickly took a 4-1 lead in the first set, starting with Hobie’s kill and ending with Tyler’s two.
Buffalo won 3-0 late in the set, leveling the score at 7-7, but the Falcons were able to turn it around with kills from Indrova and Hovey.
BGSU maintained their lead and after Hovey’s ace added a point to their advantage, Buffalo recorded the second timeout of the set to beat the Falcons 23-19. Buffalo pushed in the second half, but the Falcons were able to stay ahead for a 25-22 first set score.
In the second set, the Falcons scored the first point of the second set, but Buffalo responded with a 4-0 run to take a 4-1 lead.
Bowling Green combined his own 7-1 stretch, including a 5-0 run, to move at 9-6 ahead of the set and prompt an early Buffalo timeout. The Falcons didn’t trail again en route to a 9-point victory.
The third set started off tight as well, with a 3-0 BGSU run to create space for the Falcons at 7-5, but the Bulls tied the score at 7-7 by two points.
Bowling Green responded with another 5-0 run to put the score back in favor of the Falcons at 12-7, but the Falcons never looked back.
BGSU Senior Libero Jelianiz Torres recorded his 12th 20-digs match of the season, finishing with just 20 digs.
Torres has had a maximum of 537 digs this season, placing him 10th on the show’s all-time list for most digs in a single season. Torres also scored two of his five team aces in BGSU.
Eastwood alum Kaitlyn Meyer is a 5-10 senior outfield hitter with 16 offenses for the Falcons and a career total of 4,999. Meyer is just one offensive he shy of becoming the first player in the program to reach 5,000 career offensive attempts.
Jessica Andrews, a 6-4 freshman middle blocker, led the team in four blocks with one solo and three assists. Andrews added her 3 kills on her 6 attacks for an efficient .500 attack rate.
BGSU junior setter Jayden Waltz paced the BGSU offense with 13 assists and added 7 digs to the stats line. 5-10 senior setter Hannah Laube also added 10 points.
