.png&type=webp)
Friday, October 9
Athens, Ohio
7:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
at
Ohio
Falcons Hit Road For Two; Centennial Cup Point On The Line
October 06, 2009 | Volleyball
Full Weekly Notes (.pdf)
The Bowling Green volleyball team will try to snap an eight-match losing streak this weekend with a pair of road conference matches, including one with a little extra on the line. In Friday night's match at Ohio, the Falcons will face a program that is a remarkable 48-4 in conference play since 2006. Saturday night, Bowling Green will play at Kent State on the first day of competition for the Centennial Cup, an all-sports trophy competition designed to celebrate the 100th anniversaries of both institutions in 2009-10. The winner will get one point towards the Cup standings.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Bowling Green and Ohio have been two of the premier volleyball programs in the Mid-American Conference in recent history and the Falcons hold a 41-22 record all-time against the Bobcats, including 14-12 on the road. Last year, the teams split the two regular season matches, with BGSU winning in five at home and Ohio winning in four in Athens. Bowling Green is 42-18 all-time against Kent State, with a respectable 15-11 mark in road contests against the Golden Flashes. The Falcons swept Kent State a year ago but the Golden Flashes ended BGSU's season in 2007 with a three-set defeat in the MAC Tournament.
THE OPPONENTS
In the recent past, Ohio has been the dominant team in the Mid-American Conference, posting a 48-4 record in league play since 2006. The Bobcats are again off to a 4-0 start and show no signs of slowing down. Ellen Herman ranks 16th in the country with 4.47 kills per set and her 5.03 points per set rank 20th. She recently became the program's all-time kills leader. As a team, the Bobcats' 2.97 blocks per set are the eighth best total in the nation and their .255 attack percentage leads the MAC and ranks 34th in the country. Head Coach Ryan Theis is in his second season at the helm and enters the weekend with a 36-12 career record.
Kent State is 9-7 overall and 2-2 in MAC play entering the weekend. Arjola Prenga is a Player of the Year candidate, averaging 4.65 kills per set (ninth best in the country) and 5.27 points per set (eighth in the nation). The Golden Flashes have excelled at the net and are averaging 2.68 blocks per set, 18th best in Division I. Head Coach Glen Conley is a 1979 Bowling Green graduate and is in his third season leading Kent State after spending time at Edinboro, Houghton, and Army. He has a career record of 395-217 entering the weekend.
THE VICTORY MARCH
With seven wins in 2009, head coach Denise Van De Walle has compiled a career record of 494-333 in 27 years at Bowling Green, needing just six more to reach milestone win No. 500. Despite a recent losing streak, the Falcons have racked up an impressive 79-36 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 494 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 1-6 in "The House That Roars" in 2009 and has allowed opponents to hit .266. The Falcons will be on the road this week before returning home to start a three-match homestand Oct. 13 against Cleveland State.
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 .374 (ranking 37th in the country) and leads the team in kills and blocks.
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, regarding the first four double-doubles of her career. 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. Saturday, against Akron, she had 10 kills and 15 digs for her most recent one. She ranks among the top four on the team in kills, attack percentage, aces, 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 10.27 assists per set (which ranks fourth in the MAC), leads the team with 15 aces and is third with 141 digs.
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 five spots this year to eighth place in BGSU history with 1,268 career kills and needs just 18 more this weekend to climb 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 and attack percentage, ranking ninth in the MAC in that category. Kauth also ranks second on the team in aces 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 third-best MAC record in the conference during that time frame. Here are the combined records for each MAC team since 2006:
Records through 10/3/09
Team Overall (Pct.) MAC (Pct.)
Ohio 90-23 (.796) 48-4 (.923)
Bowling Green 79-36 (.687) 37-15 (.712)
Western Michigan 82-41 (.667) 38-14 (.731)
Central Michigan 68-38 (.642) 32-20 (.615)
Miami 62-50 (.554) 37-15 (.712)
Northern Illinois 59-49 (.546) 31-21 (.596)
Kent State 57-51 (.528) 22-30 (.423)
Eastern Michigan 45-69 (.395) 20-32 (.385)
Buffalo 41-71 (.366) 8-44 (.154)
Toledo 39-68 (.364) 13-39 (.250)
Ball State 37-73 (.336) 19-33 (.365)
Akron 29-80 (.266) 8-44 (.154)
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 fourth in the MAC in assists. Cassie Berning ranks in the top six on the team in kills, attack percentage, aces, digs, and blocks, gaining valuable early season experience. Kari Galen has seen increased playing time lately and has six kills, two blocks and a dig so far this year.
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.
The Bowling Green volleyball team will try to snap an eight-match losing streak this weekend with a pair of road conference matches, including one with a little extra on the line. In Friday night's match at Ohio, the Falcons will face a program that is a remarkable 48-4 in conference play since 2006. Saturday night, Bowling Green will play at Kent State on the first day of competition for the Centennial Cup, an all-sports trophy competition designed to celebrate the 100th anniversaries of both institutions in 2009-10. The winner will get one point towards the Cup standings.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Bowling Green and Ohio have been two of the premier volleyball programs in the Mid-American Conference in recent history and the Falcons hold a 41-22 record all-time against the Bobcats, including 14-12 on the road. Last year, the teams split the two regular season matches, with BGSU winning in five at home and Ohio winning in four in Athens. Bowling Green is 42-18 all-time against Kent State, with a respectable 15-11 mark in road contests against the Golden Flashes. The Falcons swept Kent State a year ago but the Golden Flashes ended BGSU's season in 2007 with a three-set defeat in the MAC Tournament.
THE OPPONENTS
In the recent past, Ohio has been the dominant team in the Mid-American Conference, posting a 48-4 record in league play since 2006. The Bobcats are again off to a 4-0 start and show no signs of slowing down. Ellen Herman ranks 16th in the country with 4.47 kills per set and her 5.03 points per set rank 20th. She recently became the program's all-time kills leader. As a team, the Bobcats' 2.97 blocks per set are the eighth best total in the nation and their .255 attack percentage leads the MAC and ranks 34th in the country. Head Coach Ryan Theis is in his second season at the helm and enters the weekend with a 36-12 career record.
Kent State is 9-7 overall and 2-2 in MAC play entering the weekend. Arjola Prenga is a Player of the Year candidate, averaging 4.65 kills per set (ninth best in the country) and 5.27 points per set (eighth in the nation). The Golden Flashes have excelled at the net and are averaging 2.68 blocks per set, 18th best in Division I. Head Coach Glen Conley is a 1979 Bowling Green graduate and is in his third season leading Kent State after spending time at Edinboro, Houghton, and Army. He has a career record of 395-217 entering the weekend.
THE VICTORY MARCH
With seven wins in 2009, head coach Denise Van De Walle has compiled a career record of 494-333 in 27 years at Bowling Green, needing just six more to reach milestone win No. 500. Despite a recent losing streak, the Falcons have racked up an impressive 79-36 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 494 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 1-6 in "The House That Roars" in 2009 and has allowed opponents to hit .266. The Falcons will be on the road this week before returning home to start a three-match homestand Oct. 13 against Cleveland State.
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 .374 (ranking 37th in the country) and leads the team in kills and blocks.
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, regarding the first four double-doubles of her career. 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. Saturday, against Akron, she had 10 kills and 15 digs for her most recent one. She ranks among the top four on the team in kills, attack percentage, aces, 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 10.27 assists per set (which ranks fourth in the MAC), leads the team with 15 aces and is third with 141 digs.
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 five spots this year to eighth place in BGSU history with 1,268 career kills and needs just 18 more this weekend to climb 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 and attack percentage, ranking ninth in the MAC in that category. Kauth also ranks second on the team in aces 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 third-best MAC record in the conference during that time frame. Here are the combined records for each MAC team since 2006:
Records through 10/3/09
Team Overall (Pct.) MAC (Pct.)
Ohio 90-23 (.796) 48-4 (.923)
Bowling Green 79-36 (.687) 37-15 (.712)
Western Michigan 82-41 (.667) 38-14 (.731)
Central Michigan 68-38 (.642) 32-20 (.615)
Miami 62-50 (.554) 37-15 (.712)
Northern Illinois 59-49 (.546) 31-21 (.596)
Kent State 57-51 (.528) 22-30 (.423)
Eastern Michigan 45-69 (.395) 20-32 (.385)
Buffalo 41-71 (.366) 8-44 (.154)
Toledo 39-68 (.364) 13-39 (.250)
Ball State 37-73 (.336) 19-33 (.365)
Akron 29-80 (.266) 8-44 (.154)
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 fourth in the MAC in assists. Cassie Berning ranks in the top six on the team in kills, attack percentage, aces, digs, and blocks, gaining valuable early season experience. Kari Galen has seen increased playing time lately and has six kills, two blocks and a dig so far this year.
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.
BG VB : Postgame Interview Sept. 5 (Stacey Clark Classic Game 3)
Friday, September 05
BG VB : Postgame Interview Sept. 4 (Stacey Clark Classic Game 2)
Friday, September 05
BG VB : Postgame Interview Sept. 3 (Stacey Clark Classic Game 1)
Wednesday, September 03
BG VB : Postgame Interviews 8.23
Saturday, August 23