Bowling Green State University Athletics
Volleyball Season Outlook
August 19, 2005 | Volleyball
Aug. 19, 2005
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball team, with a 17-14 overall and 8-8 Mid-American Conference record in 2004, snapped back-to-back losing seasons, and now seems primed to return to the glory of years past. After a strong spring season the Falcons of head coach Denise Van De Walle will look to build upon last season's excitement, as they move back to the Eastern Division, where they won back-to-back championships and compiled a 24-12 Mid-American Conference record in 2000 and 2001.
Van De Walle and assistant coach Mark Hardaway will have a difficult task in front of them for the 2005 season, as they will have to find a way to replace three members from the 2004 squad. Gone from last season are Amber Mareski, Melissa Mohr and Taylor Twite. All three of the former Falcons can be found throughout the record books. Mareski finished her career with 3,119 career assists, which ranks fourth all-time at BGSU. Mohr departs from Bowling Green with 256 career blocks (12th all-time) and 90 career service aces (11th all-time), while Twite, a two-time All-MAC Honorable Mention winner, finished her career fifth in the BGSU record books with a .282 hitting percentage and 13th with 960 career kills.
"When I think about the 2005 team, I feel that with the loss of Mel [Mohr], Taylor [Twite] and Amber [Mareski], there are some definite spots open right away," said head coach Denise Van De Walle. "Mel and Taylor held the middle for two or three years, so there are two spots right there."
The departure of Mareski, Mohr and Twite leaves the Falcons a very young team. Only two members of the 2005 squad return with more than one year of experience in the Brown and Orange, but eight of them return with a wealth of knowledge from last year.
"We are very young, 10 out of 13 are underclassmen," said Van De Walle. "That is a very young squad and with youth you can get a lot of good things like good energy and excitement but we have to be prepared for a lot of mistakes along the way.
 Senior Ashlei Nofzinger  |
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The 2005 senior class consists of three-year letterwinner Emily Manser, and a transfer from Loyola Chicago in Ashlei Nofzinger. This senior class returns 39% of the team's offense (358 of 946 kills) and will be counted on to supply much of the offensive firepower throughout the 2005 season, but they will also be asked to be the team leaders.
"The fact that she (Manser) is our only four-year senior is really important for the success of our team," said the coach. "I think she is ready for that role. She has talked about it. She wants to be a leader, she wants to be on the floor all the time. I look at Manser to fill that leadership role."
Manser, a native of Westerville, Ohio owns 416 kills and 741 digs in her three year career in the Brown and Orange. The 5-11 left-side hitter recorded 115 kills and 305 digs her freshman year, but slipped in season two with only 82 kills and 99 digs.Manser got "Back on Track" last year posting career-high numbers in both kills (219) and digs (336).
Nofzinger, a native of Holland, Ohio, came to BGSU last year after transferring from Loyola Chicago. Her first season was an eventful one, finishing with a .212 hitting percentage (third among returners). She had a career night last Halloween recording 19 kills and 22 digs in a near upset of Eastern Michigan.
"We really feel Nofzinger should be on the floor all the time as well," said Van De Walle. "She is a senior, and brings experience, even though this is only her second year here, she did play at Loyola. Because our team is so young, we want our seniors to be on the floor."
 Junior Chrissy Gothke |
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It's hard to imagine where the Falcons would be without their lone junior Chrissy Gothke these past two seasons. Her freshman year, while serving as the team's libero exclusively, she recorded a school record 497 digs. This past fall the Whitehouse, Ohio, native posted a team-high 366 digs, but also served as the team's setter the final four matches of the year where she averaged 10.66 assists per game. In two seasons, the now primary setter, has recorded 863 digs, a mere 167 away from becoming only the ninth Falcon in school history to surpass the 1,000-dig plateau.
Coach Van De Walle not only sees her as the team's setter for the upcoming season, but she will also be looking for Gothke to show help with the leadership of this young squad.
"I also want to see Chrissy Gothke take a leadership role, too," explained Van De Walle. "Chrissy exhibits tremendous leadership skills and has the respect of all her teammates. She has won award after award from her teammates at our banquets. They think she has great hustle and great competitiveness. Those two come to mind, but she needs to step up and lead this team."
 Sophomore Maggie Karges |
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This sophomore class packs a punch, and will have a dramatic impact on how far this Falcon team can go in 2005. Returning for their second season with the Falcons will be Maggie Karges, Madeline Means, Corrie Mills (redshirt sophomore), Elizabeth Simon, and Stephanie Swiger. All five members of this sophomore class were given numerous opportunities last fall, with all five stepping up when they were needed most.
Karges, a native of Joliet, Illinois, is the top Falcon returner with 252 kills and is third among returners with 315 digs. The left-side hitter recorded career-highs in kills (19), digs (22) and hitting percentage (.529) in a 3-0 sweep over Wright State at the Raider Invitational for her top performance of the season. Throughout the year she posted seven double-doubles and hit over .300 on five separate occasions, making it nearly impossible to keep her off the floor.
"Maggie has exceptional passing skills," said Van De Walle. "We know we need her to be on the floor. We want her to work on her armswing and ball contact. Once she gets a bit more consistent attacking the ball for us, she will be hard to keep off the floor."
Means had a quiet start to the 2004 campaign, seeing limited action until late in the year. With Chrissy Gothke moving to the setter position, replacing an injured Amber Mareski, Means jumped at the opportunity to fill in at the libero. In the final four contests of the year, the Caledonia, Mich., native registered dig performances of 17, 26, 26 and 17. In that span she averaged 5.73 digs per game and finished the year with 3.40 digs per game.
The problem for Means is not if she will play, but more along the lines of where she will play.
"Madeline is a really good athlete," said the coach. "She's strong and versatile. We hope to see her on the left side this season, however, we know she can play right side or libero if needed. She jumps well and has the capability to hit a really heavy ball. She needs some armswing work. Once she gets more comfortable getting set as often as a left side gets set, I think we will see her on the floor a lot."
The 2005 season will be a big one for the third-year sophomore, Corrie Mills. After sitting behind Melissa Mohr and Taylor Twite the past two seasons, Mills will be handed the reigns of the middle and try to improve upon the flashes of brilliance she showed last year.
Entering the match with Wake Forest at the Wright State Invitational, the Elgin, Ill. native had posted only five kills and six blocks, but following an injury to Twite everything changed. Mills was named to the Raider Invitational All-Tournament Team after posting 19 kills, five blocks and hitting a .361 versus WF. A few hours later she recorded 10 kills, 12 blocks (two off the school record) and hit .318 in a win over Morehead State.
"Mills has been on the bench the last few years, but whenever she came in she seemingly always did a good job," said Van De Walle. "In the spring she held down that position the entire time and gives us another great blocker. When I look at the two of them (Mills and Halm) I think of them as better blockers than hitters so we really want to spend a lot of time on their hitting. Both of them should lock up positions in the middle and do a really good job."
Simon, a native of Bowling Green, Ohio, will serve as the team's libero, as well as a defensive specialist throughout 2005. She finished her first year in the Brown and Orange with 208 digs and 23 service aces. She set a career-high 25 digs versus IPFW and had seven 10-plus dig performances last fall.
"Simon improved a lot in the spring and I can tell she has worked out over the summer," said Van De Walle. "She is a very good competitor with a work ethic to match. She and Chelsey will take care of the back court for us this year. All of Simon's skill are solid. If she were a few inches taller, I know she'd be vying for a starting spot on the left side."
 Sophomore Stephanie Swiger |
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The Findlay, Ohio, native finished 2004 with 225 kills (second among returners) and 80 blocks (tops among returners). She posted eight kills in 18 of 31 matches and recorded at least one block in all but two contests. Swiger looks to play the season on the right-side, but Van De Walle is also training her for the middle.
"The third person that we are going to have in the middle is Swiger," said the coach. "She made great strides as a freshman on the right side and we like her on that side, but we feel that we really do have to have a third middle to coach and she played middle in high school so we feel that she is a natural for that position."
THE FRESHMEN
Coach Van De Walle will have an incoming class of four freshman on the 2005 roster in Annie Griffin, Kaitlin Jackson, Chelsey Meek, and Meghan Mohr. Kendra Halm, a redshirt freshman, makes five Falcons on the 2005 roster that have no prior experience on the floor in the Brown and Orange.
Griffin (Lenexa, Kan.) could see a lot of playing time this season depending on the type of offense the coaching staff decides to run. If the Falcons decide to go with a 6-2 and play two setters, Griffin could have a major impact on the upcoming season.
This past fall Griffin was named to the National All-Tournament team and named to the All-District squads her last two seasons.
"Annie Griffin is the newest addition and I couldn't be more thrilled to have her," said Van De Walle. "She is my style of setter. She caught my eye a year ago. What she brings to the floor with her style of setting, could be very good for our middles. I think she was overlooked only because her size. If she was three inches taller she would have been snatched up early, because she is that good."
Halm, a 6-0 middle hitter, was named Most Improved Player of the Spring, after her dominating performances in several spring tournaments. The Bucyrus, Ohio, native will be counted on to team with Mills to create a formidable 1-2 punch in the middle.
"Kendra redshirted last year and had her first opportunity to compete for us in the spring and I can't say enough good things about what she did for the team," said Van De Walle. "I think that she amazed our team last spring with her blocking. She jumps very well, and has really good timing on her blocking. Because it will be the first time on the floor, she is going to be faced with some things that she didn't have to face in the spring, but we are going to rely on her blocking skills a lot in the fall."
Jackson, a native of Toronto, Ontario, graduated from Richview Collegiate Institute last spring. Last season, the 5-11 hitter was named volleyball MVP, as well as Athlete of the Year for her school. She was also a gold medalist in the "Provincial Cup." With the amount of talent the Falcons return on the outside, Van De Walle expects to redshirt Jackson for the 2005 season.
"Kaitlin Jackson is a very gifted athlete, the only athlete that I have ever coached in my tenure here that can hit both left and right-handed," said the coach. "We really feel she is a left-handed player but she hit both left and right. Right now she will train for the left side and the right side and as of today, we are looking at potentially redshirting her. That's how it looks. Because we feel, experience wise, she is not up to par with what we would want to put her on the floor. And because she is so gifted athletically, we would not want to play her in one match and then have wasted her freshman season."
Meek a native of Bowling Green, Ohio gives the Falcons a second Bowling Green High School graduate to go along with sophomore Elizabeth Simon. This past fall Meek earned All-State Honorable Mention as a libero, as well as first-team All-League and All-District honors and should step in and contribute right away at the libero position according to Van De Walle.
"We also are pretty excited to have Chelsey Meek," said the coach. "We really feel Chelsey's experience and background with the libero position is going to really help us. She is probably one of the best defenders that I have seen in a long time. She has fast feet to the ball. Her instincts in the back row are about as good as I have ever seen. She is really gifted, and she does a lot of thing well. She is small, but as fast as her feet are, she covers more range than someone that is 5'10"."
Mohr, a native of Elida, Ohio, is a graduate of Elida High School. This past fall, the right-side hitter averaged 20 kills a match, while finishing the season with 469 kills (fourth most in the state) and even posted 42 kills in a single match, an Ohio record. She was also named the MVP of the American Division at the 2004 USA Jr. Olympics in Houston, Texas. Mohr should step in right away along the right side and give the Falcons some major offensive firepower.
"Meghan Mohr is a big time player," said Van De Walle. "She is left-handed and extremely strong. She hits a heavy, hard ball. It was obvious how good she was two years ago in Nationals when she was given the MVP award. That is a big award to get. We want and need her to make an impact right away. We feel that we are very fortunate to have her hitting ability on our team. I think she is going to be on everyone's scouting reports as someone that they are going to have to stop."
THE SCHEDULE/THE MAC
The Bowling Green State University volleyball team is slated to play a total of 30 regular-season matches, including 14 inside Anderson Arena this season.
Highlights of the Falcons' schedule include the UIC Invitational (Illinois-Chicago, Denver, College of Charleston and James Madison) and Long Island Invitational (Long Island-Brooklyn, Georgia Southern and Weber State), as well as the BGSU Invitational on Sept. 9-10. In the four-team tournament the Falcons will host East Carolina, Chicago State and Ohio State.
"When we host our tournament, I feel that that it is a tournament that the fans should enjoy," explained Van De Walle. "The competition is East Carolina, Chicago State, and then it's the first time ever in the history of our program that Ohio State is going to be on our gym floor. The fact that we've got a top-10 team coming in is another good tournament for us."
Two years ago the Falcons finished 2-1 in the same BGSU Invitational with wins over West Virginia and Iowa State, but fell to Murray State.
 Senior Emily Manser is 5-1 vs. Toledo in her three years at BGSU. |
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With the Falcons moving back to the East Division they will play home-and-homes with Miami, Akron, Buffalo, Ohio and Kent State. In other MAC contests they host Northern Illinois, Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan and will be on the road versus Ball State, Western Michigan and Toledo.
"My expectation is to finish in the top three in the East," said Van De Walle. "We feel that it is a challenging goal, yet attainable if we work extremely hard. We know that Ohio is very good. They have won the conference back-to-back and done it in style. Yes they lost one or two players and people thought that losing their setter was a big deal and it is, from everything we have heard they are going to be on top again. Top three in the East is attainable if we continue to make progress throughout the year."
Other home games include match-ups with IPFW (Oct. 12), and Oakland (Nov. 8). In their only non-conference road match-up of the year (non-tournament) the Falcons will square off with Cleveland State (Oct. 25).
The 2005 Mid-American Conference tournament begins on Nov. 15 with the opening round (campus sites). The final eight teams advance to Toledo, Ohio (Nov. 18-20) where they will compete at the Seagate Center for the right to play in the NCAA Tournament.
FINAL THOUGHTS
"We think we have the potential to make it a 20-win season," said Van De Walle. "Team chemistry couldn't be better. Team chemistry has been a high point and a selling point. We know we have our work cut out for us, but a lot is going to depend on how fast the young players can accept responsibility. The faster they can do that and find it fun, the sooner we can show our great potential."
 Sophomore Madeline Means posted 26 digs versus Akron and Buffalo last season. |
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"It is one thing to be on a team as a freshman/sophomore and sit the bench and there is no pressure on you to perform. It is another thing to have to go on the floor and pull your weight, and sometimes carry a lot of weight. That is a lot to ask of an underclassman, but we have to ask it because we have 10 of them."
