Bowling Green State University Athletics
Volleyball Prepares For MAC Slate.
September 18, 2000 | Volleyball
Sept. 18, 2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - BGSU Volleyball Release
FALCONS OPEN MAC PLAY WITH PAIR OF FORMIDABLE FOES The Bowling Green State University volleyball team, after winning a tournament for the second consecutive weekend, will open Mid-American Conference play with a pair of matches this weekend. The Falcons (7-2) of head coach Denise Van De Walle will continue a seven-match homestand, facing defending league champion Ball State in a Friday (Sept. 22) match before meeting last year's MAC East Division winner, Akron, Saturday (Sept. 23). Both matches are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena (5,000).
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 324-214. She is the second-winningest coach in MAC history with her 324 career victories, and her total of 145 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 Ball State will bring a 7-3 overall record into Friday's match at BGSU. Two of the Cardinals' three setbacks have been to schools ranked in the top 25 nationally. Last weekend, BSU went 2-1, including a Thursday (Sept. 14) home win over IUPUI. Then, the Cards split a pair of matches at the Illinois Tournament, downing Wisconsin-Milwaukee Friday (Sept. 15) before losing to the host Illini in five games Saturday (Sept. 16). That loss broke a seven-match win streak. Ball State welcomed back all 12 letterwinners from last year's 28-7 squad. That team won the MAC's West Division with a 16-2 league mark, then captured the league tournament. Head coach Randy Litchfield has a record of 238-104 in his 12th year as a head coach, all in Muncie. More information on the team can be found at www.bsu.edu/sports
Akron is 5-6 heading into the week, and the Zips will open MAC play with a Friday (Sept. 22) home match vs. Northern Illinois. Last weekend, UA downed Seton Hall before losing to Tennessee and host Minnesota at the Diet Coke Classic in Minneapolis. A year ago, the Zips were 18-14 overall, and Akron went 13-5 in MAC play to win the East Division by a game over BGSU. Head coach Mike Sweitzer is in his 10th year, both with the Zips and as a collegiate head coach, and has a 170-139 record. More information on the team can be accessed at www.gozips.com.
THE SERIES The Falcons trail Ball State, 27-10-1, in the all-time series, and the Cardinals have won the last 17 matches. BSU swept last year's three meetings, including a three-game contest in the MAC Tournament's semifinal round. The Cards are 10-5 in matches held in BG and have captured the last six meetings in Anderson Arena since BGSU's last win, in 1992.
BGSU leads Akron by a 14-7 margin, and the Falcons captured a five-game match in the Rubber City in the teams' only 1999 meeting. BG holds a 7-4 advantage in home matches against the Zips, but Akron has captured the last four meetings in Anderson Arena.
LAST WEEK For the second straight week, the Falcons are coming off a 3-0 weekend and a tournament title. After winning the UCF Fall Invitational in Orlando, Fla. (Sept. 8-9), the Brown and Orange captured the BGSU Invitational at Anderson Arena. The Falcons dropped just one total game in downing Evansville (15-8, 15-11, 15-8), IUPUI (15-13, 15-4, 15-5) and Illinois at Chicago (15-11, 13-15, 15-10, 15-8) en route to the tourney title.
JUNIORS EARN HONORS A trio of juniors, led by MVP Caty Rommeck, earned All-Tournament Team honors at the BGSU Invitational. In addition to Rommeck, Shyann Robinson and Natalie Becker also made the six-person squad. UIC's Erica Anderson and Lynn Clarkson and Evansville's Ladi Iya rounded out the team.
RED-HOT ROMMECK Junior Caty Rommeck continued her solid play, hitting .383 at the BGSU Invitational. Rommeck had 39 kills and just three errors in 94 total attack attempts. She averaged 3.90 kills per game. On defense, she averaged a whopping two blocks per game (for the second consecutive weekend) along with 3.10 digs. She had a total of 10 solo blocks, including five against Evansville. On the season, Rommeck leads the Falcons in hitting percentage (.352), kills (4.12 kpg) and blocks ( 1.91 bpg), and is second in digs (2.85 dpg).
LEADERS OF THE MAC The Mid-American Conference office released the latest league statistics Monday (Sept. 18), and the Falcons have several players among the various category leaders. Junior Caty Rommeck is second in the league with a hitting percentage of .352, and she leads the league with 1.91 blocks. Rommeck ranks fifth in the MAC with 4.12 kills per game, and her average of 2.85 digs per contest places her 11th.
Freshman Susie Norris is the MAC digs leader, with an average of 4.47 per game, while junior Natalie Becker is 13th with 2.83 digs per game. Senior JoAnna Papageorgiou is seventh in the MAC with 0.83 blocks per game, and she ranks eighth in service aces (0.35). Norris is 11th in aces (0.34), while Becker and freshman Sara Sikorski rank 10th and 14th, respectively, in the conference in assists. Becker is averaging 9.61 assists, while Sikorski has 7.17 helpers per game.
As a team, the Falcons lead the league in both digs (19.64) and blocks (3.09), and BGSU ranks fourth in hitting percentage (.221), sixth in kills (14.79), sixth in assists (13.21) and 13th in service aces (1.18).
NOTING THE FALCONS
* The Falcons have won two in-season tournaments in the same year for the first time since the 1991 season. That year, BGSU captured both the BGSU Brown & Orange Invitational and the Rhode Island Classic en route to a 29-5 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
* The Falcons take a seven-match winning streak into Friday's Ball State tilt. BGSU had an eight-match win streak last October. The school record for consecutive wins is 11, set by both the 1977 and 1991 teams.
* BGSU tied the school record for assists in a four-game match, with 73 vs. Illinois at Chicago Saturday (Sept. 16). The record was originally set vs. Ohio on Sept. 27, 1997.
* During the seven-match winning streak, Caty Rommeck is hitting .397 with 4.23 kills, 2.08 blocks and 2.96 digs per game.
* Freshman Susie Norris averaged 4.33 digs per game in last weekend's three matches. She has a total of 143 digs in her first three weekends as a collegian.
* As a team, BGSU hit a whopping .339 last weekend. Every hitter with five or more total swings hit at least .250, led by Rommeck's .383 hitting percentage. Senior Joanna Papageorgiou hit .377, while Norris and junior Natalie Becker hit .368 and .364, respectively.
DOWN THE ROAD Following this weekend's action, the Falcons will remain at home for a pair of matches next weekend. BGSU will host Kent State on Friday, Sept. 29, and the Falcons will face Marshall to conclude a seven-match homestand the following night. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. at Anderson Arena.
2000 MAC STANDINGS
as of Tuesday morning, Sept. 19
East Division Bowling Green (7-2) 0-0 Ohio (7-4) 0-0 Akron (5-6) 0-0 Miami (4-6) 0-0 Buffalo (3-7) 0-0 Kent State (3-7) 0-0 Marshall (2-9) 0-0West Division Northern Illinois (9-2) 0-0 Ball State (7-3) 0-0 Western Michigan (5-4) 0-0 Central Michigan (4-6) 0-0 Toledo (3-5) 0-0 Eastern Michigan (1-9) 0-0
