Bowling Green State University
MIAMI
Falcons Seize Big Road Win Against Miami
November 04, 2005 | Volleyball
Nov. 4, 2005
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Head Coach Denise Van De Walle and the BGSU Falcon volleyball squad (15-11, 7-6) are just one match back from second place in the MAC East division after earning a road win against Miami (15-9, 8-5) Thursday night.
"We beat a very, very good volleyball team," said Coach Van De Walle, "it was a big win for us tonight."
Junior Chrissy Gothke played a dual role as setter and outside hitter once again, adding her seventh triple double of the season with 10 kills, 50 assists and 12 digs.
"Her (Gothke) versatility in a match like this is invaluable," said assistant coach Mark Hardaway.
After an early 6-6 tie to start the opening act, Bowling Green surged to a 14-9 advantage, forcing a RedHawk timeout. A string of Miami attack errors led to another Miami timeout at 22-13. The pause in action proved to be unbeneficial for Miami as redshirt freshman Kendra Halm's seven kills led the Falcons to a .271 hitting percentage and a 30-23 game one win. Freshman Chelsey Meek tamed the RedHawk attack with a team-high eight game-one digs.
Despite hitting .325 in the second stanza, the Brown and Orange dropped game two 30-25 while never holding a lead. Halm continued to excel offensively however, racking up six more kills with no errors. Sophomore Stephanie Swiger was also errorless while compiling her game-high seven kills. The Falcon defense struggled in the loss, recording just 12 digs and no blocks while allowing Miami to hit .487.
The Falcons continued the superb offense coming out of the locker room in game three, hitting .317 with 19 kills. The RedHawks still had no answer for Halm as she picked up six more kills with no errors. Halm closed out the see-saw battle for the Falcons with her 19th kill of the match. Freshman Annie Griffin entered the match early in game three and contributed seven assists to the Falcons' 30-28 win.
"I really feel that Annie (Griffin) keyed the turn around in game three," said Coach Van De Walle, "I was so impressed with her composure and her set selection right out of the gate."
Griffin was not the only Falcon reserve to refuel the Bowling Green attack, freshman Meghan Mohr recorded eight kills, two service aces and two blocks in just over two games.
"Meghan (Mohr) gave us a spark offensively from the right side," said Coach Van De Walle.
The Falcons continued to roll in game four, hitting .396 to take the match 3-1. Senior Ashlei Nofzinger stepped up in game four after struggling early in the match. Nofzinger hammered six kills in the clincher, teaming up with Swiger to end the match with back-to-back terminations. Swiger and Halm combined for 37 kills on the night.
"The offensive production of both middles tonight was outstanding," said Coach Van De Walle.
Senior Emily Manser was all over the court defensively, matching her career-high 24 digs. Freshman Chelsey Meek chipped in with 20 digs also.
"We certainly did not have a normal BG blocking night, but we made up for it with some pretty impressive digs," said Coach Van De Walle, "our dig-to-kill ratio was very good tonight."
Bowling Green gets a day off before traveling to Kalamazoo, Michigan for a match against Western Michigan Saturday night. The Falcons and Broncos are scheduled to begin play at 7 PM.
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