Women's Volleyball

FLY THE FLAG: BGSU Volleyball Downs Ohio State in Columbus!

Recap courtesy of Bowling Green's Athletic Communications Department

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball team opened the 2026 season with a big win Friday night (Aug 28.), defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes in four sets. The win marks the first in program history for the Falcons over Ohio State and is the first power conference win for the program since 2023. On top of that, the Orange and Brown have now won their season opener in four straight seasons, the second-longest streak in program history. 

Amanda Otten and Avery Hobson led the way with double-doubles each, seeing Otten finish with a team-high 39 assists and 14 digs while Hobson landed a team-high 15 kills to go along with 11 digs. Helen Wilford offered 10 total blocks to the effort while Sydnie Hernandez led the team in digs with 15. 

How It Happened 
Set 1: Bowling Green 25, Ohio State 21
  • The match started out even with ties carrying to 4-4 after the teams traded points. However, a 5-0 run by the Falcons, including the first career ace by Helen Wilford, pushed the Orange and Brown out to a 9-5 lead to force an Ohio State timeout for the first stoppage.
  • Out of the timeout, the Buckeyes utilized a 6-1 stretch to move back in front, 11-10. The Falcons responded with a 3-0 run to reclaim the advantage, 13-11. From there, each team tallied a pair of points for a 15-13 Bowling Green lead at the media timeout.
  • The back-and-forth continued out of the timeout before a 4-1 stretch swung the score to Ohio State with a 20-19 OSU lead to force a BGSU timeout.
  • Out of the break, Avery Hobson landed a kill to knot it back up, jumpstarting a 3-0 BGSU run to push Bowling Green back to a 22-20 lead with an Ohio State timeout pausing the action.
  • Ohio State landed the first point out of the timeout, but another 3-0 Bowling Green run followed to secure the first set for the Orange and Brown, 25-21.

Set 2: Bowling Green 25, Ohio State 21
  • Amanda Otten began the second set with an ace for the Falcons, but the back-and-forth of the first set spread into the second. Bowling Green broke the stretch with a 4-1 span to extend their lead to 6-3.
  • Ohio State chipped away to pull within one, 7-6, but the Falcons soon responded with a 4-0 run to take a 13-8 lead. The Buckeyes called a timeout, but back-to-back BGSU tallies followed for a 6-0 run and a 15-8 lead at the media timeout.
  • Coming out of the media break, Ohio State worked for a 4-1 stretch to narrow the gap to 16-12, resulting in a Bowling Green timeout. The timeout sparked back-to-back points for the Falcons, extending the lead out to 18-12.
  • From there, the teams resumed trading points up to a 23-18 Bowling Green advantage with Ohio State using their second timeout of the set. A 3-1 span for the Buckeyes closed the deficit to 24-21 with a BGSU timeout.
  • A kill from Anastasija Bozic secured the set out of the timeout for the Falcons, 25-21. 

Set 3: Ohio State 26, Bowling Green 24
  • Like the first two sets, the third set began with a back-and-forth before a BGSU run created separation. With Avery Anders behind the service line, the Falcons rattled off a 3-0 run, including an Anders ace, for a 6-3 advantage. However, Ohio State worked to knot it up at 8-8. 
  • The point-trading continued from there with the ties extending out to 13-13 before back-to-back Ohio State points brought on the media timeout with a 15-13 OSU lead. The lead for Ohio State moved to 17-14 after the media break with the Falcons calling a timeout. Two more OSU points followed for another BGSU timeout at 19-14.
  • The Falcons worked to whittle down the deficit, working for a 4-0 run, including a pair of Bozic kills, to pull the score to 21-19 OSU with the Buckeyes calling a timeout. 
  • Bowling Green continued to close in before a 4-1 stretch tied the set at 24-24, pushing it into extra points. Back-to-back points from Ohio State extended the match with a 26-24 set score. 

Set 4: Bowling Green 25, Ohio State 22
  • Ohio State opened the fourth set with a 7-1 stretch to build an early advantage to force a Bowling Green timeout. The run for Ohio State extended out to 8-1 before a Wilford kill resulted in a Bowling Green tally.
  • The Wilford kill sparked a 3-1 span for the Falcons, but Ohio State answered with a 3-0 burst for a 12-4 lead and the second BGSU timeout. 
  • The Buckeyes tacked on another point out of the timeout before BGSU ended the run with a Karli Molnau kill. Molnau's kill provided a jump to the Bowling Green offense, rolling into a 4-0 run to close the gap, 13-8, including an Avery Hobson ace. The score moved to 15-9 Ohio State at the media timeout.
  • Coming out of the media break, the Falcons were able to put together a 3-0 burst, narrowing the score to 15-12 with Ohio State taking a timeout. The Falcons kept the pressure on, extending the run to 5-0 to pull within one, 15-14.
  • Ohio State stopped the run, but two more Bowling Green points quickly followed to knot the score at 16-16 following a 7-1 BGSU run. From there, the ties continued before BGSU moved in front 21-19 with a 3-0 run to force the second OSU timeout of the set. 
  • The back-and-forth continued after the timeout before back-to-back Bowling Green points, capped off by a Wilford kill, secured the win for the Orange and Brown. 

Falcon Stat Leaders 
Kills: Avery Hobson (15)
Assists: Amanda Otten (39)
Digs: Sydnie Hernandez (15)
Aces: Avery Hobson (2)
Blocks: Helen Wilford (10)

Falcon Stat Facts
  • The win for Bowling Green marks the first in program history over the Buckeyes while also being the first win over a power conference opponent since back-to-back wins over Michigan on Sept. 17, 2023. The win is also the first win in four sets or fewer against a power conference opponent since beating Notre Dame 3-0 on Sept. 3, 2021.
  • With the victory, the Falcons have now won their season opener in four straight seasons, the second-longest streak in program history behind six straight from 1987-92. 
  • Cecily Waynar made her BGSU debut in the match, contributing in the middle for the Falcons. Waynar finished with nine kills for the Falcons, third on the team, while registering a .467 hitting percentage, second on the team. Waynar added six block assists, two digs and assists as well. 
  • Helen Wilford landed the first Bowling Green ace of the season, also marking the first ace of her collegiate career. Wilford added 10 total blocks with one solo and nine assists, becoming the first Falcon with double-digit blocks in a match since Alexis Mettille had 10 against St. John's on Dec. 14, 2024 in the NIVC semifinals. 
  • Amanda Otten recorded a double-double in the match finishing with 39 assists and 14 digs for the mark, coming one dig shy of matching her career high. Last season, Otten registered a team-leading 10 double-doubles for the Falcons. Otten also tied her career-high for block assists with seven in the match. 
  • Avery Hobson added a double-double of her own with a team-leading 15 kills and 11 digs, her first of the year after posting six last season. Hobson also led the team in aces with a pair. 
  • In her BGSU debut, Karli Molnau landed 12 kills for the Falcons, second on the team. She added three blocks and three digs as well. 
  • Anastasija Bozic landed double-digit kills for the Falcons as well with 10 while adding seven digs and five block assists to complete her stat line. 
  • Sydnie Hernandez led the back row for the Falcons with a team-leading 15 digs, one of three different Falcons to register double-digit digs with Avery Anders following closely with nine. 

Up Next
The Falcons will continue the opening weekend at Ohio State in the Jim Stone Challenge on Saturday (Aug. 29) against Northern Kentucky with a 1 p.m. first serve.