Bowling Green State University Athletics
Volleyball Faces Oakland In Tuesday's Home Final
November 06, 2000 | Volleyball
Nov. 6, 2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball team, after sweeping a pair of Mid-American Conference matches last weekend, will step out of conference for the final home regular-season match this week. The Falcons (16-8 overall, 9-6 MAC) of head coach Denise Van De Walle will host Oakland University in a Tuesday (Nov. 7) match. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at BGSU's venerable Anderson Arena.
Following the Oakland contest, the Falcons will return to conference action. BGSU will begin a season-ending, four-match road trip with a Friday (Nov. 10) contest against Miami University. Then, the Falcons will head to Athens for a Saturday (Nov. 11) match against MAC East Division-leading Ohio University. Start time for each of those contests is 7:00 p.m., at MU's Millett Hall and OU's Convocation Center ("The Convo"), respectively.
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 333-220. She is the second-winningest coach in MAC history with her 333 career victories, and her total of 154 MAC wins ranks her third all-time. Van De Walle reached the 300-win mark for her career on Sept. 10, 1999, when BG 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: Oakland checks into the week with a 6-19 overall record, and the Golden Grizzlies have posted a Mid-Continent Conference record of 3-10. OU has lost the last three matches, including three-game weekend contests at UMKC Friday (Nov. 3) and Oral Roberts Saturday (Nov. 4). Head coach Ed Tolentino has a record of 12-43 in his second year at OU. More information on the team can be found at www.ougrizzlies.com.
Miami enters the week with a 10-16 overall mark, and the RedHawks will check into Friday's BGSU match with a 6-9 MAC record. Last week, MU went 1-2, losing to Ball State Wednesday (Nov. 1) and Akron Friday (Nov. 3) before winning at Buffalo Sunday afternoon (Nov. 5). MU is 4-8 at home this season. Head coach Carolyn Condit is 336-204 in her 17th year at Miami. She has an overall record of 435-284 in her 21st season. More information can be found at www.MURedHawks.com.
Ohio is 18-9 overall heading into the week, and the Bobcats sit atop the MAC's East Division with a 11-5 league mark. OU is idle until Saturday's BGSU match. Last weekend, the Bobcats lost a four-game decision at Kent State Friday before rebounding to win at Buffalo Saturday, also in four games. Mike Lessinger is in his first season as a collegiate head coach. More information on the team can be found at www.ohiobobcats.com.
THE SERIES: The Falcons hold a 3-0 lead in the all-time series with Oakland, and BGSU captured three-game matches in each of the past two years. BG won at Anderson Arena in the only previous home contest two years ago (Sept. 15, 1998), then was victorious in Rochester, Mich., last fall (Oct. 19, 1999).
BGSU trails the Miami series by a 32-15 margin, and the teams split their 1999 matches, both at Anderson. The RedHawks captured a four-game match during the regular season (Oct. 2, 1999), but the Falcons rebounded for a five-game win in the MAC Tournament's quarterfinal round (Nov. 23, 1999). That win broke a 12-match BG losing streak dating to 1993. MU has captured the last six contests in Millett Hall.
BGSU holds a 37-10 series advantage over Ohio, including a four-game win in Anderson on Oct. 18. BGSU has a two-match winning streak, including a victory in the only 1999 meeting, but the Bobcats captured the last meeting in Athens. BG has a 12-6 record in all-time road matches vs. Ohio.
LAST WEEK: The Falcons swept a pair of three-game matches, including a Friday (Nov. 3) home win over arch-rival Toledo (15-7, 15-6, 15-6). Then, BGSU made the day trip to Huntington, W. Va., Saturday (Nov. 4) and posted a win over Marshall (15-10, 15-9, 15-6) that evening.
NATIONALLY SPEAKING: Falcon players were represented in several categories when the NCAA released the latest national statistics last Wednesday (Nov. 1). Freshman Susie Norris was ranked 12th in the nation in digs, with an average of 4.23 per game, while junior Caty Rommeck was 13th in the country in blocks, averaging 1.50 per contest. As a team, the Falcons were ranked 14th in the nation in digs, with an average of 19.02 per game.
After last weekend's matches, Norris is now averaging 4.32 digs, while Rommeck is averaging 1.49 blocks. The Falcons are averaging 19.03 digs as a team.
LEADERS OF THE MAC: The Mid-American Conference office released the latest league statistics Monday (Nov. 6), and the Falcons have several players among the various category leaders. Junior Caty Rommeck is fourth in the league with a hitting percentage of .333, and she leads the MAC with 1.49 blocks. Rommeck ranks seventh in the MAC with 3.90 kills per game, and she is 14th in the conference in digs (2.99 dpg).
Freshman Susie Norris is still the MAC digs leader, with an average of 4.32 per game. Senior JoAnna Papageorgiou is sixth in the league in blocks (1.10 bpg) and 12th in hitting pct. (.268). Junior Natalie Becker is averaging an even 12.00 assists, good for third in the MAC.
As a team, the Falcons lead the league in digs (19.03), and BGSU ranks second in blocks (2.73), fourth in hitting pct. (.237), kills (16.26) and assists (14.73) and 13th in service aces (1.01).
NOTING THE FALCONS After a 2-5 start this season in MAC play, BGSU has won seven of the last eight matches ... the Falcons have won 10 matches at home this season, the most since the 1992 team went 12-1 ... this year, BGSU is 10-2 at Anderson Arena, heading into Tuesday's Oakland match ... a crowd of 496, the highest at Anderson this season, saw Friday's win over Toledo ... redshirt sophomore Kristin Gamby entered the Oct. 13 Buffalo match with a career total of 20 kills ... in the last eight matches, she has totalled 126 kills ... during that eight-contest span, she has hit .389 with 4.34 kills per game, leading the team in both categories during that time ... after the Oakland match, the Falcons will close the regular season with four road contests ... freshman Susie Norris remains on pace to break the BGSU single-season record for digs per game ... Norris is averaging 4.32 digs per contest through 24 matches ... the school record is 3.80, by Jo Lynn Williamson in 1987 ... Norris has a total of 380 digs to date this season, good for seventh on the all-time BGSU list ... she needs 11 more digs to tie Wendy Watkins (1997) for sixth on that list ... the school record is 455, by Holli Costein in 1992 ... junior Caty Rommeck has a chance to break into the BGSU single-season top 10 in several blocking categories ... Rommeck has 37 solo blocks and 134 total rejections this year ... Keisha Wilkins (1997) is 10th on both lists, with 42 solo blocks and 137 total blocks ... Rommeck has 97 block assists to date, just two behind the 10th-place total amassed by Tammy Schiller in 1991 ... Rommeck's 1.49 blocks-per-game average puts her on a pace to finish third on that BG seasonal list ... offensively, Rommeck's hitting percentage of .333 has her on a pace to place sixth on that school seasonal list ... Rommeck is looking to move into the career top-10 list for solo blocks ... her total of 56 has her six solos behind 10th-place Sheri Fella (1986-89) ... Rommeck has 211 career total blocks, trailing the 10th-place person (also Fella) by 29 on that career chart ... junior Natalie Becker should move into the BGSU seasonal list for assists this week ... she had 960 assists this year ... Linda Popovich holds down 10th place, with a total of 1,025 in 1988 ... on the career list, Becker now has 1,177 to rank eighth ... Barb Baker (1984-85) is seventh with 1,237.
DOWN THE ROAD: Following this weekend's action, the Falcons will complete the regular-season schedule with a pair of matches next week. BGSU will play a Nov. 15 non-conference match vs. Cleveland State, before concluding the MAC slate with a Nov. 18 contest at Buffalo. Start time for all of BGSU's remaining contests will be 7:00 p.m.
2000 MAC STANDINGS (as of Monday morning, Nov. 6)
East Division Ohio (18-9) 11-5 Bowling Green (16-8) 9-6 Akron (13-13) 8-7 Kent State (10-14) 7-7 Miami (10-16) 6-9 Marshall (3-24) 1-13 Buffalo (4-23) 0-15West Division Ball State (21-4) 14-1 Western Michigan (18-5) 13-1 Northern Illinois (21-6) 10-4 Central Michigan (14-12) 8-6 Toledo (7-16) 4-10 Eastern Michigan (5-21) 4-11
