Falcons Force Four Sets Against No. 15 Kansas To Begin Stacey Clark Classic

For the Falcons, Lauryn Hovey led the way with a double-double, leading the team in kills with 12 as well as digs with 13. Sydnie Hernandez added 10 digs while registering a team-high three aces. Amanda Otten set the attack with 28 assists, hitting the total exactly for the third-straight match, while adding seven digs and five kills. Bowling Green will now shift to facing the host of the week, No. 17 Purdue, on Thursday (Sept. 4) with a 7 p.m. first serve. 

How It Happened

Set 1: Kansas 25, Bowling Green 18

• Each team tallied a point to start the match, but Kansas answered with a 3-0 run to move out to a 4-1 lead in the set. 
• The Falcons quickly responded with a 5-0 run of their own, including an ace from Sydnie Hernandez as well as a block from Kendall Williams and Lauryn Hovey, taking a 5-4 advantage.
• The trading of runs continued with Kansas reclaiming the lead behind a 4-0 run for an 8-5 score in favor of the Jayhawks. The Falcons responded with a pair to pull within one at 8-7.
• The two teams traded points, but a 4-0 run for Kansas pushed their lead out to 15-9 at the media timeout of the first set. 
• The Jayhawks extended their lead to 17-10, forcing a Bowling Green timeout. After the break, the teams traded points to an 18-12 score, but a 3-1 Kansas spurt made it a 21-13 score. Each team added a point for a 22-14 score with the second BGSU timeout.
• Out of the break, the Falcons tallied back-to-back points, including an ace from Isabelle Laube, to cut into the lead, 22-16.
• Kansas registered a pair of points before a Helen Wilford kill on KU’s first set point. An attack error for the Jayhawks kept the momentum going for the Falcons, but Kansas concluded the set with a 25-18 score.

Set 2: Kansas 25, Bowling Green 20

• Kansas tallied the first point of the set, but Bowling Green responded with a 3-0 run to move out in front with a 3-1 lead in the early going. 
• The Jayhawks answered back to knot it up at 3-3, but a 6-0 burst for the Falcons, including back-to-back aces by Hernandez, made it a 9-3 BGSU advantage.
• The back-and-forth continued with Kansas using a 5-0 run to cut the deficit down to one at 9-8. A pair of points for BGSU, including an ace from Hovey, extended the lead to 11-9 with Kansas taking a timeout.
• Kansas continued to chip away at the gap, working to tie the set at 13-13 behind a 3-0 run. However, the Falcons reclaimed the lead with a 4-0 run of their own, including an ace from Amanda Otten, for a 17-13 advantage.
• The Jayhawks fought back again, this time with a 4-1 stretch to close the gap back to one at 18-17 before knotting it up at 19-19.
• The tie moved to 20-20, but a pair of points for Kansas made it a 3-0 run, pushing the Jayhawks in front 22-20 with a Bowling Green timeout.
• The run carried through the timeout for the Jayhawks, reaching 6-0 to close out the set 25-20.

Set 3: Bowling Green 27, Kansas 25

• Kansas opened the third set with a 3-0 run, but a kill from Hovey ended the start and began a 3-0 run for BGSU to tie it up at 3-3.
• The two teams battled back and forth with the score moving out to 6-6 with ties at each number along the way. 
• The string of ties was snapped by consecutive Kansas points for an 8-6 score. The Jayhawk lead advanced to 11-7 behind a 5-1 stretch with a Bowling Green timeout.
• The Falcons chipped away at the deficit to a 12-10 score, but another 5-1 stretch for Kansas pushed the lead to 17-11 with the second BGSU timeout of the set.
• Coming out of the break, Ava Buddelmeyer landed her second kill of the match followed by a big block from Williams and Otten. The BGSU burst extended to 5-1, trimming the Kansas lead down to 18-16.
• Scoring resumed going back-and-forth to a 21-19 score, but a pair of points for the Falcons knotted it up at 21-21.
• Kansas responded with a 3-0 run to make it a 24-21 score, but the Falcons ended the run with a block from Buddelmeyer and Williams. Buddelmeyer followed it with another kill before a Hovey kill tied it at 24-24 with a 3-0 BGSU run.
• Hovey pushed the Falcons in front with an ace, but Kansas answered to make it 25-25. Otten won a joust at the net to make it a set point for BGSU with a Jayhawk attack error giving the Falcons the set, 27-25.

Set 4: Kansas 25, Bowling Green 14

• Kansas recorded the first point of the fourth set, but a Hovey kill put the Falcons on the board quickly with a 1-1 score. The tie carried to 2-2, but a 5-0 run for Kansas made it a 7-2 Jayhawk lead with a BGSU timeout.
• Coming out of the break, the Falcons tallied a pair of points to narrow the gap to 7-4, but a 4-1 stretch for Kansas made it an 11-5 tally. 
• The back-and-forth continued to a 13-8 score with back-to-back Kansas points making it a 15-9 Jayhawk lead. However, the back-and-forth quickly resumed, taking the score to 16-10. Two more Kansas points forced a BGSU timeout with the score at 18-10.
• The trading of points pushed the score out to 21-13. From there, Kansas tallied a pair of points to 23-13 before closing out the set, 25-14.

Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Lauryn Hovey (12)
Assists: Amanda Otten (28)
Digs: Lauryn Hovey (13)
Aces: Sydnie Hernandez (3)
Blocks: Kendall Williams (6)

Falcon Stat Facts

• Lauryn Hovey landed 12 kills and tallied 13 digs for the Falcons, leading the team in both categories while notching her first double-double of the season. Hovey joins Amanda Otten as Falcons with a double-double this season after Otten logged one against Temple to start the year. Hovey now has 19 double-doubles as a Falcon. 
• Hovey’s 12 kills gives her 1,330 over her BGSU career. The total moves her up to sixth during the program’s Rally Scoring Era, passing Jelena Sunjic (2013-16). Hovey added two block assists, giving her 265 to pass Maddie Brandewie (2015-18) for seventh on the Rally Scoring list. 
• Amanda Otten set the Falcon attack, logging 28 assists for the third straight match. Otten came close to a double-double, filling the stat sheet with seven digs and five kills while adding an ace and a block assist.
• Helen Wilford was efficient on the attack for the Falcons, landing a season-high seven kills on 12 attacks with just two errors for a team-best .417 hitting percentage. The mark was the best by a Falcon with at least 10 attack attempts so far this season. 
• For the second consecutive match, Sydnie Hernandez landed a team-high three aces for the Falcons, matching her career high. 
• Kendall Williams led the team in blocks with a total of six, consisting of one solo and five block assists. Through four collegiate matches, Williams has a solo block in each. 
• Ava Buddelmeyer made her collegiate debut in the match, landing five kills on 18 attacks. Defensively, she logged a block assist and was perfect on nine serve receives. 

Up Next
The Falcons will continue play at the Stacey Clark Classic against host No. 17 Purdue on Thursday (Sept. 4) with a 7 p.m. first serve. Play will conclude on Friday (Sept. 5) with a 1 p.m. start against No. 23 Georgia Tech. 

Follow the Falcons

Be sure to follow the Falcons volleyball team on social media

Twitter – @BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUVolleyball

Instagram – ‘bgfalcons’ and ‘bgsuvolleyball’

Facebook – ‘BGSU Athletics’ and ‘Bowling Green State University Volleyball’

TikTok – @bgsuvolleyball 

YouTube – ‘Falcon Athletics’