Bowling Green State University
CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Falcons Continue To Roll With 3-0 Sweep Over Central Michigan
October 14, 2004 | Volleyball
Oct. 14, 2004
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball team improved to 4-0 inside Anderson Arena Thursday night with a 3-0 sweep over Central Michigan (32-30, 30-27, 30-22) for their third straight win. With the win the Falcons improve to 12-7 overall and 5-2 in conference play.
For the fifth consecutive match Taylor Twite has led the offensive charge. Tonight she recorded 15 kills and hit .323, but where the Falcons really stood out was on the defensive end. BGSU seemed to frustrate CMU all night, pulling off one miracle dig after another, and then turning that dig into a point. Karges led the bunch with 19 digs, followed by Chrissy Gothke (18) and Manser (11).
"This was a big win for us tonight," said head coach Denise Van De Walle. "We like winning in three. We kind of had a slow start, but as the match went on we got better and better."
It looked as if the Falcons were going to run away with game one, opening with a 10-5 spurt with three kills by Twite. But as BGSU seemed to relax with the lead, the Chippewas stormed back, knotting the score at 20, eventually reaching within one point of victory at 29-28. A kill by freshman Maggie Karges, followed by a CMU attack error gave the Falcons a 30-29 advantage. The Chippewas once again equaled the score at 30-30 after a Melanie Klein kill, but back-to-back Twite kills gave the Falcons a 32-30 game one victory.
BGSU seemed in control of game two from the outset. They raced out to an early 12-9 advantage and maintained that same lead at 24-21. CMU nearly stole game two away, eventually equaling the score at 26-26, but kills by Ashlei Nofzinger, Melissa Mohr and Amber Mareski sealed the deal in game two, 30-27.
Game three was all Bowling Green. The Falcons used several kills to gain an early 5-1 lead, and never looked back. Central Michigan (4-14, 1-7) got as close as 19-15, but a BGSU timeout calmed the Falcons down and allowed them to close out game three 30-22.
"We knew they wouldn't quit, said Van De Walle. "But what impressed me was we didn't quit. Last year if we felt pressure we would fold, but I don't see that happening this year."
Twite was not the only Falcon to impressive offensively. Despite seeing action in only three games, five Falcons nearly surpassed the double-digit mark in kills. Twite had 15, followed by Stephanie Swiger (9), Emily Manser (9), Karges (8) and Mareski (8).
Up next for the Falcons is a showdown with Ohio (14-2, 5-0) on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. in Anderson Arena.
