Bowling Green State University volleyball team: Eastern Michigan’s Efficiency Enough To Beat Falcons
Ypsilanti, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team had more kills and more digs than Eastern Michigan in Mid-American Conference volleyball action, but Eastern Michigan’s efficiency was enough to hand the Falcons a 25-22, 25-11, 25-23 loss Saturday evening.
Bowling Green outkilled Eastern Michigan 44-38 and outdug the Eagles 73-64, but Eastern Michigan did not have an attack error in the first two sets. The Eagles set the tone by hitting .277 and .452 in those first two frames.
Lindsey Butterfield set a new career high in kills for the second consecutive match, tying teammate Paige Penrod for match-high honors with 11 each. Butterfield set her personal best with 10 kills just a night earlier against Central Michigan.
Freshman libero Ashley Dunn tied her career high with 26 digs as the Falcons had three players with at least 13 each. Penrod added 14 digs and Ashley Herzberg had 13.
Eastern Michigan built a 16-11 lead in the first set but Bowling Green battled back with seven consecutive points, four on kills from Butterfield to take a lead. The Eagles, though, refused to hand the Falcons anything and eventually EMU pulled out the win. Bowling Green had 21 kills on its 22 points in the opening frame.
The second set was close early as Bowling Green took a quick 4-3 lead. But Eastern Michigan went on a 12-1 run and pulled away for an easy win. EMU looked to have an easy win in the third set as well, building a 24-18 lead, but the Falcons fought back. BGSU scored five consecutive points to get within one but Eastern Michigan got a kill when it needed it most for the 25-23 win.
Noelle Spitler finished with six kills and three blocks and Laura Avila handed out 31 assists for the Falcons.
Eastern Michigan improves to 19-6 overall and 6-2 in MAC play as Bowling Green falls to 6-16 overall and 1-7 in league play. The Falcons will play their final non-conference regular season game Tuesday night at Cleveland State beginning at 7 p.m.
