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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Volleyball Plays Three Road Matches This Week
October 02, 2000 | Volleyball
Oct. 2, 2000
The Bowling Green State University volleyball team, after a pair of home victories last weekend, will look to continue that success this week. The Falcons (9-4 overall, 2-2 Mid-American Conference) of head coach Denise Van De Walle will play three road matches this week, beginning with a Wednesday (Oct. 4) match at arch-rival Toledo. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at UT's John F. Savage Hall.
Following the UT contest, the Falcons will head to Kalamazoo for a Friday (Oct. 6) tilt vs. Western Michigan. That match will begin at 7:00 p.m. at University Arena. BG then travels to Central Michigan for a Saturday (Oct. 7) contest, starting at 7:00 p.m. at Rose Arena in Mount Pleasant.
HEAD COACH DENISE VAN DE WALLE: Denise Van De Walle, the dean of Mid-American Conference mentors, is in her 18th year with the Falcons, and has a record of 326-216. She is the second-winningest coach in MAC history with her 326 career victories, and her total of 147 MAC wins also ranks her second all-time. Van De Walle reached the 300-win mark for her career last Sept. 10, when the Falcons swept Mississippi State.
James Neyhouse is in his first season as Van De Walle's assistant, while former BGSU standout Kris Pesorda also is in her first year on the Falcon staff.
THE OPPONENTS: Toledo enters the week with a 4-8 overall record, and the Rockets will take a 1-2 MAC mark into the BGSU match. UT dropped a pair of home matches last weekend, losing to Ohio in five games Friday (Sept. 29) before falling to Akron in four games the next night. The Rockets welcomed back nine letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's team that went 8-21 overall and 5-13 in MAC play. Kent Miller is 32-71 in his fourth year as a collegiate head coach, all at UT. More information on the team can be found at www.utrockets.com.
Western Michigan is 8-5 overall, and the Broncos are 3-1 heading into Friday's BGSU contest. Last weekend, WMU won a pair of three-game matches on the road, against Akron Friday and Eastern Michigan Saturday. The Broncos have eight letterwinners and five starters returning from last year's team. That squad went 25-7 overall and finished 15-3 in league action. Head coach Cathy George, 103-84 in her seventh season in Kalamazoo, is 283-169 in her 14th year as a collegiate head coach. More information on the team can be found at www.wmubroncos.com.
Central Michigan has a 7-8 overall record and a 2-2 MAC ledger, and the Chippewas are idle until Saturday's match with the Falcons. Last weekend, CMU won a five-game match on the road against Miami before falling at Ball State in four games. Central has 10 letterwinners, including five starters, back from last year's squad, and the Chippewas have already surpassed the victory total amassed by that 1999 team. Last year, CMU went 6-23 overall and 2-16 in the MAC. Head coach Elaine Piha is 24-47 in her third year, all in Mount Pleasant. More information on the team can be found at www.cmuchippewas.com.
THE SERIES: The Falcons lead Toledo, 38-7-0, in the all-time series, and BGSU has won the last four matches. BG is 14-7 all-time in road matches vs. the Rockets, and the Falcons have captured the last two meetings in Savage Hall. BG won both of last year's meetings, including a four-game match at UT (Nov. 12).
BGSU trails Western Michigan by a 21-14-1 margin, and the Broncos captured last year's lone meeting, a four-game affair in Kalamazoo (Sept. 25). WMU has won the last three overall meetings, and the Broncos have taken the last two matches in Kalamazoo. BGSU is 5-11 on the road vs. Western.
The Falcons are 17-15-0 vs. Central Michigan, and BGSU has won the last two overall meetings. The Brown and Orange won a pair of three-game matches last year, one in Mount Pleasant (Sept. 24) and one at BGSU's Anderson Arena (Oct. 16). The Chippewas hold an 8-5 lead in matches played at CMU.
LAST WEEK: The Brown and Orange recorded a pair of MAC home wins to conclude a seven-match homestand with a 5-2 mark. BGSU defeated Kent State in five games (15-13, 9-15, 15-4, 9-15, 15-9) before sweeping Marshall (15-10, 15-13, 15-12). Both matches were held at venerable Anderson Arena.
NATIONALLY SPEAKING: The Falcons were represented in several categories when the NCAA released the latest national statistics last Wednesday (Sept. 27). Caty Rommeck was ranked fourth in the nation in blocks, with an average of 1.71 per game, while Susie Norris was fifth in the country in digs, averaging 4.49 per contest. As a team, the Falcons were fourth in the nation in digs (20.14 dpg) and 12th in blocks (3.10 bpg). After last weekend's matches, Rommeck is now averaging 1.60 blocks, while Norris has increased her digs-per-game average to 4.71. The team is averaging 2.86 blocks and 19.90 digs per game.
LEADERS OF THE MAC: The Mid-American Conference office released the latest league statistics Monday (Oct. 2), and the Falcons have several players among the various category leaders. Junior Caty Rommeck is fifth in the league with a hitting percentage of .321, and she leads the MAC with 1.60 blocks. Rommeck ranks sixth in the MAC with 4.12 kills per game, and her average of 2.96 digs per contest places her seventh.
Freshman Susie Norris is the MAC digs leader, with an average of 4.71 per game, while senior JoAnna Papageorgiou is 10th with 2.89 digs per contest. Papageorgiou ranks sixth in the league with 1.09 blocks per game, and her .253 hitting percentage places her 15th in the league. Junior Natalie Becker is averaging 10.30 assists, good for seventh in the MAC.
As a team, the Falcons lead the league in both digs (19.90) and blocks (2.86), and BGSU ranks fourth in hitting percentage (.220), fifth in both kills (15.28) and assists (13.84) and 13th in service aces (1.08).
NOTING THE FALCONS: The Falcons went 5-2 on the seven-match homestand which ended Saturday (Sept. 30) ... BGSU is 1-1 in road matches heading into this weekend's three away tilts, and the Falcons have gone 3-1 in neutral-site contests to date ... Denise Van De Walle used 13 different players in Saturday's win over Marshall, the fourth time she has done so this season ... freshman Susie Norris is on pace to shatter the BGSU single-season record for digs per game ... Norris is averaging 4.71 digs per contest through 13 matches ... the school record is 3.80, by Jo Lynn Williamson in 1987 ... Norris has a total of 231 digs to date this season ... the school record is 455, by Holli Costein in 1992 ... Norris has had 10 matches with double-digit dig totals this season, including six contests with 20 or more ... she has had at least 18 digs in each of the last five matches ... junior Caty Rommeck had a career-high 29 kills in Friday's (Sept. 29) win over Kent State ... she then had a match-best 19 kills the following night vs. Marshall ... Rommeck has had a hitting percentage of .300 or better in nine of this year's 13 matches ... she has hit over .350 in six of the last eight contests ... as a team, BGSU has had a higher hitting percentage than the opponent 10 times this year, including in 10 of the last 11 matches ... the Falcons will play against a former teammate Friday ... Heather Murphy, who played at BGSU from 1996-98, is a member of the Western Michigan volleyball squad.
DOWN THE ROAD: Following this week's action, the Falcons will return home for a pair of matches. BGSU will begin a four-match homestand by taking on Buffalo on Oct. 13 and Northern Illinois the following night. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena.
2000 MAC STANDINGS
(as of Monday morning, Oct. 2
East Division Ohio (11-4) 4-0 Bowling Green (9-4) 2-2 Akron (7-8) 2-2 Kent State (5-9) 2-2 Buffalo (4-10) 0-3 Miami (4-10) 0-3 Marshall (2-13) 0-4West Division Ball State (10-3) 3-0 Northern Illinois (12-3) 3-1 Western Michigan (8-5) 3-1 Central Michigan (7-8) 2-2 Eastern Michigan (3-12) 2-2 Toledo (4-8) 1-2
