BOWLING GREEN, Ohio --  The Bowling Green State University volleyball team topped Miami in five sets on Friday night (April 2) in a 3-2 final to advance to the MAC Championship for the second consecutive year. The Falcons were able to snag victories in the second, third and fifth sets to secure the win and advance in the tournament. The Orange and Brown were paced by three players with double-digit kills and two players with double-digit digs as well as nine team aces. The Falcons will now face Western Michigan in the MAC Championship on Saturday (April 3) at 5 p.m. at the Stroh Center. 

The first set saw Miami jump out to a lead and hold it through the remainder of the set, playing to a 25-15 score. 

The second set began close with the two teams trading points. The Falcons were able to use a 4-0 run to create a 15-12 lead heading into the media timeout. The run for the Falcons would stretch to 7-0 and pick up again after just a single point. Miami called timeout with the run at 9-1. 

That momentum would carry through the set for the Falcons as they evened the match score at one each with a 25-21 score. 

In the third set Miami began with a lead, but a 4-0 for Bowling Green closed the gap to 11-10 before the RedHawks used a timeout. 

The Falcons and RedHawks continued to play a close set late into extra points before the Orange and Brown took the set thanks to an ace by Yelianiz Torres. 

The fourth set was close as well, but a 4-0 run by the Falcons, including back-to-back aces by Taylor Haberland, gave BGSU a 9-5 lead and forced a Miami timeout. 

The Falcons and RedHawks would trade runs, but a 3-0 run late in the set would give BGSU a 22-20 lead, seeing Miami call a timeout. Miami scored the next two points to tie it up with Bowling Green using a timeout of their own. 

Miami would continue the run to the end of the set and force a fifth. 

In the fifth, the two teams kept it close once again, trading points, but the Falcons were able to hold the lead to the end, capturing a 15-12 final to clinch the win and advance.