Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Take On the Leaders of the MAC
October 23, 2007 | Volleyball
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Oct. 23, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - On a seven match winning streak the Falcons will return home to host Miami, MAC East Division leader tied with Ohio, on Wednesday (Oct. 24) at 7:00 p.m. putting their perfect 10-0 home court record to the test. The Brown and Orange will then take to the road to face MAC West Division leader Western Michigan on Saturday (Oct. 27) at 7:00 p.m.
THIS WEEK's MATCH-UPS
Falcons vs. RedHawks
The Falcons will take on the RedHawks for the second time this season. The RedHawks are currently tied with Ohio a top the MAC East Division with a conference record of 9-1 and overall record of 12-7. The RedHawks also won two matches this weekend in crossover play against the MAC West Division beating Ball State (3-1) and Toledo (3-0).
In their last meeting the Falcons handed the RedHawks their only loss in the MAC thus far. The Falcons were victorious on the road winning in five games 30-27, 29-31, 30-19, 22-30, 15-9. Miami is the only MAC East Division team to lead BGSU in all-times series, 22-35.
Falcons vs. Broncos
The Orange and Brown are set to head back on the road to take on the number one MAC West Division team, the Broncos. The Broncos are currently 16-8 overall and 7-3 in the MAC. All three losses the Broncos had had came from three of the top MAC East Division teams. The Broncos dropped two of their MAC games this past weekend against #19 Ohio (0-3) and Kent State (1-3).
The Broncos lead the Falcons in the all time series 16-30. The last meeting between the two teams was in Anderson Arena on November 4, 2006 when the Falcons dropped a four game match to the Broncos (23-30, 30-28, 28-30, 23-30).
FALCONS SOAR PAST THE CARDINALS
BGSU Head Coach Denise Van De Walle and the Falcons swept Van De Walle's alma mater, Ball State (36-34, 30-14, 30-24). The Falcons extended their winning streak to seven matches with the victory over the Cardinals. The Falcons once again controlled the net on offense hitting a .209 compared to the Cardinals .042.
FALCONS DOWN ARCH-RIVAL TOLEDO
The Falcons matched up against arch-rival Toledo on the road putting their five match winning streak to the test and came out victorious. The Falcons started off slow dropping game one to the Rockets but found their groove coming back to win the next three straight beating the Rockets in four games (28-30, 30-19, 30-18, 30-17). The Falcons dominated the net on offense hitting a .303 for night and keeping the Rockets to a .167.
FALCONS UNDEFEATED IN ANDERSON ARENA
The Falcons are undefeated in Anderson Arena, now 10-0 on their home court, which is the best home opening for the Falcons since 1991 when the Falcons went 13-1 in Anderson Arena eventually winning the MAC and making the Falcons first NCAA appearance. The Falcons have held their opponents collectively to a .141 hitting percentage while the Orange and Brown are hitting a .318 in Anderson Arena.
The only team in volleyball history to go undefeated in Anderson Arena is the 1979 volleyball team.
KARGES PICKS UP 1,000
Senior Maggie Karges joined the elite 1,000 dig club this past weekend as she recorded her 1,000th dig in game two of the Falcons sweep over Ball State (Oct. 20). Karges recorded six digs in the win over the Cardinals and has amassed 1,003 career digs averaging a career 2.45 digs per game.
ALL-TIME SERIES IN MAC EAST
The Falcons lead all but one all-time series against MAC East opponents. The Falcons are leading Akron (23-11), Buffalo (14-1), Kent State (39-18), and Ohio (40-21). Miami (22-35) is the only MAC East division team to lead BGSU in all-times series.
MEEK LOOKS TO BECOME TOP DIGGER
Junior Chelsey Meek has been an essential part of the Falcons defense which is evident on the court as well as in the record books. Meek has put her name in the BGSU record books every season thus far and looks to top the list of career digs this season. Meek tied former teammate Chrissy Gothke's career record of 1,465 digs after her 22 dig performance in the Falcons win over Toledo (Oct. 19), leaving them at a tie for second. After a 16 dig performance in the BGSU's win over Ball State (Oct. 20), Meek moved past Gothke now with only one person left a head of her Susie Norris with 1,596 career digs. Meek currently has 1,481 career digs and only needs 116 digs to become the number one passer in BGSU history. Meek also looks the break the record she set last season of 537 digs in a season, Meek currently has totaled 486 digs this season.
FALCONS IN MAC LEADER BOARD
The Falcons also have four individuals in the top ten in the overall MAC leader board this week.
Junior Kendra Halm leads the MAC in blocks averaging 1.19 blocks per game with 105 blocks this season. In conference matches alone Halm leads the MAC averaging 1.41 blocks per game with 52 blocks against MAC opponents. Halm is also fourth in the MAC for hitting percentages with a .313 with 245 kills this season.
Junior Chelsey Meek is third in the MAC in digs averaging 5.59 digs per game totaling 486 digs this season.
Senior Stephanie Swiger is moved up to sixth in the MAC top ten in hitting percentage with a .297 totaling 271 kills.
Freshman Sam Fish is sixth in assists and service aces averaging 10.30 assists per game totaling 824 assists this season and 35 service aces averaging 0.44 aces per game.
BGSU IN TOP OF CONFERENCE
BGSU is tied with Kent State with the second best MAC record at 8-2 in conference play. The only two teams above BGSU and Kent State are fellow West Division teams Miami and #19 Ohio.
The Brown and Orange are not only at the top of the conference in standings but are also in the top four in all but one of the statistical categories in MAC conference matches. BGSU is ranked second in hitting percentage (.267), kills (16.16 per game), blocks (2.68 per game), and service aces (1.81 per game) in MAC matches. BGSU is also third in assists (14.38 assists per game) and fourth in opponent hitting percentages (.171). The only statistical category BGSU isn't in the top four is digs.
In overall matches BGSU ranks in the top three in three statistical categories. The Falcons are second in hitting percentages with a .251, third in kills averaging 15.31 kills per game and fourth in opponents hitting percentage with a .178.
OCTOBER GOOD MONTH FOR THE FALCONS
The month of October has been a successful month for the Falcons. The Falcons have posted a 132-104 record in month of October since 1983 with a .557 winning percentage. The Falcons have opened the month of October with a victory for two years in a row after the win over IPFW (Oct. 2). Last year the Falcons opened October with a sweep over Akron which led to an 8-1 record for the month of October.
October has been the best month for the Falcons this season. The Falcons are 7-0 in October and will finish up the month against Miami and Western Michigan.
THE RECORD BREAKERS
The Falcons have broken four records in back-to-back weekends this season, two team records and two individual records.
As a team the Falcons broke two records in one match. The Falcons broke the record for hitting percentage with a .553 and service aces with 19 service aces in a three game match against Buffalo (Oct. 7).
Juniors Kendra Halm and Chelsey Meek have also broke individual BGSU records both in the same weekend. Halm broke the 15 yeard old record for most block assists in a four game match with 11 block assists against Central Michigan (Oct. 12). Meek broke the 25 year old record for most digs in a five game match with 38 digs against Eastern Michigan (Oct. 13).
