Thursday’s MAC Volleyball Results
Bowling Green 3, Kent State 2
Buffalo 3, Eastern Michigan 2
Northern Illinois 3, Miami 2
Central Michigan 3, Akron 2
 
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
 
 
Bowling Green 3, Kent State 2
Box Score
 
Bowling Green, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball program picked up their 10th win of the season to advance to 10-0 following a five-set thriller against Kent State on Thursday night (Feb. 25).
 
The Falcons were able to claim the first two sets of the match, but the Golden Flashes battled back to take the third set and an extended fourth set to send the match to a fifth. In the end, it was one of nine block assists by Katie Kidwell that decided the match, pairing up with Jacqueline Askin for the clinching point of the fifth set.

With nine block assists on the night, Katie Kidwell surpassed Stephanie Swiger on the all-time career block assists list, taking over fourth place with a mark of 381. The nine blocks also puts Kidwell's career block total at 442, tying her for sixth all-time with Lori Hilton. 

Now at 10-0 this season, the Falcons have registered the program's third start of at least 10-0 in program history. The 1990 season saw a 10-0 start while the 2012 season had a record-setting 12-0 beginning. The 10-0 start to MAC play is also the best since the team hit the same mark during the 2006 campaign. Only the 1992 season has had a better conference start, beginning 13-0, although those games were broken up by non-conference losses. The MAC start this season also tied the 2011-12 women's basketball team for the best conference start in all of BGSU Athletics over the last 10 years. 

Hanna Laube was able to tally her second double-double of the season with 49 assists and 13 digs on the night. The 13 digs also moves her season total to 65, marking a new single season-high for her career. The 13 digs also ties Laube's career-high for digs in a match while she also tallied a career-high five block assists. 

Katelyn Meyer led the Falcons in kills on the night with 17 while also registering a season-high six digs in the contest. 

Also logging six digs on the night, Nikolija Katanic set a new career-high mark with the outing. 

Petra Indrova and Jacqueline Askin joined in on the attack, both hitting double-digits. Indrova landed 14 kills with nine digs, just one shy of a double-double. As for Askin, she had 15 kills along with her first two aces of the season. 

With the win, the Falcons have earned just the third 10-0 start in program history while also matching the best conference start over the last 10 years for all of BGSU Athletics, matching the 2011-12 women's basketball team.
 
The Falcons and Golden Flashes will be back tomorrow night (Feb. 26) for a 5 p.m. start to conclude the series. 
 
Buffalo 3, Eastern Michigan 2
Box Score
 
YPSILANTI, MI – Freshmen Emma Gielas and Milla Malik combined for 40 kills leading the Bulls to their first victory of the year, a 3-2 thriller at Eastern Michigan. 

Gielas finished with a career high 21 kills, the most by a UB player this season, and the most from a Buffalo freshman since Andrea Mitrovic had 24 against Bowling Green on Nov. 11, 2017.

The Bulls took the match 25-23, 21-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-7 despite being narrowly outhit by Eastern Michigan, .256 to .223.

Gielas finished with 21 kills and just six errors on 44 attempts as she hit .341 for the match with seven digs.

Malik had career bests across the board, finishing with 19 kills, 17 digs, and five total blocks.

Lexi Nordmann had eight kills and just one error, while Courtney Okwara finished with seven kills. Nordmann added four blocks and Okwara had three.

Kyndal Bacon had another good night running the offense as she had a career-high 51 assists, while adding four kills and no errors. Bacon also had eight digs.

Sophomore Jenna Sonnenberg led the Bulls defensively with 19 digs, while junior Paige Beck finished with eight. As a team, UB had 7.0 total blocks.

The Bulls and Eagles will be back in action tomorrow at 4:00 pm.  The match will air on ESPN+.
 
 
Northern Illinois 3, Miami 2
Box Score
 
DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team rallied from 2-1 down Thursday afternoon to defeat the Miami RedHawks 3-2 (25-20. 17-25, 19-25, 25-23, 15-11) at Victor E. Court for the Huskies' fourth consecutive win.
 
Sophomore Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill./New Hampshire) led NIU with 15 kills, adding 11 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. She also had a season-high four blocks. Kaitlyn Bell (De Soto, Kan./De Soto) had 11 digs and three blocks. Setter Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) distributed 37 assists while also putting down four kills.

The Huskies' middle blocker duo of Kennedy Wallace (Kansas City, Kan./Piper) and Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) combined for 13 blocks with Kemp putting up a season-high eight.
 
NIU hit .149 in the match but had 13 blocks to Miami's seven. The Huskies also had eight service aces. Miami hit .235 as a team and held a 68-54 advantage in digs. Sophie Riemersma led the RedHawks with 15 kills as libero Abigail Huser led the match with 27 digs.
 
The two teams wrap up their series Friday at 6 p.m. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
 
Central Michigan 3, Akron 2
Box Score
 
 
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Central Michigan squandered a two-set lead and then scored 10 of the final 14 points on Thursday to pull out a five-set victory over Akron in a Mid-American Conference volleyball match at McGuirk Arena.
 
Savannah Thompson finished with 22 kills on a .232 hitting percentage to lead a strong team-wide effort by the Chippewas.
 
Freshman Kamryn Olson had eight kills on a .389 hitting percentage and finished with 25 assists and 21 digs.
 
Sierra Gray added 13 kills and Maddie Whitfield had 11, three of which came after the Chippewas led 10-7 in the final set. Whitfield hit at .562 in the match.
 
Hannah Warners led the Chippewas with 26 digs, Thompson had 18, and setter Grace Butler had 12 along with 30 assists.
 
It was CMU's third-consecutive win and it improved 3-0 in five-setters this season. The Chippewas, 6-5, and Zips, 3-8, are scheduled to complete their two-match set on Friday (2 p.m.).