Miami University
Bowling Green
RedHawks Top BGSU for Third Straight Win
11/10/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 10, 2011
OXFORD, Ohio - Using a convincing opening and closing set, the Miami University volleyball team inched closer to earning a berth in the upcoming Mid-American Conference Tournament with a 3-1 (25-19, 25-23, 20-25, 25-18) victory over Bowling Green Thursday night at Millett Hall for its third straight win. The RedHawks improve to 15-14 overall and 6-9 in the MAC with the victory while also gaining revenge on the Falcons, now 19-10 overall and also 6-9 in the MAC, who had defeated Miami earlier in the year.
BGSU grabbed a quick lead in the first set, going up by as many as three points early on but the `Hawks used a 6-2 run, including two kills from senior Jenn Caylor, to grab its first lead of the set at 10-9. With the Falcons up 14-12, a kill and an ace from sophomore Madison Dodd as well as two BGSU errors put Miami on top 16-14. The sides then traded points until two straight errors by the Falcons gave the `Hawks a 21-18 advantage. Bowling Green earned the next point but kills from senior Amy Raseman, two from junior Lisa Treadway and one from senior Cassie Farrell put the set away, 25-19.
The second set was nip and tuck in the early going until tied at 5-5, Miami reeled off six straight points, including a pair of aces from Dodd, to go up 11-5. The RedHawks would stretch the lead to 16-8 on a kill by Raseman but the Falcons would not go quietly. BGSU used a 5-0 spurt, with the help of four Miami attack errors, to close within three. The lead again expanded to six at 22-16 on a kill by Caylor, but BGSU won the next three points to once more narrow the gap. Caylor hammered two more kills down the stretch however, and Treadway closed out the set, 25-23, with one of her six kills on the night.
Bowling Green came out of the break strong, jumping ahead 5-1 with two kills from setter Laura Avila. The `Hawks clawed back aided by two kills from Farrell and a kill from Caylor to even the set at 7-7. The Falcons the moved on top, 10-7, with the next three points, but the set remained tight. With the score 14-13 BGSU, the Falcons got three kills and an ace from Danielle Tonyan to spur a 5-2 burst to make it 19-15, forcing a RedHawk timeout. BGSU earned the next two points however and went on to take the set, 25-20, on a kill by Avila.
After playing two straight five-set matches last weekend, Miami made sure it would not play a third. With the set even at seven apiece, the Falcons hit three straight errors to give the `Hawks the lead for good. BGSU closed within two at 11-9 but kills by Dodd and Caylor helped push the margin to five at 14-9. The lead remained between three and five for much of the remainder of the set until another kill by Dodd, a Falcon error and a spike by Raseman upped the score to 21-14. Bowling Green would get no closer than five the remainder of the set however as Dodd fired her game-high fourth ace and Farrell had three kills down the stretch, including match point, to close out the set and the match, 25-18.
Miami hit .241 for the match, including .400 in the final set, while BGSU outhit the `Hawks with a .281 attack percentage despite the defeat. Caylor paved the way with 15 kills and also had nine digs while Raseman finished with 11 kills and Farrell chipped in 10. Junior setter Amy Kendall recorded her third straight double-double with a game-high 38 assists and 10 digs while sophomore libero Madison Hardy finished with a game-high 19 digs. The RedHawks ended with 16 blocks, including two solo blocks and five assisted blocks from Farrell. The Falcons were led by 20 kills from Tonyan as well as 32 assists and 17 digs from Avila. BGSU totaled 11 blocks in the match.
Miami closes out regular-season MAC play on Saturday when it hosts league-leading Western Michigan Saturday at 4 p.m., which will be Senior Day as Farrell, Caylor, Raseman and Colleen Loftus will be honored prior to the match. The RedHawks can clinch a MAC Tournament berth with a win over the Broncos but could also lock up a spot Friday without even playing if Toledo loses to Central Michigan.
--MURedHawks.com--
