Bowling Green State University
CLEVELAND STATE
Volleyball Hits On All Cylinders
November 15, 2000 | Volleyball
Nov. 15, 2000
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball team wasted no time in earning a sweep of host Cleveland State University Wednesday night (Nov. 15). The Falcons took just an hour and eight minutes to earn the three-game win (15-1, 15-11, 15-4) in non-conference action at CSU's Woodling Gym.
With the win, the Falcons of head coach Denise Van De Walle improved to 20-8 on the season. BGSU has now won 20 matches for the second-straight season and the ninth time in school history. The last time the Brown and Orange had back-to-back 20-win seasons was in 1992 (30-8) and 1993 (20-11). Cleveland State drops to 12-17 on the year.
The win gives the Falcons a record of 41-20 since the start of the 1999 season. The 41 wins marks the highest two-season total since those 1992 and 1993 teams.
BGSU hit a season-high .420 as a team in the win over CSU, downing the Vikings for the 10th time in the last 11 meetings. The Falcons had 48 kills and just 11 errors in 88 total attempts on the night.
Defensively, the Falcons were just as solid, posting a team total of 15 blocks. BGSU had 26 block assists on the night, setting a new school record for a three-game match. The old record of 24 was set in 1989 (Oct. 14, 1989, vs. Miami) and tied last year (Oct. 31, 1999, vs. Marshall).
BGSU hit a whopping .583 as a team in the first game, then posted game percentages of .378 and .316, respectively.
Individually, sophomore Kristin Gamby had a match-high 14 kills. She hit a career-high .650, with just one error in 20 total attempts. Gamby also set a career standard with five block assists, and her five total blocks tied a personal record.
Freshman Susie Norris and junior Caty Rommeck each had 10 kills, as Norris hit a career-best .529 (10-1-17) while Rommeck hit .500 (10-1-18). Along with Gamby, the three combined to hit .564 with 34 kills and just three errors in the victory.
Senior JoAnna Papageorgiou had eight kills, while junior Shyann Robinson led all players in the match with nine digs.
Rommeck and Papageorgiou led the block parade. Rommeck, the MAC's leader in that category, had eight total rejections, followed by Papageorgiou's seven. Norris tied her career best with four block assists.
Junior setter Natalie Becker had 36 assists on the night.
For the host Vikings, Michele Smith hit .429, and she tied Molly Hoying with team honors with 10 kills.
The win was the seventh in a row for the Falcons, who have won 11 of the last 12 matches.
BGSU will conclude the regular season with a Saturday (Nov. 18) match at Buffalo, beginning at 7:00 p.m. The Falcons, 11-6 in MAC play, need a win to clinch at least a tie for the league's East Division crown.
Additionally, a win over UB would give the Falcons a top-four seed for the conference tournament and the right to host a quarterfinal match. In the event that the Falcons do host a quarterfinal, the match would be held Tuesday (Nov. 21) at 3:00 p.m. at BGSU's Anderson Arena.
