Despite clinching a sixth straight Northern Lakes League championship, holding a perfect record in the
league and being ranked 17th in the state in Division I, Bowling Green’s volleyball team still has
plenty of room for improvement, according to its coach.
The Bobcats moved to 16-4 overall and 13-0 in the NLL with a 25-22, 25-21, 26-24, sweep of Perrysburg at
home on Tuesday, but the win was not without mistakes. [SEE
PHOTO GALLERY]
Those mistakes and the team’s general lack of intensity, which has been a problem at times this season,
could cost BG its hopes of making a long run in the state tournament.
The Bobcats ended a successful season last year with a disappointing loss to Findlay in the Division I
district semifinals.
“I have really high expectations. This time of year I expect them to be playing a lot better,” BG coach
Deb Coan-Mathias said. “The intensity was not there for us tonight. That’s something that we need to do
a lot more with. We need to play with a lot more intensity if we expect to advance in the tournament.”

On the flip side, Perrysburg (11-9, 7-6) could take solace in its effort, despite losing to BG in three
games for the second time this season.
“That’s a big change for us, in just absolutely going after it,” Perrysburg coach Rachel Spitulski said.
“We kind of had a slump of not leaving everything out there. We had some players step up.”
The match went back and forth in all three games, with the Bobcats drawing on their experience each time
to pull out the win.
BG clinched its sixth consecutive NLL title last week, making the final two league games essentially
meaningless. The Bobcats travel to Anthony Wayne to close out their league schedule on Thursday.
“They skate by because they have experience … That lets them over the edge sometimes,” Coan-Mathias
said of her team. “We haven’t had a lot of tests. The league is our comfort zone and stepping outside of
that, we haven’t really broken that barrier.”
It wasn’t all negative for the Bobcats, as Ashley Dunn celebrated her final home game with another
impressive performance. She led all players with 16 kills and added 16 digs.
Fellow seniors Jordan Dunn finished with 37 assists and 17 digs and Jordan Garza added a match-high 19
digs. Sophomore Kelsey Lahey finished with nine kills.
“We all want to win. We’re a very competitive team and we work up to that expectation,” Garza said. “We
want to go as far as we can. We really want to beat Findlay.”
BG would likely face Findlay in the district semifinals once again this season should it advance out of
sectionals. The Bobcats have a first-round bye and will face the winner of Anthony Wayne and Clay in the
sectional final Oct. 24 at Otsego High School.
“For us to be playing this time of the season, our level of play needs to be that much higher,”
Coan-Mathias said. “We let (Perrysburg) set the tempo of the game and it drives me nuts when we do that
kind of stuff.
“I wish that they would just go out there and want to play hard, want to play fast, want to play strong —
every single time.”
For Perrysburg, Bailey BredenbeckCorp finished with six kills and 14 assists. Erin Mesker had 10 kills,
Stephanie Messenger had 18 digs and Lindsay Matolyak had 10 digs. Lindsay Smith added two aces and six
assists.
Although the ’Jackets did not win a game in the match, their coach was pleased with the effort.
“It helps us to keep working towards our first sectional game,” Spitulski said. “If we keep going the way
we are now, I think we definitely will (have a chance to make a tournament run).”