Women's Volleyball

Falcons, Bulls, Cardinals Snatch Saturday Victories

Oct. 10 Volleyball Results
Buffalo 3, Eastern Michigan 1
Ball State 3, Central Michigan 0
Bowling Green 3, Ohio 0
 
Recaps courtesy of Athletic Communications Departments

Buffalo | Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo women's volleyball team (11-6, 3-3 MAC) carried their momentum from Friday evening's victory over to Saturday as they defeated the Eastern Michigan Eagles (8-10, 2-4 MAC) in four sets, 18-25, 25-14, 25-14, 26-24.

Picking up where they left off were Manoela Forlin and Angelina Siepierski as they both recorded double-doubles. The former had a team leading 14 kills with 15 digs as the latter had 12 kills and 16 digs. Abbie Willis had another exceptional performance with 10 kills and a .346 hitting percentage. She also added a team leading two aces and four blocks.

Maddie Mitchell added to her service ace total with a pair on the afternoon. Ava Kanj had four total blocks.

The Bulls held Eastern Michigan to just a .073 hitting percentage.

The Bulls are back in action at Akron on Tuesday at 6 p.m. Coverage will be on ESPN+.


Ball State | Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State women's volleyball team snapped its three-match losing streak in dominating fashion Saturday afternoon, earning a straight-set 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-14) victory over visiting Central Michigan in Worthen Arena.

A total of 15 different players saw action for the Cardinals (12-5; 3-3 Mid-American Conference), helping the squad produce a .340 (43-9-100) attack percentage in the win. Defensively, BSU limited the Chippewas (0-19; 0-6 MAC) to a .195 (29-13-82) rate of success.

On the offensive front, junior outside Ava Smith led the Cardinals with 10 kills, while hitting an impressive .346 (10-1-26). Freshman outside Merritt Sliwa was second on the squad with a career-high seven kills, while connecting at a .417 (7-2-12) clip.

Overall, 10 different Cardinals blasted at least one kill, including a pair of players with five markers and a trio with four.

On the defensive front, Sophie Ledbetter once again led the Ball State backcourt with 13 digs, while senior defensive specialist Allie Wuestenfeld collected a BSU career-high with six. Wuestenfeld was also credited with her first kill of the season to make the score 12-8 in favor of the Cardinals in the second set.

Sophomore Reese Axness and senior Lindsey Green and both saw time at setter, with Axness dishing out a match-high 18 assists and Green adding 10.

Another key to the sweep was Ball State's pressure from the service line, with a season-high 13 aces. Nine of those aces came from BSU's twin freshmen duo with outside Mallory Pike serving up six and Leah Pike adding three. Smith also added three aces, while Green collected one.

For the Chippewas, Taylor Cripe led all players with 12 kills and 14 digs. 

The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to the road this weekend when it heads to Athens, Ohio, for a two-match series at Ohio. Matches are set for 6 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday.


Bowling Green | Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio –Avery Hobson led all players with 14 kills on 34 swings to finish with a .382 hitting efficiency as Bowling Green swept Ohio (25-17, 25-16, 25-20) in Mid-American Conference volleyball action Saturday evening inside the Stroh Center.

Bowling Green improved to 13-4 overall and 5-1 in MAC play with the loss and have won five out of their last six matches. Meanwhile, Ohio dropped to 11-6 overall and 4-2 in conference action with the loss.

Amanda Otten helped the Falcons' offense with 29 assists and four blocks throughout the match. Bowling Green held Ohio to a .178 attack percentage, marking the 13th time this season that the Falcons have held their opposition to hit under .200.

Falcon Facts
  • Bowling Green won its seventh straight match against Ohio and improved their overall record to 59-40 versus the Bobcats. On home court, Bowling Green has won 12 consecutive meetings with Ohio dating back to 2017.
  • Hernandez's 9 digs raised her career total to 981, 19 away from the 1,000-dig milestone.
  • Saturday was the fifth sweep by Bowling Green this season. The Falcons are 5-1 in three-set matches.
  • Bowling Green finished with a .357 attack percentage which is their highest this season.
  • Wilford recorded four block assists and has accumulated 269 total blocks throughout her collegiate career which ties Jelena Sunjic for 10th-most in the Bowling Green's Rally Scoring Era.
The Falcons continue their conference road slate against Buffalo and Akron on Oct. 16-17. First serve with the Bulls is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday at Broadview Arena. Saturday's matchup with the Zips is also slated for a 6 p.m. start at James A. Rhodes Arena. Both matches can be viewed live on ESPN+.