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Friday, October 23
Muncie, Ind.
7:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
at
Ball State
Falcons Look For More MAC Success This Weekend
October 20, 2009 | Volleyball
Weekly Volleyball Game Notes (.pdf)
Bowling Green, Ohio - The Bowling Green volleyball team heads out of town as the Falcons play critical matches against Mid-American Conference West opponents Ball State and rival Toledo this weekend. The Falcons are playing with more confidence after snapping its 11-match losing streak against Eastern Michigan Friday and pushing Central Michigan Saturday to four sets. Senior Kaitlin Jackson had double-doubles in both matches and all three Bowling Green seniors (Jackson, Corey Domek, and Shari Luther) finished with double-digit kill totals against Central Michigan.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Bowling Green is just 15-34-1 all-time against Ball State, including a mark of 7-15 on the road, but has controlled the series lately. The Falcons beat the Cardinals in Anderson Arena a year ago in five sets and won at Ball State in 2007. In all, the Falcons have won five consecutive games against the Cardinals, including twice in a row in Muncie. Bowling Green is 48-12 all-time against Toledo with a mark of 18-10 on the road. The Falcons have won four straight against the Rockets, including the last meeting at Toledo, which came in 2007.
THE OPPONENTS
Ball State enters this weekend with a record of 10-11 overall and 3-5 in MAC play. The Cardinals lost in straight sets to both Kent State and Ohio last weekend and have dropped five of their last seven matches. Much like Bowling Green, Ball State has been successful when it has hit efficiently and Kelsey Brandl and Charde' Phillips rank second and fourth in the MAC in attack percentage respectively. The Cardinals have also served well all year, averaging 1.49 aces per set, ranking second in the conference. Head Coach Dave Boos is in his third year at the helm and has starting rebuilding the program from 5-25 in his first season to 12-21 a year ago.
Toledo enters the weekend at 12-8 overall and 3-5 in conference action. The Rockets started the year by reeling off nine consecutive wins but have found the going tougher lately at just 3-8 since then. Toledo excels with its defense and boasts one of the top setters in the MAC in Kassie Kadera. The Rockets lead the conference with 15.92 digs per set, which ranks 60th nationally. Kadera leads the MAC at 10.99 assists per set and that total ranks 39th in the country. However, the players at the net aren't particularly imposing and the Rockets are last in the league in blocks. Head Coach Greg Smith is in his first season with Toledo after spending the last three years as an assistant at Notre Dame.
THE VICTORY MARCH
With eight wins in 2009, head coach Denise Van De Walle has compiled a career record of 495-337 in 27 years at Bowling Green, needing just five more to reach milestone win No. 500. Despite a recent losing streak, the Falcons have racked up an impressive 80-40 overall record since 2006 and have won 20 or more matches in each of the last three campaigns. Van De Walle is one of the 30 active winningest coaches in NCAA Division I and her 495 wins are the most in Mid-American Conference history.
DEFENDING THE HOUSE THAT ROARS
In 2007 and 2008, Bowling Green went 22-3 in Anderson Arena and the Falcons held opponents to just a .198 attack percentage in 12 matches a year ago. But Bowling Green is just 2-8 in "The House That Roars" in 2009 and has allowed opponents to hit .268. The Falcons have just three home matches remaining and will finish with a losing record in Anderson Arena for the first time since 2002.
THE NEMESIS
Just as Lex Luthor was Superman's nemesis, Shari Luther has been a nemesis to opponents in the early going. Even if they aren't related (OK, we realize the last names aren't even spelled the same and Lex Luthor is fictional), Luther is causing headaches for opponents the way Luthor and his cryptonite must have caused for Superman. She was named Most Valuable Player at the Duquesne/Robert Morris Tournament after averaging 2.8 kills per set and a team-best .430 attack percentage on the weekend. She also had a team-high 13 blocks and served up three aces. For those efforts, she also received the first MAC East Division Offensive Player of the Week award for 2009. She followed that up by being named to the all-tournament team at the Ohio State Sports Imports Classic. On the year, she leads the MAC in attack percentage at .373 (ranking 40th in the country) and leads the team in kills, blocks, and points.
ACTION JACKSON
Senior Kaitlin Jackson has been a versatile player throughout her career with the Falcons. In 2009, she has become an even more dynamic piece of the BGSU puzzle, recording the first six double-doubles of her career, including each of the last two matches. She picked up the first two at the Duquesne/Robert Morris Tournament and continued to produce in New Orleans, coming up one kill short of another double-double against Texas Tech. At the Ohio State Sports Imports Classic, she had 12 kills and 10 digs against Cleveland State for her third double-double of the season and then posted 10 kills and 15 digs against Akron. This past weekend, she totaled a combined 33 kills and 34 digs to rack up double-doubles in both matches against Eastern and Central Michigan. She ranks among the top three on the team in kills, attack percentage, aces, serve percentage, digs, blocks, and points.
WHO'S THAT KID?
Freshman setter Allison Kearney is one member of a highly touted class at Bowling Green. In her first collegiate weekend, she lived up to the billing. Kearney averaged 11.5 assists per set, led the team with nine aces and added 2.5 digs per set. She has been named to all-tournament teams at both the Duquesne/Robert Morris Invitational and the Best Western Falcon Plaza Invitational. On the year, she is averaging 10.35 assists per set (which ranks third in the MAC), leads the team with 22 aces and is third at 2.36 digs per set. On Friday night, she set a new career high with 59 assists in a win over Eastern Michigan.
THE DOMEK SHOW
For Mid-American Conference opponents, it may seem like Corey Domek has been around forever. The senior left side hitter has received MAC postseason honors in each of her first three years with Falcons. She was named to the conference's all-freshman team in 2006 and has followed that up with back-to-back second team all-conference honors. She has already climbed seven spots this year to sixth place in BGSU history with 1,268 career kills and needs just three more this weekend to move into the top five.
KAUTH IS COMING ON
Sophomore Emily Kauth played in just five matches a year ago but she has taken on a much larger role in her second season with the Falcons. She exploded in New Orleans, tying for the team lead in kills at the tournament while hitting an impressive .411. Kauth added two aces (tying for the team high) and six blocks (second most on the team) in the three matches. She put together possibly the best match of her career in the team's four set win over Robert Morris at the Best Western Falcon Plaza Invitational, finishing with a career high 18 kills and hitting .500. She is currently second on the team in kills, attack percentage, and blocks.
RISING TO THE TOP
Since 2006, the Bowling Green volleyball program has been one of the best and most consistent teams in the Mid-American Conference. The Falcons have the second best overall record and fourth-best MAC record in the conference during that time frame. Here are the combined records for each MAC team since 2006:
Records through 10/17/09
Team Overall (Pct.) MAC (Pct.)
Ohio 94-23 (.803) 52-4 (.929)
Bowling Green 80-40 (.667) 38-18 (.679)
Western Michigan 84-43 (.661) 40-16 (.714)
Central Michigan 69-41 (.627) 33-23 (.589)
Northern Illinois 63-49 (.563) 35-21 (.625)
Miami 65-51 (.560) 40-16 (.714)
Kent State 59-55 (.518) 24-32 (.429)
Eastern Michigan 45-74 (.378) 20-36 (.357)
Buffalo 43-73 (.371) 10-46 (.179)
Toledo 41-70 (.369) 15-41 (.268)
Ball State 39-75 (.342) 21-35 (.375)
Akron 30-83 (.265) 9-47 (.161)
YOUTH IS SERVED
The Bowling Green coaching staff had a stellar offseason, putting together a recruiting class ranked among the best in the Mid-American Conference. In fact, PrepVolleyball.com named the freshman class as a high honorable mention group -- one of only two MAC classes to achieve that honor. The class made an impact already as setter Allison Kearney has been named to a pair of all-tournament teams and ranks fifth in the MAC in assists. Cassie Berning ranks in the top six on the team in kills, aces, serve receive percentage, digs, and blocks, gaining valuable early season experience. Kari Galen has seen increased playing time lately and has ten kills and a respectable .250 attack percentage, third-best on the team.
HITTING THE BOOKS
Bowling Green has always stressed academics and Falcon volleyball has been a model of that philosophy. The 2008 BGSU volleyball team received the AVCA Academic Team Award for the ninth consecutive season, compiling a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 or better. The Falcons have the second longest streak in all of NCAA Division I and has received the award 10 times overall.
FOLLOW THE FALCONS
Fans and media can keep up-to-date on the Bowling Green volleyball team at the official site of Bowling Green athletics, BGSUFalcons.com. Match recaps, previews, statistics, bios and much more can be found on the website.
Bowling Green, Ohio - The Bowling Green volleyball team heads out of town as the Falcons play critical matches against Mid-American Conference West opponents Ball State and rival Toledo this weekend. The Falcons are playing with more confidence after snapping its 11-match losing streak against Eastern Michigan Friday and pushing Central Michigan Saturday to four sets. Senior Kaitlin Jackson had double-doubles in both matches and all three Bowling Green seniors (Jackson, Corey Domek, and Shari Luther) finished with double-digit kill totals against Central Michigan.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Bowling Green is just 15-34-1 all-time against Ball State, including a mark of 7-15 on the road, but has controlled the series lately. The Falcons beat the Cardinals in Anderson Arena a year ago in five sets and won at Ball State in 2007. In all, the Falcons have won five consecutive games against the Cardinals, including twice in a row in Muncie. Bowling Green is 48-12 all-time against Toledo with a mark of 18-10 on the road. The Falcons have won four straight against the Rockets, including the last meeting at Toledo, which came in 2007.
THE OPPONENTS
Ball State enters this weekend with a record of 10-11 overall and 3-5 in MAC play. The Cardinals lost in straight sets to both Kent State and Ohio last weekend and have dropped five of their last seven matches. Much like Bowling Green, Ball State has been successful when it has hit efficiently and Kelsey Brandl and Charde' Phillips rank second and fourth in the MAC in attack percentage respectively. The Cardinals have also served well all year, averaging 1.49 aces per set, ranking second in the conference. Head Coach Dave Boos is in his third year at the helm and has starting rebuilding the program from 5-25 in his first season to 12-21 a year ago.
Toledo enters the weekend at 12-8 overall and 3-5 in conference action. The Rockets started the year by reeling off nine consecutive wins but have found the going tougher lately at just 3-8 since then. Toledo excels with its defense and boasts one of the top setters in the MAC in Kassie Kadera. The Rockets lead the conference with 15.92 digs per set, which ranks 60th nationally. Kadera leads the MAC at 10.99 assists per set and that total ranks 39th in the country. However, the players at the net aren't particularly imposing and the Rockets are last in the league in blocks. Head Coach Greg Smith is in his first season with Toledo after spending the last three years as an assistant at Notre Dame.
THE VICTORY MARCH
With eight wins in 2009, head coach Denise Van De Walle has compiled a career record of 495-337 in 27 years at Bowling Green, needing just five more to reach milestone win No. 500. Despite a recent losing streak, the Falcons have racked up an impressive 80-40 overall record since 2006 and have won 20 or more matches in each of the last three campaigns. Van De Walle is one of the 30 active winningest coaches in NCAA Division I and her 495 wins are the most in Mid-American Conference history.
DEFENDING THE HOUSE THAT ROARS
In 2007 and 2008, Bowling Green went 22-3 in Anderson Arena and the Falcons held opponents to just a .198 attack percentage in 12 matches a year ago. But Bowling Green is just 2-8 in "The House That Roars" in 2009 and has allowed opponents to hit .268. The Falcons have just three home matches remaining and will finish with a losing record in Anderson Arena for the first time since 2002.
THE NEMESIS
Just as Lex Luthor was Superman's nemesis, Shari Luther has been a nemesis to opponents in the early going. Even if they aren't related (OK, we realize the last names aren't even spelled the same and Lex Luthor is fictional), Luther is causing headaches for opponents the way Luthor and his cryptonite must have caused for Superman. She was named Most Valuable Player at the Duquesne/Robert Morris Tournament after averaging 2.8 kills per set and a team-best .430 attack percentage on the weekend. She also had a team-high 13 blocks and served up three aces. For those efforts, she also received the first MAC East Division Offensive Player of the Week award for 2009. She followed that up by being named to the all-tournament team at the Ohio State Sports Imports Classic. On the year, she leads the MAC in attack percentage at .373 (ranking 40th in the country) and leads the team in kills, blocks, and points.
ACTION JACKSON
Senior Kaitlin Jackson has been a versatile player throughout her career with the Falcons. In 2009, she has become an even more dynamic piece of the BGSU puzzle, recording the first six double-doubles of her career, including each of the last two matches. She picked up the first two at the Duquesne/Robert Morris Tournament and continued to produce in New Orleans, coming up one kill short of another double-double against Texas Tech. At the Ohio State Sports Imports Classic, she had 12 kills and 10 digs against Cleveland State for her third double-double of the season and then posted 10 kills and 15 digs against Akron. This past weekend, she totaled a combined 33 kills and 34 digs to rack up double-doubles in both matches against Eastern and Central Michigan. She ranks among the top three on the team in kills, attack percentage, aces, serve percentage, digs, blocks, and points.
WHO'S THAT KID?
Freshman setter Allison Kearney is one member of a highly touted class at Bowling Green. In her first collegiate weekend, she lived up to the billing. Kearney averaged 11.5 assists per set, led the team with nine aces and added 2.5 digs per set. She has been named to all-tournament teams at both the Duquesne/Robert Morris Invitational and the Best Western Falcon Plaza Invitational. On the year, she is averaging 10.35 assists per set (which ranks third in the MAC), leads the team with 22 aces and is third at 2.36 digs per set. On Friday night, she set a new career high with 59 assists in a win over Eastern Michigan.
THE DOMEK SHOW
For Mid-American Conference opponents, it may seem like Corey Domek has been around forever. The senior left side hitter has received MAC postseason honors in each of her first three years with Falcons. She was named to the conference's all-freshman team in 2006 and has followed that up with back-to-back second team all-conference honors. She has already climbed seven spots this year to sixth place in BGSU history with 1,268 career kills and needs just three more this weekend to move into the top five.
KAUTH IS COMING ON
Sophomore Emily Kauth played in just five matches a year ago but she has taken on a much larger role in her second season with the Falcons. She exploded in New Orleans, tying for the team lead in kills at the tournament while hitting an impressive .411. Kauth added two aces (tying for the team high) and six blocks (second most on the team) in the three matches. She put together possibly the best match of her career in the team's four set win over Robert Morris at the Best Western Falcon Plaza Invitational, finishing with a career high 18 kills and hitting .500. She is currently second on the team in kills, attack percentage, and blocks.
RISING TO THE TOP
Since 2006, the Bowling Green volleyball program has been one of the best and most consistent teams in the Mid-American Conference. The Falcons have the second best overall record and fourth-best MAC record in the conference during that time frame. Here are the combined records for each MAC team since 2006:
Records through 10/17/09
Team Overall (Pct.) MAC (Pct.)
Ohio 94-23 (.803) 52-4 (.929)
Bowling Green 80-40 (.667) 38-18 (.679)
Western Michigan 84-43 (.661) 40-16 (.714)
Central Michigan 69-41 (.627) 33-23 (.589)
Northern Illinois 63-49 (.563) 35-21 (.625)
Miami 65-51 (.560) 40-16 (.714)
Kent State 59-55 (.518) 24-32 (.429)
Eastern Michigan 45-74 (.378) 20-36 (.357)
Buffalo 43-73 (.371) 10-46 (.179)
Toledo 41-70 (.369) 15-41 (.268)
Ball State 39-75 (.342) 21-35 (.375)
Akron 30-83 (.265) 9-47 (.161)
YOUTH IS SERVED
The Bowling Green coaching staff had a stellar offseason, putting together a recruiting class ranked among the best in the Mid-American Conference. In fact, PrepVolleyball.com named the freshman class as a high honorable mention group -- one of only two MAC classes to achieve that honor. The class made an impact already as setter Allison Kearney has been named to a pair of all-tournament teams and ranks fifth in the MAC in assists. Cassie Berning ranks in the top six on the team in kills, aces, serve receive percentage, digs, and blocks, gaining valuable early season experience. Kari Galen has seen increased playing time lately and has ten kills and a respectable .250 attack percentage, third-best on the team.
HITTING THE BOOKS
Bowling Green has always stressed academics and Falcon volleyball has been a model of that philosophy. The 2008 BGSU volleyball team received the AVCA Academic Team Award for the ninth consecutive season, compiling a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 or better. The Falcons have the second longest streak in all of NCAA Division I and has received the award 10 times overall.
FOLLOW THE FALCONS
Fans and media can keep up-to-date on the Bowling Green volleyball team at the official site of Bowling Green athletics, BGSUFalcons.com. Match recaps, previews, statistics, bios and much more can be found on the website.
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