Strong Defensive Effort Gives Volleyball Sweep of Bowling Green

Thursday, October 10

Oxford, Ohio

7:00 p.m. ET

Miami University

8-8,2-3MAC

Bowling Green

9-8,3-2MAC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Bowling Green	24	14	24	0
Miami (OH)	26	25	26	3

Strong Defensive Effort Gives Volleyball Sweep of Bowling Green

10/10/2019 10:12:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Miami 3 Bowling Green 0 (PDF)

OXFORD, Ohio – In a battle between the two co-defending Mid-American Conference Champions, it was the Miami University volleyball team coming away with a 3-0 (26-24, 25-14, 26-24) sweep of Bowling Green on Thursday. The RedHawks improve to 8-8 overall and 3-2 in the MAC. The Falcons are 9-8 overall and 3-2 in the MAC.

Sophomore outside hitter Gaby Harper led the Miami offense with 14 kills. She made a big impact on defense as well, making it a double-double with 10 digs. The RedHawk defense kept BGSU in check all night, forcing the Falcons into 23 errors and a .097 attack percentage. Senior outside hitter Taylor Daignault led the way with 13 digs, one of four different Miami players with double-digit digs.

Harper put down a kill off an assist from junior setter Morgan Seaman, while junior right side hitter Sarah Wojick had a kill and a solo block as the 'Hawks scored the first five points of set one. A kill from junior right side hitter Avarie Powell off an assist from sophomore setter Louise Comerford, and a service ace by Harper helped Miami take a 10-5 lead. Daignault recorded two kills to give the Red and White a 14-7 advantage, but Bowling Green answered with a 10-3 run to tie the score at 17. A kill from senior middle hitter Margaret Payne and a Falcon attack error put the RedHawks back on top, but three straight for BGSU gave it its first lead of match at 20-19. Harper quickly retied the score at 20. Tied at 24, a kill from Wojick and a block by Harper and Payne gave Miami a hard-fought, 26-24, win.

Trailing 4-5 in set two, three kills from senior middle hitter Haley Stewart and four from Daignault sparked an 8-2 run that gave Miami a 12-7 lead. Three more kills from Harper and a service ace by junior libero Abigail Huser eventually increased the advantage to 21-12. That proved to be more than enough as the RedHawks went on to take a 25-14 victory.

Bowling Green jumped to an 8-3 lead to begin set three forcing an early Miami timeout. A kill and a block from Payne helped get the RedHawks within three at 7-10, but BGSU eventually pushed the lead to six at 19-13. A kill from Payne and a block by Harper started a 5-1 run that closed the Red and White within two. The Falcons answered with three straight to seemingly take control at 23-18. With set four seeming inevitable, Miami did not give up. Harper had two kills and Powell had one as the 'Hawks scored four in a row to pull within one. BGSU scored next to create set point. Harper fought it off once with a kill, and a Bowling Green attack error tied the score at 24. Another Falcon attack error gave the RedHawks match point, and they took advantage with a block by Powell and Stewart to complete an 8-1 run that gave Miami a 26-24 victory and a three-set sweep.

Daignault and Powell put down eight kills each, while Payne and Stewart each had six. The RedHawks finished with nine blocks as a team, Harper and Wojick had four apiece. Comerford and Seaman had 18 assists, with Seaman adding 11 digs to make it a double-double.

Miami hits the road Saturday as it travels to Northern Illinois. First serve is at 7 p.m. (EDT) and it will air live on NIU All-Access.