Fab 4 (Dec. 14) - Bowling Green vs. St. John's

​BOWLING GREEN 3, ST. JOHN’S 2 (19-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-17, 16-14)
 
NEW YORK – In a stress-packed five-setter worthy of the moment for deciding a 2024 NIVC finalist, Bowling Green dug out of a 2-0 hole on the road and got past St. John’s to survive the Fab Four and earn a date in the championship match.
 
The Falcons (25-9) will travel to Tucson, AZ and play Arizona (23-9) for the NIVC title; that match is set for 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Dec. 17.
 
St. John’s pocketed the first set with a strong start, going ahead by a 12-4 margin and staying on control the rest of the way, hitting 385. overall and getting three aces from Magda Stambrowska. Set 2 was tighter, as Bowling Green tied it at 15-all after a 3-0 run. The Red Storm had a late lead cut to 21-19 on an ace from BGSU’s Sydnie Hernandez, but their own 3-0 run right after helped secure the set.
 
In Set 3, a kill from St. John’s Lucrezia Lodi tied it up at 22-all, but Bowling Green had just enough to finish, capped on a kill from Lauryn Hovey. The Falcons continued to flip the momentum with an impressive fourth set, going up 17-8 and registering nine kills before their first error. Bowling Green hit .375 and had five aces in the set, tying the match at 2-all.
 
St. John’s used a quick 4-0 run to take a 5-2 lead in Set 5, but the margins stayed tight after that until the score stood at 14-14. Then, Bowling Green got a kill by Jessica Andrews and a shared block from Andrews and Mia Tyler to finish off the evening as the Falcons hit .444 in the final set.
 
Hovey had 17 kills and had a hand in nine blocks for Bowling Green. Andrews and Jordan Newblatt each had 10 kills, Amanda Otten dished out 39 assists and Lindsey LaPinta had 24 digs. Avery Anders closed with 11 digs.
 
The Red Storm (24-13) saw Erin Jones finish with 20 kills and 14 digs, and Giorgia Walther had 13 kills. Wiktoria Kowalczyk ended with 44 assists and Rashan Solano Smith had 16 digs.