Bowling Green State University
Kent State
Volleyball Upset By Kent State
November 21, 2000 | Volleyball
Nov. 21, 2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Sixth-seeded Kent State University pulled the upset, downing the Bowling Green State University volleyball team in four games Tuesday afternoon (Nov. 21). The Golden Flashes topped the third-seeded Falcons (15-7, 3-15, 15-10, 17-15) in Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinal action at BGSU's Anderson Arena.
The loss ends the 2000 campaign for the Falcons, who finish with a 21-9 overall record. KSU improves to 15-14, and the Flashes advance to the semifinal round to face the winner of Tuesday night's quarterfinal between #7 Akron and #2 Ball State.
KSU rallied from a 3-1 deficit in game one, outscoring BGSU by a 14-4 margin the rest of the way. Kent tied the contest at three and, after a kill by BG junior Caty Rommeck gave the Falcons a one-point lead, the Flashes reeled off the next six points for a 9-4 edge. Kent had seven of the team's 14 blocks in that first game.
BG came out like a house afire in the second contest, roaring to a 14-0 lead en route to a 15-3 win. The Falcons hit .346 in that contest, and held the visitors to a hitting percentage of -.032. BGSU's JoAnna Papageorgiou, one of two seniors on the Falcon roster, have five of her 13 kills in that game.
The Flashes started fast in game three, taking a 6-0 lead. BG cut the margin in half with a pair of kills by freshman Susie Norris and a service ace by junior Natalie Becker, but Kent took a 10-4 lead moments later. BG went on a 7-1 run, capped by block assists from Papageorgiou and Rommeck, to cut the KSU lead to a single point, but the visiting Flashes used a 4-0 run to close out the match. KSU started and ended that run with block assists.
The Falcons played from behind for most of the fourth game. KSU had leads of 3-0 and 6-1, but the Falcons rallied to tie matters at 8-8. KSU scored the next five points, but the Brown and Orange reeled off five-straight points of their own, aided by four Kent attack errors, to pull into a 13-all tie. Then, Papageorgiou and Rommeck teamed up for a block to give the Falcons their first lead of the game.
A kill by KSU's Jennifer Dreyer tied the contest, but a kill by "Pop" gave BG a 15-14 lead. KSU scored two consecutive points on Falcon attack errors, however, and a kill by Golden Flashe setter Stephanie Doran ended the game and the match.
Kent State hit .241 as a team, while the Falcons hit .205 on the day. The Flashes held a 14-11 advantage in blocks and a 71-66 margin in kills.
For the Falcons, Rommeck led the way with a match-high 21 kills. The junior hit .429, also a match best, and fell just one block shy of a triple-double, with 17 digs and nine total blocks.
Papageorgiou, as mentioned, had 13 kills, as did Norris. Norris had a team-best 21 digs, while "Pop" had 10 digs and five blocks in her final match as a Falcon.
Five Falcons had double-digit dig totals, as junior Shyann Robinson (14) and freshman Nadia Bedricky (12) joined Norris, Rommeck and Papageorgiou in that group.
Becker had 59 assists for the Falcons, while her counterpart, Doran, had 65 for the Flashes.
Sarah Kutschinski had 16 kills to lead five Kent State players in double digits in that department. Shiva Davis and Carrie McEnery each had 14, while Dreyer added 12 and Chantel Vineyard 10. McEnery's 21 digs led four-double digit Flashes, and Davis had a team-high eight total blocks.
The Kent State victory upped the Golden Flashes' school-record winning streak to nine matches. The loss snapped several streaks for the Falcons, including an eight-match overall winning streak and an eight-match home winning streak.
With the 21 digs in the loss, Norris finished her freshman campaign with a total of 462. That total represents a new BGSU single-season record, breaking the old record of 455 by Holli Costein (455 digs in 1992). Norris shattered the seasonal mark for digs per game, with 4.28. The old record of 3.80 was set by Jo Lynn Williamson in 1987.
Falcon head coach Denise Van De Walle ends her 18th season at the helm as the winningest coach in MAC volleyball history. She now has an overall record of 338-221.
The 15-player BGSU roster features just two seniors in Papageorgiou and Krista Davis.
