Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Win Home Opener, 3-0
September 24, 2001 | Volleyball
Sept. 24, 2001
Bowling Green, Ohio -
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September 24, 2001
FALCONS WIN HOME OPENER, 3-0 The Bowling Green State University volleyball team (6-1, 1-0 MAC) defeated the Western Michigan Broncos Friday night in three games. This was the first time since 1997 that BG has defeated WMU. The Broncos, now 5-4, 0-2 in the MAC, are the defending MAC Tournament champions.
This week, BG plays Oakland (Sept. 25) at 7:00 p.m. and a conference match against Northern Illinois (Sept. 28), also at 7,00 p.m. BG stays on the road next week to wrap up a four match road stint. The Falcons play two conference matches, meeting Buffalo on October 5 (7:00 p.m.) and Akron on October 6 (7:00 p.m.).
HEAD COACH DENISE VAN DE WALLE Denise Van De Walle, the dean of MAC mentors, is in her 19th season with the Falcons, and has an overall record of 344-222. Her 21 wins with BG last season enabled her to surpass Miami's Carolyn Condit as the winningest coach in MAC history. Her 158 MAC wins entering the NIU match ranks her third all-time.
Kris Pesorda, a former BG standout, is in her second season as assistant coach for the Falcons. The 2000 season student assistant for the Brown and Orange, Sean Huiet, is in his first season as assistant coach.
LAST WEEK The Falcons won their home opener in Anderson Arena Friday night, defeating the 2000 MAC West Champions, Western Michigan in three games (30-23, 30-26, 32-30). BG took the lead early in the first game and did not let it go until game three. The Broncos went up 5-4 in game three, leading for the first time in the match. After falling behind by as much as five points, BG, rallying behind a great crowd at home, battled to win the game 32-30 and to take the match.
THE OPPONENTS Last week, Oakland was defeated by Central Michigan, IUPUI, and Valparaiso. The Grizzlies, now 4-6, 0-2 in the Mid-Continent Conference are coached by Ed Tolentino. Tolentino, in his third season with Oakland, welcomes back nine letterwinners, including two starters.
Northern Illinois had three MAC matches last week, losing to Eastern Michigan and Ball State, but defeating Miami Saturday night (Sept. 22) in five games. The Huskies are now 4-4 overall and 1-2 in the MAC. Coach Todd Kress is in his third season with Northern Illinois. He welcomes back eight letterwinners and five starters from his 2000 squad.
THE SERIES Bowling Green leads the series against Oakland, 4-0-0. The last meeting between these two teams was last year, when BG won in three games.
Northern Illinois leads the series over the Falcons, 14-3-0. In their meeting last year, Bowling Green won in four games.
RECAPPING LAST WEEK In their first home game and first conference game, Bowling Green defeated Western Michigan Friday night (Sept. 21) in three games...Caty Rommeck led the team with 15 kills, six blocks and four digs...Kristin Gamby and Laura Twyman each posted nine kills and two blocks...Setter Natalie Becker led the team with 40 assists, while Amber Vorst recorded a team-high 11 digs in addition to her five kills.
LEADERS OF THE MAC The Falcons have several players among the various category leaders in the Mid-American Conference statistics as of September 24, 2001...Senior Caty Rommeck is third in the league in hitting percentage with .377, first in the MAC in both blocks (1.44) and kills per game (4.81) and ninth in digs (2.78)...Sophomore Susie Norris is eleventh in service aces with a 0.44 average per game...Senior Natalie Becker averages 12.48 assists, good for third in the MAC... Sophomore Laura Twyman is fifth in the MAC in blocks with a 1.04 average...Junior Kristin Gamby is sixth in the MAC with a 3.78 kills per game average...As a team, the Falcons are second in the league in blocks (2.44)...BGSU ranks seventh in digs (14.30) and third in hitting pct. (.239) and assists (13.96)...The Falcons are fifth in kills (15.30) and 11th in service aces (1.37) for the 2001 season.
