Bowling Green State University
BUFFALO
Team Effort by Falcons Corrals Bulls, 3-0
November 14, 2008 | Volleyball
Nov. 14, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - A complete team effort by the Bowling Green State University volleyball team gave the Falcons' their 22nd win of the season as they swept Buffalo (25-19, 25-19, 25-19) tonight (Nov. 14) on Parent's night.
The Falcons got started off early with back-to-back runs, first a four-point run started by a kill from Meghan Mohr followed up by a three-point run sparked by a kill from Corey Domek to take a 7-3 lead over the Bulls. The Falcons never let up staying aggressive with seven straight unanswered points that two Buffalo timeouts couldn't even stop to extend their lead to 10, 16-6. The Falcons maintained their the rest of the set but the Bulls didn't give up putting together two four-point runs, cutting BG's lead to five, 23-18. A kill from Kendra Halm stopped the Bulls and gave the Falcons set point. The Bulls were able to side-out but Halm came right back to terminate play once again with a kill to give the Falcons the first set, 25-19. The Falcons held the Bulls to a mere six kills out hitting them, 15-6 in the first set.
The Orange and Brown came out right away in the second set as Domek gave the Falcons the first point of the second set off of a kill. Although the Falcons struck first the set remained close until a kill from Shari Luther got the Falcons going which led to consecutive three-point runs to take a five point lead, 17-12. The Falcons stayed head and extended their lead to eight, 24-16, after stringing to five points and securing set point. However, the Bulls were able to fight off three set points cutting the Falcons lead to five, 24-19. A kill from Sam Fish ended the second set with a second ball kill from Chelsey Meek, 25-19 in favor of the Falcons.
Up two sets the Falcons once again struck first off of a kill from Halm. The Falcons went on to post two three-point runs to take an early 8-3 lead over the Bulls. The Falcons once again extended their lead after stringing together four more points, 14-7. The Falcons did let up scoring five straight points, including three consecutive service aces from Halm to take a 10 point lead, 21-11. The Bulls again fired back with back-to-back runs, first a four-point run followed by a three-point run to cut the Falcons lead to four points, 23-19. A Buffalo hitting error gave the Falcons match point, 24-19. Mohr terminated play to end the match and third straight set with a score of 25-19. The Falcons one again dominated the net with a near perfect performance terminating 15 kills with a mere two errors for a .394 hitting percentage compared to the Bulls 11 kills and .200 hitting percentage.
The Falcons owned the net as they terminated 47 kills and a .359 hitting percentage compared to the Bulls 29 kills and .205 hitting percentage. The Falcon offense got everyone involved with two players in double-digits. Domek terminated a match high 14 kills good for a .385 hitting percentage. Also in double-digits for the Orange and Brown was Halm with 11 kills and only three errors in 16 attempts for an impressive .500 hitting percentage. Noelle Spitler had a perfect performance against the Bulls tallying four kills in five attempts with no errors for a .800 hitting percentage, which included her first career kill as a Falcon. Fish spread out the Falcon offense collecting 30 assists against the Bulls. The Falcons were nearly error free in the second set once again dominating the net. BG posted 17 kills with a mere two errors in 25 attempts hitting a phenomenal .600 hitting percentage compared the Buffalo's 12 kills and .286 hitting percentage.
The Falcons got everyone involved on defense as well with all but three players picking up at least one kill, two of which only play the front row. Meek led the defensive effort with 16 digs recording her 87th consecutive match of 10-plus digs. Mohr picked up six digs, while Fish and Susie Isphording recorded five each.
The Falcons weren't only aggressive on offense but came out firing from the service line as well tying a team season high eight service aces. Halm and Mohr led the way acing three Bulls each.
"Tonight was a good night," said head coach Denise Van De Walle. "It was so nice to have all the parents here. It's always good to get a win on a special night like tonight and then to get a chance to play everyone."
"We started out a bit slow with far too many hitting errors, but then kicked it into high gear the second and third sets. Our hitters did a nice job of hitting the ball hard tonight and mixing up their shots. I thought Noelle did a great job on the right side when I put her in for Sam. She had no hitting errors at all and put up a big block. Kendra and Domek led us with double digit kills which was good to see. Meghan has been working on her jump serve this week and it paid off for her with three aces."
"I was really happy to see President Cartwright and Dr. Whipple in the stands tonight. Their support means a lot to us."
"I'm looking forward to tomorrow to see us finish strong. Akron is a much improved team with a lot of talent. We'll need to be focused and ready to play hard."
The Falcons will wrap-up the 2008 regular season tomorrow afternoon (Nov. 15) as they host Akron at 3:00 p.m. on Senior Day. The Falcon senior trio, Halm, Meek and Mohr will be honored in a post-match ceremony.
