Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Conclude Five-Game Road Trip This Weekend
October 07, 2004 | Volleyball
Oct. 7, 2004
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball team hits the road this weekend in search of their first Mid-American Conference road win of the season. On Friday they face Toledo and then head west to square off with Northern Illinois. Two weeks prior the Falcons downed both schools in Anderson Arena to begin MAC play.
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Falcons Fall To IPFW
For the second time this season the BGSU volleyball program fell to IPFW. On Wednesday the Falcons fell in four games to the Mastodons. The Brown and Orange were led by Taylor Twite and her 14 kills, as well as 25 digs by freshman Elizabeth Simon, a season-high for the Falcons.
Recap Of Past Weekend
The Falcons dropped two MAC matches over the past weekend, first a 3-2 loss to Miami (23-30, 22-30, 30-26, 30-25, 7-15) followed by a 3-0 loss to Ball State (27-30, 24-30, 20-30) 24 hours later. Versus Miami, freshman Maggie Karges led the team to a near comeback victory with 19 kills, 21.5 points and seven digs. The senior middle hitting combo of Taylor Twite and Melissa Mohr combined for 28 kills, 17 digs, six total blocks and 32.5 points.
The following night four Falcons recorded double-figure kills, with Twite and her 14 kills leading the charge. Karges, Mohr and junior Emily Manser each chipped in with 11 kills apiece. Defensively, Karges led the team with 18 digs, followed by Manser (14), Mareski (13), Elizabeth Simon (9) and Chrissy Gothke and Mohr each adding seven digs.
Deja Vu?
The BGSU volleyball squad will once again face Toledo and Northern Illinois on the same weekend. Back on Sept. 24-25 the Falcons downed both the Rockets and Huskies on back-to-back nights, only this time the Falcons will be on the road.
The Toledo Rockets (11-3, 1-3 MAC) recorded their first MAC win and snapped a three game losing streak after sweeping Central Michigan last Saturday night. The Rockets are led by Rachel Mohler who averages 3.7 kills and 2.18 digs per game. The Falcons have won the previous four meeting including a 3-1 win over UT back on September 24.
Northern Illinois (7-10, 2-2 MAC) has won their past three contests, including back-to-back wins versus MAC foes. They swept Buffalo and proceeded to down Kent State in a five-set match the following night. The Huskies are led by Tera Lobdell and her 5.63 kills and 3.73 digs per game. BGSU downed NIU in four games back on September 25.
Across The Net
One of the reasons for the dramatic turnaround this season has been the ability to count on many different players throughout the season. The Brown and Orange have seven players averaging 2+ kills per game. At the top is Taylor Twite and her 3.34 kills per game. She is trailed by Melissa Mohr (2.86), Maggie Karges (2.59), Stephanie Swiger (2.32), Corrie Mills (2.31), Ashlei Nofzinger (2.16) and Emily Manser (2.15).
Six different Falcons have led the team in kills this season. Twite has led the team four times. Swiger and Mohr three different times this season. Karges and Mills twice. Manser also led the team once.
Karges Filling In Nicely
At the end on the 2003 season the Falcons waved goodbye to several outside hitters that were going to be hard pressed to replace. Or that's what was thought.
Before September 11, the freshman had only 15 kills and 42 digs in six matches. Since then, the 5-10 outside hitter, has recorded 125 kills, including 19 kills versus Wright State and Miami. She has also posted 129 digs, which includes a 22-dig effort versus Robert Morris and Wright State.
Milestone for Mareski
Senior setter Amber Mareski recorded her 2,600th career assist in the loss to Ball State last Saturday night. For her career she now owns 2,654 assists in BGSU career, which ranks fifth all-time in school history.
1. 4,406 Linda Popovich 1986-89 2. 3,779 Carey Amos 1989-92 3. 3,407 Jodi Olson 1993-95 4. 2,766 Natalie Becker 1998-2001 5. 2,654 Amber Mareski 2001-SAFalcons in the MAC
With 12.65 assists per game, Amber Mareski ranks third in the MAC. She has 721 assists on the season. Melissa Mohr ranks third in the MAC in blocks per game with 1.24. She has 10 solo blocks and 62 block-assists on the season. Mohr also ranks fourth in the MAC with .41 aces/ game.
BGSU as a team ranks third in the conference with 1.95 aces/game, fourth in digs with 18.52/game and fourth in assists at 14.73/game. Taylor Twite ranks 10th on the career active kills list with 745. Mareski ranks sixth on the active assists list with 2,654.
Serves Up
When looking at deciding factors in wins and loses, most will notice a difference in kills and digs, but this year the service game has been the most telling stat for the volleyball program. Heading into this weekend, the Falcons are 7-1 when out serving the opponent, and 2-6 in contests that they are out served.
On the year BGSU has 109 aces compared to only 73 for their opponents. Melissa Mohr leads the team with 24 service aces.
Van De Walle And Team USA Capture Bronze
The USA National Sitting Volleyball team came away with the bronze medal last weekend with a four game victory over Slovenia (25-20, 10-25, 25-18, 25-20) on the final day of competition at the 2004 Paralympic Games.
