Bowling Green State University Athletics
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WESTERN MICHIGAN
Falcons Come Back to Buck Broncos as Domek Terminates 1,000
November 01, 2008 | Volleyball
Nov. 1, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - After knocking off the leader of the Mid-American Conference East Division, Miami earlier this week the Falcons continued their winning streak to defeat the MAC West Division leader, Western Michigan, 3-2 this evening (Nov. 1). Down two sets the Falcons came back to win their sixth straight match, ending the Broncos seven match winning streak. The Falcon netters are now 20-7 overall, 9-3 in the MAC and 9-1 in five set matches, recording their third straight season of 20-plus wins.
The Falcons' victory was not only a crucial win in conference play but it also marked a milestone for one Falcon in particular. Junior Corey Domek became the 15th Falcon to terminate 1,000 career kills as she led the Orange and Brown with a career high 25 kills. Domek's 1,000th kill couldn't have come at a better time for the Falcons. In the fourth set with BG down three sets to one, Domek pounded her 1,000th kill to send the match into a fifth and final set.
The Falcons came out slow in the first set as the Broncos took an early 7-2 lead after a six-point run. The Falcons continued to battle putting together five straight points to cut the Broncos lead to one, 13-12. However the Broncos answered right back with their own five-point run to extend their lead to six, 18-12. With the score 24-18 in favor of Western Michigan, BG continued to fight keeping the set going and scoring three straight points but the Falcons didn't have enough to over the Broncos dropping the first set, 25-21. The first set was very evenly match as both teams recorded 14 kills and hit a .370.
The Falcons got things going much quicker in the second set as they took an early 10-6 lead after a four-point run. However the Broncos came back to post two three-point runs to capture the lead 15-14. The set remained close going back and forth and with the Falcons down two 21-23 Kendra Halm terminated play to spark a three-point BG run. The Falcons secured set point off of a kill from Domek, 24-23, but the Broncos were able to side-out to keep the set going. The Broncos took the second set, 26-24.
Down 2-0 in the match the Falcons came out fired up in the third set. The match started off very close with the Broncos in the lead as they were able to score points in a row. A four-point Falcon run started by a kill from Shari Luther gave the Falcons a 13-12 lead. The set once again went point for point until a Meghan Mohr terminated play, which led to a three-run for the Orange and Brown giving BG a 22-19 lead. Domek finished off the third set with a kill for the Falcons, 25-21. The Falcon offense out hit the Broncos with 18 kills and a .289 compared a .227. Domek and Halm lead the way for the Falcons recording nine (.533) and six (.357) kills respectively each with only one error in the third set.
The Orange and Brown took their momentum from the third set and propelled themselves in the fourth scoring four straight points to open the set, 4-0. The Falcons held the lead the rest of the entire set. The Broncos never gave up posting two three-point runs to cut BG's lead to one 13-12. The Falcons maintained their lead extending it to six as they secured set point 24-18. The Broncos were able to fight off one Falcon set point but they didn't have enough to overcome BG in the fourth set as Domek terminated her 1,000th kill to end the set, 25-18. Domek became the 15th player in Falcon history to record 1,000 career kills. The Falcons dominated the net in the fourth set once again out hitting the Broncos, posting a .250 hitting percentage compared to the Broncos mere .075, way below their average. Domek again came up big for BG leading the team with six kills, nearly half of the teams' kills in the fourth set. The Falcons also dominated the net on defense recording 4.5 blocks.
Coming back from a 0-2 deficit in the match it was as BG in the fifth set as they were unstoppable. Domek set the pace for the Falcons as she began were she left off the fourth set pounding another kill to put the Falcons on the score board first, which led to four straight points, 4-0. BG held the lead the entire set with the Broncos never scoring more than one point at a time. With the Falcons up 9-5 Halm terminated play to side-out for BG, which led to five straight unanswered points, including set point off yet another Domek kill, 14-5. The Broncos once again fought off one Falcon set point but the evitable occurred on the next play as Domek once again came up big with her 25th kill of the match to give the Falcons the set, 15-6 and the match 3-2.
The Falcon offense was on fire for the second straight match out hitting the current number one team in the MAC. The Falcons terminated 71 kills posting a .303 hitting percentage compared to the Broncos 66 kills and .199 hitting percentage. For the second straight match the offensive attack came from all angles on the court with three players in double-digits in kills, two with 20-plus kills and four players hitting a .250 hitting percentage or better.
Leading the Falcon attack was Domek with a career and match high 25 kills, including her 1,000th career kill posting a .380. Halm was the most efficient Falcon on the night recording 20 kills with a mere three errors in 38 attempts good for a .447 hitting percentage. Mohr had her fourth straight match of double-digits kills with 14 on the night, while Luther had her second straight perfect performance at the net with seven kills and no errors hitting a .438.
The Falcon defense was relentless with four players posting double-digits dig performances. Leading the defensive efforts was Chelsey Meek tying her season high of 28 digs, extending her streak of consecutive matches of 10-plus digs to 84 matches. Fellow defensive specialist Alex Zlabis picked up a career high 15 digs. Mohr recorded 14 digs to go along with her 14 kills for her eighth double-double of the season. Sam Fish added 12 digs to the defensive effort in addition to dishing out a season high 59 assists for her second straight double-double and seventh of the season.
"For me it was an emotional win," said head coach Denise Van De Walle. "This is the match I wanted to tell my dad about. My parents would only make the Western Michigan trip up to Kalamazoo and they never saw us win. It was the match my dad always talked about. How are you going to beat Western he'd ask me? Tonight we did and it was for him. I just wish he could have seen it."
"Western Michigan is a very talented team. We knew it would be a battle and we were glad to have them at home this year. They have been leading the conference in hitting and anyone who was at the match tonight can see why. They have a very talented setter in Jillian Mitchell and they are good at both pins. This is a great win for us."
"We started out slow and then the longer the match went on the better we got. In the first two sets I thought we were a step slow and not hitting like we did against Miami, yet we were still in the match. I thought we were going to win the second set when we down 23-21 and came back and went ahead 24-23. Then the third and fourth sets were all us. Domek came alive and gave us the night we needed. It was so nice to see her get her 1000th kill at home. I don't think she knew she did it."
"Kendra, Meghan, and Domek played big tonight. They were hard to defend. Kendra hit high hands and over the block, Domek and Meghan hit hard from the pins. It was nice to see Chelsey out dig their libero and lead the match with 28 digs since their libero is leading the MAC. Sam struggled a little in the first two sets with her four ball but as the match went on I thought she did an outstanding job in her set selection and location."
"I am really happy with the way Alex played defense tonight. 15 digs is a lot! She came up with a few crucial digs down the stretch that were momentum changers. She did exactly what we needed as the match went on."
"I was so happy that our Alumnae saw the match they did. All of them commented on how much fun it was to watch us compete and several were thrilled we beat Western Michigan since they never did."
The Falcons will return to action as they pack their bags for another crucial series in the MAC East Division against Kent State on Friday (Nov. 7) at 7:00 p.m. and Ohio on Saturday (Nov. 8) also at 7:00 p.m. The Falcons remain in a three way tie for first place in the East Division with Ohio and Miami.
