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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Tourney Time Is Here!
January 05, 2000 | Volleyball
Nov. 22, 1999
TOP STORIES:
* - The Falcons will host Miami in the quarterfinal round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament Tuesday (Nov. 23) ... that match will begin at 7:00 p.m. at BGSU's Anderson Arena ... the Brown and Orange clinched the fourth seed for the MAC Tournament with Saturday's (Nov. 20) win at Buffalo.
* - Senior Lori Kemerer enters the Miami match looking to become the Falcons' all-time leader in block assists ... Kemerer needs just three more block assists to move into a tie for first place on that career list ... with 410 in her career, she trails first-place Lisa Mika (413 from 1998-91).
* - The Falcons have won 20 matches this season, marking the eighth time in school history that BGSU has reached the 20-win plateau ... the Falcons tripled last year's MAC win total ... after going 4-14 in conference action in 1998, BGSU was 12-6 this fall.
* - The winningest coaches in MAC volleyball history will face off Tuesday at Anderson ... BGSU head coach Denise Van De Walle has 316 overall wins with the Brown and Orange, including 145 MAC victories ... she trails only MU's Carolyn Condit in both categories ... Condit enters the week with 326 overall victories and 170 MAC wins.
UP NEXT: The Bowling Green State University volleyball team, after closing the regular season with a pair of wins last week, has earned a top-four seed and the accompanying homecourt berth for the quarterfinal round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament. The fourth-seeded Falcons (20-11 overall, 12-6 MAC) will host #5 seed Miami University (16-12, 11-7) in Tuesday's (Nov. 23) tourney contest. That contest will begin at 7:00 p.m. at BGSU's venerable Anderson Arena (5,000).
The winner of the BGSU-Miami match will advance to the MAC Tournament semifinals to face either #8 Marshall or #1 Ball State. The semifinals will be held Friday (Nov. 26) at the site of the highest remaining seed among Tuesday's winners. The championship match will be held Saturday (Nov. 27) at the semifinal site.
MAC TOURNAMENT MATCHUPS:
Quarterfinals (Nov. 23 at campus sites): 8-Marshall at 1-Ball State, 7:00 7-Eastern Mich. at 2-Western Mich., 6:00 6-Kent at 3-Akron, 5:00 5-Miami at 4-Bowling Green, 7:00Semifinals (Nov. 26 at highest remaining seed): Marshall or BSU vs. Miami or BGSU, TBA EMU or WMU vs. Kent or Akron, TBA
Championship (Nov. 27 at semifinal site): semifinal winners, TBA
DENISE VAN DE WALLE: Denise Van De Walle, the dean of MAC mentors, is in her 17th year with the Falcons. She is the second-winningest coach in MAC history with 316 career victories, and her 145 MAC wins also rank her second all-time. Van De Walle reached the 300-win mark for her career Sept. 10, when the Falcons swept Mississippi State.
Tom Hanna is in his fourth season as Van De Walle's assistant, while former Falcon setter Wendy (Watkins) Teaman is in her first year on the BG staff.
ABOUT THE FALCONS: Bowling Green enters the MAC Tournament with an overall record of 20-11, and the Falcons finished MAC play with a 12-6 league slate. After winning both matches last week, the Falcons have captured 14 of the last 17 contests since a 6-8 start.
Last week, the Falcons captured a pair of four-game matches, downing visiting Cleveland State in non-league action Tuesday (Nov. 16) before closing the regular season with a Saturday (Nov. 20) afternoon win at Buffalo.
BGSU finished the regular season in second place in the MAC's East Division, a game behind Akron. The Falcons were picked to finish fourth in the division in the preseason coaches' poll.
The Brown and Orange finished with the fourth-best record in the MAC, earning a homecourt berth for the tourney quarterfinals in the process.
Individually, senior Melissa Lewis leads the Falcons with 494 kills on the season. Lewis is third in the MAC with 4.49 kills per game, and is hitting .286 this year. Classmate Heather Greig has dished out 1,224 assists, an average of 11.13 per game. Another senior, Lori Kemerer, leads BG -- and the MAC -- in blocks per game (1.39). She also leads the team in digs per game (3.09), with Lewis (3.01 dpg) a close second in that category. Kemerer hit a stellar .314 in league play.
As a team, the Falcons lead the MAC with 2.83 blocks per game.
Last season, the Falcons finished with an overall record of 11-21. BG finished in sixth place in the MAC's seven-team East Division with a 4-14 league record.
MAC STANDINGS:
Team (Overall)____________________MAC East Division Akron (18-13)____________________13-5 Bowling Green (20-11)____________12-6 Miami (16-12)____________________11-7 Kent (13-16)_____________________10-8 Marshall (15-14)__________________9-9 Buffalo (11-19)__________________4-14 Ohio (9-21)______________________3-15West Division Ball State (25-6)________________16-2 Western Michigan (23-6)__________15-3 Eastern Michigan (20-11)_________10-8 Northern Illinois (10-15)________7-11 Toledo (8-21)____________________5-13 Central Michigan (6-23)__________2-16
ABOUT THE OPPONENT: Miami will bring a 16-12 overall record into tomorrow's match at BGSU, and the RedHawks completed MAC play with an 11-7 league mark. Miami finished in third place in the East Division, a game behind the Falcons. Last week, MU closed the regular season with a pair of home wins, downing Toledo in three games Wednesday (Nov. 17) before outlasting Ohio in five games Saturday (Nov. 20). MU went 5-4 in MAC road matches in 1999, including a win at BGSU on Oct. 2. Alissia Thompson, who leads Miami with a .298 hitting percentage, 3.89 kills per game and 1.13 blocks per game, is out for the season with a fractured thumb. Last year, the RedHawks finished 27-8 overall and 15-3 in the MAC. MU captured the 1998 MAC Tournament and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Carolyn Condit, 326-187 in her 16th year at Miami, is 425-267 in her 20th season as a collegiate head coach.
THE SERIES: The Falcons trail Miami, 32-14, in the all-time series, and the RedHawks have won the last 12 matches since a BGSU season sweep in 1993. That MU win streak includes a four-game win (6-15, 15-7, 15-13, 15-10) at Anderson Arena in the teams' lone 1999 meeting (Oct. 2). The Falcons are 5-12 in home matches vs. the RedHawks, and BG will be looking to break a six-match home losing streak to MU. In MAC Tournament action, the Falcons are 1-3 vs. Miami.
FALCONS IN THE MAC TOURNEY: Bowling Green is appearing in the MAC Tournament for the 11th time in school history, and the Falcons have a 7-12 all-time mark heading into the Miami match. BGSU is 1-3 all-time vs. the RedHawks, 3-0 vs. Central Michigan, 2-0 vs. Western Michigan, 1-0 vs. Toledo and 0-6 against Ball State in tourney play.
The Brown and Orange has captured one tournament title, in 1991. The Falcons have advanced to the championship match on four other occasions, finishing as runners-up in 1987, 1989, 1992 and 1993. A complete listing of BGSU's all-time MAC Tournament results can be found later in this release.
LAST WEEK: The Falcons won both matches last week to end the regular season at 20-11 ... after a frigid start, the Falcons rallied for a four-game win (11-15, 15-8, 15-3, 15-2) on "Senior Night" at Anderson Arena ... the win was BG's seventh at home this season, the team's most since 1995 ... the fans had hardly settled into their seats when visiting Vikings burst out to a 10-0 lead ... the Falcons rallied from a 13-3 deficit to narrow the gap to 14-11, but CSU scored the final point to capture the game ... the Vikes would total only 13 points the rest of the night, however ... BGSU hit .406 in the second game ... Melissa Lewis, one of the team's four seniors, had a match-high 18 kills on the night ... senior Kris Pesorda had five of her nine kills in game two ... Lori Kemerer, yet another senior, led the Falcons with six kills in the third game, as BG began to take control of the match ... on the evening, the Falcons hit .315 to the Vikings' .073 ... Kemerer joined Lewis in double digits with 14 kills, while sophomore Amber Vorst hit a career-best .583 (8-1-12) ... senior Heather Greig had 42 assists in the win ... defensively, Vorst had a match-best 15 digs, while Pesorda and Kemerer each had 10 ... Lewis had three solo blocks and five total rejections on the night ... Saturday (Nov. 20), the Falcons captured a four-game win at Buffalo (15-7, 15-11, 13-15, 15-6) to clinch a homecourt berth for the MAC Tournament ... BGSU won for the 20th time overall, the team's most victories since 1993 ... Vorst again hit over .500, with 11 kills and no errors in 19 attempts (.579) ... Kemerer led the Falcons with 17 kills and five blocks ... she hit .444 on the afternoon ... JoAnna Papageorgiou had 13 kills, while Lewis and Pesorda each had 10 ... Lewis had a match-high 19 digs, followed by Vorst's 18 ... Greig had 47 assists in the win.
FALCON NOTES: The Falcons have won 20 matches in a season for the eighth time in school history, and the first time since the 1993 season ... that 1993 squad also won 20 matches ... the school record is 30 wins, set by the 1992 squad that advanced to the championship of the NIVC ... BGSU, with 12 MAC wins, tripled last year's conference victory total ... the 1998 squad went 4-14 ... the 1992 team set the school record for MAC wins, posting a 17-1 league mark ... this year's edition of the Falcons went 6-3 in both MAC home matches and league road contests ... BGSU went 2-7 in both categories last fall ... sophomore Amber Vorst hit .581 last week, with 2.38 kills and 4.13 digs per game ... Vorst recorded the two highest single-match hitting percentages of her career, hitting .583 vs. Cleveland State and .579 against Buffalo ... senior Lori Kemerer is just the second player in BGSU history with 1,000 kills, 1,000 digs and 500 blocks in her career ... Kemerer, who surpassed the millennium mark in digs during the Wright State match (Oct. 5), had exceeded the 1,000-kill mark on Sept. 10 vs. Mississippi State ... she recorded her 500th career block at Ball State (Nov. 10), and now has 1,245 kills, 1,179 digs and 519 total blocks in her Falcon career ... Kemerer moved from seventh to fifth on the BGSU career kills list last week ... she is third all-time on the digs list, and is second in both block assists and total blocks ... in fact, Kemerer needs just four more block assists to become the BGSU all-time leader in that category ... with 410 career block assists, she trails first-place Lisa Mika (413 from 1988-91) ... Kemerer is fourth in attack attempts (3,249) and sixth in solo blocks (109) ... last week, Kemerer hit .358 with 3.88 kills, 3.13 digs and 0.88 blocks per game ... senior Melissa Lewis now has 1,244 career kills, good for sixth place on the BGSU list (one behind Kemerer) ... Lewis ranks sixth all-time in school history with 3,213 career attack attempts ... senior Heather Greig is fifth in school annals with 2,549 career assists ... her next target is Wendy (Watkins) Teaman, Greig's former teammate and a current BGSU assistant coach, who had 2,619 assists in a BG uniform ... senior Kris Pesorda has moved into the top-10 lists in several blocking categories ... she ranks ninth with 233 block assists, and is 10th with 250 total blocks ... additionally, Pesorda has 275 career assists ... she ranks ninth all-time at BGSU, and is the highest-ranking non-setter on that list ... on the school single-season lists, Lewis has recorded 494 kills to rank sixth ... her season total of 1,213 attack attempts this year ranks fifth ... Kemerer's 116 block assists place her seventh on that seasonal list, while Greig's 1,224 set assists are the sixth-most in a season ... Lewis set a career high with three solo blocks in the win over Cleveland State ... Papageorgiou's four block assists at Buffalo set a career best ... Bowling Green was picked to finish fourth in the MAC's East Division by the league's head coaches ... BGSU was picked to place behind Miami, Akron and Ohio, but ahead of Kent, Marshall and Buffalo ... the Falcons actually finished second, a game behind Akron, and ahead of (in order) Miami, Kent, Marshall, Buffalo and Ohio.
FALCON QUICK FACTS
THIS WEEK
Miami at BGSU
Tue., Nov. 23 - Anderson Arena
7:00 p.m. - MAC Tournament QF
MAC Tournament Semifinals
Fri., Nov. 26 - TBA
at site of top remaining seed
MAC Tournament Championship
Sat., Nov. 27 - TBA
at semifinal site
LAST WEEK
at BGSU 3, Cleveland State 1
Tue., Nov. 16 - Anderson Arena
BGSU 3, at Buffalo 1
Sat., Nov. 20 - Buffalo, New York
1999 RECORDS
Overall: 20-11 (.645)
Mid-American Conf.: 12-6 (.667)
HEAD COACH - Denise Van De Walle (17th season)
Alma Mater: Ball State, 1976
Record at BGSU: 316-211
Overall Career Record: 316-211
ASSISTANT COACHES
Tom Hanna (fourth season)
Alma Mater: Marist, 1991
Wendy Teaman (first season)
Alma Mater: Bowling Green, 1998
BOWLING GREEN RECORDS
All-Time: 414-327-3 (.558) (1976-present / 24th year)
MAC: 145-112 (.564) (1983-present / 17th year)
- MAC TITLES - 1989, 1991, 1992
- MAC TOURNEY TITLES - 1991
- NCAA APPEARANCES - 1991
- NIVC APPEARANCES - 1992, 1993
BGSU RESULTS LINE
419/372-7076, choose option 4
(same-day scores and brief summaries from all Falcon athletic teams)
BGSU IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT (7-12)
- 1981 (at Mt. Pleasant, Mich.)
- Western Michigan_____L 0-2 (10-15, 6-15)
- Toledo_______________W 2-1 (15-4, 14-16, 15-12)
- Miami________________L 0-2 (9-15, 3-15)
- Ball State___________L 0-2 (9-15, 7-15)
- 1982 (at Athens, Ohio)
- Ball State___________L 0-3 (4-15, 4-15, 14-16)
- 1987 (at Kalamazoo, Mich.)
- Central Michigan_____W 3-2 (16-14, 15-8, 12-15, 16-18, 15-11)
- at Western Michigan__L 0-3 (5-15, 10-15, 2-15)
- 1989 (at Bowling Green, Ohio)
- CENTRAL MICHIGAN_____W 3-0 (15-6, 15-9, 15-7)
- WESTERN MICHIGAN_____L 2-3 (8-15, 15-10, 15-4, 11-15, 5-15)
- 1990 (at Battle Creek, Mich.)
- Miami________________L 1-3 (10-15, 15-4, 15-17, 12-15)
- 1991 (at Battle Creek, Mich.)
- Western Michigan_____W 3-0 (15-11, 15-11, 15-12)
- Miami________________W 3-0 (17-16, 15-5, 17-15)
- 1992 (at Battle Creek, Mich.)
- Western Michigan_____W 3-1 (12-15, 15-12, 15-5, 15-9)
- Ball State___________L 2-3 (16-14, 3-15, 10-15, 15-13, 14-16)
- 1993 (at Battle Creek, Mich.)
- Central Michigan_____W 3-1 (15-7, 15-10, 2-15, 15-7)
- Ball State___________L 1-3 (8-15, 12-15, 15-12, 5-15)
- 1994 (at Muncie, Ind.)
- at Ball State________L 2-3 (7-15, 15-7, 15-11, 8-15, 14-16)
- 1995 (at Oxford, Ohio)
- at Miami_____________L 0-3 (12-15, 8-15, 12-15)
- 1997 (at Muncie, Ind.)
- at Ball State________L 0-3 (0-15, 9-15, 5-15)
NOTE: No tournament held from 1983-86
