Women's Volleyball

Falcons Are Headed to the NIVC Fab Four

2024 National Invitational Volleyball Championship
Round 1: Bowling Green def. Binghamton 3-1 (25-18, 25-21, 21-25, 25-15)
Round 2: Bowling Green def. Wright State 3-1 (25-18, 13-25, 25-23, 25-17)
Great 8: Bowling Green def. DePaul 3-1 (25-14, 25-19, 17-25, 25-18)
Fab Four: Bowling Green vs. St. John's/ UConn
 
Recap courtesy of Bowling Green's Athletic Communications Department

CHICAGO, Ill. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team took on the DePaul Blue Demons on Monday (Dec. 9), capturing a 3-1 victory in the NIVC's Great 8 round. Playing their first road match in exactly one month, the Falcons came out firing, hitting .560 in the first set for a 25-14 score. Bowling Green rolled the momentum into the second set, but DePaul answered in the third to force a fourth set. Aided by a 5-0 run in the middle of the set, the Falcons pushed ahead to claim the match, advancing to the Fab Four of the NIVC.

Bowling Green has won 24 matches this season, the most for the program since 2008. With three NIVC wins, the Falcons are the first MAC team since 1992 to win three or more NIVC matches in the same season, joining the 1992 Falcons and the 1991 Miami (OH) team. The Falcons' next opponent will be determined on Thursday (Dec. 12) when UConn and St. John's play. 

Falcon Stat Leaders 
Kills: Lauryn Hovey (17)
Assists: Amanda Otten (42)
Digs: Lindsey LaPitna (12)
Aces: Sydnie Hernandez, Amanda Otten (3)
Blocks: Jessica Andrews (6)

Falcon Stat Facts
  • Bowling Green is the first MAC team to win three or more NIVC matches since the 1992 Falcons won four and were the runner-up. The only other team in the MAC to win three or more NIVC matches in the same season was the 1991 Miami (OH) squad. The Falcons are now 10-6 all-time in the NIVC.
  • The Falcons have now won 24 matches this season, the most since winning 25 during the 2008 season. 
  • As a team, the Falcons hit .339 in the match, the best-hitting percentage by BGSU in a four-set match this season. 
  • Bowling Green landed 12 aces as a team, the second-most this year, trailing on the 14 against UMBC. It also marks the third time this season BGSU has had double-digit aces, with the third time being ten against Binghamton in the first round of the NIVC. 
  • Jessica Andrews registered five block assists in the match, increasing her season total to 128. The mark moves Andrews up to third on the Rally Scoring single-season list and into the top 10 all-time for single-season block assists, now tied for seventh. 
  • As for total blocks, Andrews logged a team-high six to push her season total to 150. Andrews is now up to third on the Rally Scoring single-season list for total blocks, sitting five away from breaking the Rally Scoring record. 
  • On the attack, Andrews landed eight kills for the Falcons on 12 attacks with just one error, hitting a season-best .583 in the match. 
  • Lauryn Hovey led the Falcons in kills with 17 in the match, landing them on 30 attacks with just two errors for a team-best .500 hitting percentage. The 17 kills for Hovey pushed her into the top 10 for single-season kills during the Rally Scoring Era. Now, with 415 kills this season, Hovey is 10th on the list and trails ninth by one kill and eighth by two. 
  • Hovey added an ace in the match, moving her up a few of the all-time lists. Hovey now has 139 career aces, tied for fifth all-time, while her 54 aces this season are tied for fourth all-time. 
  • Mia Tyler landed 14 kills for the Falcons for the third straight match, landing 14 in all three of BGSU's NIVC matches. Tyler hit her mark on 33 attacks with four errors, hitting .303 in the match.
  • Edyta Waclawczyk added to the BGSU attack by matching her season-high for kills with nine. Waclawczyk hit .353 in the match for the Falcons, a new career-best. 
  • Alexis Mettille tallied three blocks and two aces for the Falcons. All three of her blocks were block assists, giving her 116 this season. That ties Mettille for 10th on the single-season block assists list during the Rally Scoring Era. As for her two aces, Mettille now has 94 in her BGSU career. Moving her up to a tie for seventh on the career Rally Scoring list. 
  • Mettille added six digs to her stat line in the match, giving her 82 this season to mark a new career-high for her BGSU tenure. 
  • Amanda Otten set the BGSU attack while logging 42 assists in the match. She added three aces, tying for the team lead, to go along with six digs, four blocks, and two kills for a full stat line.
  • Sydnie Hernandez matched Otten's ace total with three to lead the Falcons while contributing six digs and two assists.
  • Lindsey LaPinta topped the digs column with 12 for BGSU to go along with three assists and two aces. Avery Anders added five digs, two assists, and an ace to the Bowling Green effort. 
  • With the win, Bowling Green has recorded a win on every day of the week this season. Monday was the last day missing from the list entering the match. 

Up Next
The Falcons will advance to the Fab Four of the NIVC for the second time in program history. Bowling Green will play the winner of the UConn-St. John's match is scheduled for Dec. 12. The date, location, and time of the next BGSU match will be determined once the opponent is known.