Bowling Green State University Athletics
Volleyball Hosts 19th Annual Spring Fling Tournament
April 11, 2008 | Volleyball
April 10, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Head Coach Denise Van De Walle and the Falcon netters will finish up their spring tournament schedule at home in Anderson Arena, where the Falcons went 12-1 this past season.
The Falcons have competed in a scrimmage and two spring tournaments leading up to the Spring Fling playing against some of the top teams in the region Notre Dame, Dayton, Miami, Tennessee, Kentucky and Purdue.
"We have had a great spring season so far surprising other teams and ourselves," said Van De Walle. "I am impressed with the competitiveness and cohesiveness we have shown especially after losing experience and ball control with the five seniors. We definitely excited to play at home this weekend."
The Falcons will play three matches in the Spring Fling Tournament on Saturday (April 12) in Anderson Arena. BG will open the tournament against Mid-American Conference West division opponent Eastern Michigan at 9:30 a.m. The Falcons will then play in back-to-back matches against Oakland at 1:15 p.m. and against arch-rival Toledo at 2:45 p.m.
19th Annual Spring Fling Tournament Schedule
Saturday, April 12th
Court One
9:30 a.m. Bowling Green vs. Eastern Michigan
11:00 a.m. Eastern Michigan vs. Oakland
1:15 p.m. Bowling Green vs. Oakland
2:45 p.m. Bowling Green vs. Toledo
4:15 p.m. Kent State vs. Oakland
Court Two
9:30 a.m. Kent State vs. Toledo
11:00 a.m. Toledo vs. Cincinnati
1:15 p.m. Kent State vs. Cincinnati
2:45 p.m. Cincinnati vs. Eastern Michigan
Scrimmage vs. Notre Dame
The Orange and Brown started their spring season schedule off with a scrimmage against Notre Dame. The teams started the day off running some drills with the Irish and then took the court in their first competition with the eight Falcon returnees. The Falcons played five games against the Irish posting a 1-4 record in the scrimmage. Coach Van De Walle was very encouraged by how competitive the Falcons played against the Irish and looked forward to the rest of the spring season.
Miami Tournament
The first tournament the Falcons competed in was at Miami where they matched up against Tennessee, Cleveland state, and Miami. The Falcon middles Kendra Halm and Shari Luther led the team to a 2-1 record for the tournament. Luther finished the tournament leading the Falcons at the net with .424 hitting percentage totaling 16 kills with only two errors in 33 attempts and 10 blocks. Fellow middle hitter Halm was right behind Luther posting a .389 clip posting a team high 26 kills on the weekend and eight blocks. Corey Domek added 24 kills to the Falcon offense while Meghan Mohr added eight blocks. Sam Fish recorded three service aces on the weekend.
The Falcons first swept Tennessee winning all three games (25-21, 25-23, 25-23). Halm led the Falcons at the net with a .462 hitting percentage terminating seven kills with only one error in 13 attempts. Luther tallied four hits with a .300 hitting percentage with five blocks. Meghan Mohr also added four blocks in BG's victory.
"This was the best volleyball I have seen us play the entire spring season," said Van De Walle. "Our defense was spectacular, the offense clicked and the sets were there. Beating Tennessee was a big time win for us especially since this is the first time for the eight returnees to be playing together."
The Orange and Brown then took two of three games from Cleveland State in another very competitive match. Halm and Domek led the Falcon attacking with 12 kills each. Halm recorded 12 kills with only two errors in 21 attempts good for a .462 hitting efficiency. Mohr and Luther shut down the Cleveland State offense with four blocks each with Halm and Kaitlin Jackson each adding three blocks.
The Falcons ended the tournament against host and Mid-American Conference East division foe Miami dropping all three games (0-3) to the RedHawks. After the first two matches the eight returnees ran out of gas and just didn't look as good they did earlier in the day. Luther led the Falcon offense with seven kills hitting a .462.
Indianapolis Collegiate Tournament
The second tournament for the Falcons this spring was the first ever Indianapolis Collegiate Tournament, which brought together eight NCAA Division I schools all coached by Ball State graduates. The teams participating in the tournament included Kentucky, Valparaiso, Dayton, Albany, Indiana, Pittsburgh and Purdue. The BG netters posted a 2-2 record with the middle hitters leading the Falcons once again. Halm recorded 22 kills with a .304 hitting percentage for the tournament, while Luther posted a .438 hitting percentage with 17 kills and only three errors in 32 attempts. The middles weren't the only big guns for the Falcons as Domek totaled 22 kills and Mohr totaled 17 kills for the weekend. Jackson and Luther were the big blockers each stuff seven hitters.
The Falcons started off the tournament against Big Ten opponent Purdue. The Falcons won game one of the match, 25-21, but then fell to Purdue, 21-25 forcing game three. BG was up 14-12 but got stuck in a tough rotation and ended up losing, 14-16. The Falcon offense was on fire as they hit .351 as a team and were led by Luther who had a perfect outing against Purdue terminating eight kills in nine attempts with a .889 hitting percentage.
In the second match of the day the Falcons matched up against Valparaiso. The Falcons continued their winning streak against Valparaiso sweeping them, 2-0. The Orange and Brown defeated Valparaiso to win the Best Western Invitational during the 2007 season. The Falcons nearly posted a .300 hitting percentage once again as a team as they recorded a .293 against Valparaiso. Halm terminated seven kills and Domek added six kills both hitting over a .400 efficiency leading the Falcon attack. Halm, Luther and Jackson all recorded three blocks in the win.
The Falcons played their last match of pool play against Kentucky losing 0-2, (21-25, 14-25. Halm led the Falcons with a .333 hitting percentage and six kills.
After pool play the Falcons were matched up against two hour neighbor Dayton, who was ranked as high as #12 in the nation during the 2007 season. The Falcons got some revenge against Dayton sweeping the Flyers, 2-0. The Falcons fell to the Flyers in opening weekend at Dayton Flyer Classic in the fall. Domek and Jackson stepped up to lead the Falcons at the net. Domek recorded seven kills while Jackson tallied three blocks.
Spring Statistics Leaders
Hitting Percentage
Luther - .416
Fish - .385
Halm - .324
Kills
Halm - 63
Domek - 57
Luther - 39
Mohr - 39
Aces
Fish - 8
Domek - 8
Mohr - 8
Blocks
Luther - 19
Jackson - 18
Halm - 16
Mohr - 15
Digs
Meek - 2.18 per game
Zlabis - 2.08 per game
Points
Halm - 80
Domek - 71
Mohr - 61
Luther - 58
