Mid-American Conference

The No. 2 seed Bowling Green Falcons have claimed the 2012 MAC Volleyball Title after defeating No. 4 Northern Illinois (20-25, 24-26, 26-24, 25-20, 15-4). This is the second time the Falcons have claimed the Tournament Title since doing so in 1991.

After dropping the first two sets, Bowling Green trailed 24-22 in the third, leaving Northern Illinois just one point shy of the MAC Tournament. Northern Illinois’ Meghan Romo had an attack error and then BGSU’s Lindsey Butterfield tied the score with a kill. After a Northern Illinois timeout, Butterfield added another kill and one more attack error by the Huskies gave the Falcons a 26-24 win.

Bowling Green scored the first four points of the fifth just a day after scoring the first six points of the fifth against Western Michigan in the MAC Tournament Semifinals. NIU temporarily stalled the Bowling Green attack with two straight points but a Paige Penrod kill started an eight-point run in which the Falcons recorded four blocks. Once the dust cleared, the Falcons led 12-2 and got the championship-clinching point on a Butterfield kill from the left side for the 15-4 win.

Today's win also marks only the second time in MAC Volleyball Tournament history that a team has come back to win the title after being down 2-0. Miami defeated Central Michigan after being down 2-0 in 1980.

Bowling Green's Paige Penrod was named MAC Volleyball Tournament MVP

The NCAA will announce the tournament field on Sunday, Nov. 25 at 4 p.m. live on ESPNU. The NCAA Tournament First and Second Round will take place at 16 campus sites Nov. 28-Dec. 1

MAC Volleyball All-Tournament Team
Jessica Brown, Western Michigan
Abby Gilleland, Ohio

Meghan Romo, Northern Illinois
Mary Kurisch, Northern Illinois

Lindsey Butterfield, Bowling Green
Paige Penrod, Bowling Green - MVP