Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
BUFFALO
Volleyball Sweeps Buffalo To Tie For East Division Crown
November 18, 2000 | Volleyball
Nov. 18, 2000
BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Bowling Green State University volleyball team recorded a three-game sweep of the University at Buffalo Saturday night (Nov. 18), in the process earning a share of the Mid-American Conference's East Division title. The Falcons won the match (15-7, 15-6, 15-1), which marked the regular-season final‚ for both schools, at UB's Alumni Arena.
With the victory, the Falcons (21-8 overall, 12-6 MAC) have clinched a top-four seed for the MAC Tournament, and the accompanying homecourt berth for Tuesday's (Nov. 21) tourney quarterfinal round. BGSU, the tournament's third seed, will host sixth-seeded Kent State (14-14, 11-7 MAC) in that match, which will begin at 3:00 p.m. at Anderson Arena.
With Saturday's win, the Falcons tied Ohio University for the East Division crown. Buffalo drops to 4-28 overall and 0-18 in the MAC.
Junior Caty Rommeck and freshman Susie Norris each had eight kills to pace a balanced BGSU attack. Three members of the Falcons -- senior JoAnna Papageorgiou, junior Shyann Robinson and sophomore Kristin Gamby -- had seven kills each on the evening.
Papageorgiou's hitting percentage of .375 was the best for either team, while Rommeck hit .273. As a team, BGSU hit .246 while holding UB to a hitting percentage of .000, the lowest mark for a Falcon opponent this year.
Defensively, Norris had a match-best 15 digs, while Papageorgiou had 10. BGSU outblocked the host Bulls, 17-3, with Rommeck leading the way in that department.
For the second time in as many weekends, Rommeck had a career-best 12 total blocks. Rommeck, who had five solo blocks and seven block assists a week ago Friday (Nov. 10) at Miami, duplicated that effort at UB. The five solo rejections enabled her to tie her career best in that category.
Papageorgiou and Robinson had five and four total blocks, respectively, in the victory.
BGSU junior setter Natalie Becker had 35 assists and set a career standard with three service aces in the match.
For the Bulls, Keri Shiels had eight kills and Lindsay Matikosh added seven. Larissa LaCour had 14 digs to go along with 26 assists.
The win extends the Falcons' current streak to eight consecutive victories. BGSU also had an eight-match winning streak last season (Oct. 5-23, 1999), and the Falcons have not had a longer one since a 10-match streak during the 1992 season. The school record for consecutive wins is 11, set in 1977 and matched in 1991.
The victory at UB enabled the Falcons to match last year's MAC record (12-6), and BGSU has tied last year's win total, as the 1999 team went 21-12 overall. The Falcons, in the midst of the ninth 20-win season in school history, have not won more matches since the '92 squad went 30-8.
Since the beginning of the 1999 season, the Falcons have posted a record of 42-20.
In addition to Tuesday's KSU-at-BGSU match, other MAC Tournament quarterfinal action will see eighth-seeded Central Michigan travel to top-seeded Western Michigan, #7 Akron at #2 Ball State and #5 Northern Illinois at #4 Ohio. All of the other matches will be held Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
