.png&type=webp)
Bowling Green State University Athletics
Volleyball Relives the Success of 2008
April 07, 2009 | Volleyball
April 7, 2009
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball team and head coach Denise Van De Walle hosted their annual postseason banquet Sunday afternoon (April 5) at the Bowen-Thompson Student Union, reliving the 25-9 season in 2008, the fourth straight winning season and third consecutive season of 20 plus, which included two tournament championships at the Temple Invitational and the Marquette Challenge.
The 2008 Falcon senior trio, Kendra Halm, Chelsey Meek and Meghan Mohr were named the BGSU Co-Players of the Year after each closing out their collegiate career with great seasons. Halm was also named the BGSU Offensive Player of the Year and earned the Coaches Award, while Meek was also named the BGSU Defensive Player of the Year and earned the Outstanding Competitor and Best Teammate Awards.
The senior trio led the team on and off the court this season as they all garnered All-MAC honors and Academic All-MAC honors. The senior trio has recorded four winning seasons and owns an overall record of 90-39 with a .698 winning percentage during their four seasons. As a trio they hold seven individual BG program records and five team records.
Susie Isphording was named the BGSU Rookie of the Year and also earned the Hustle Award. Alex Zlabis was named Most Improved for the fall season and Lauren Mizgalski was named Most Improved for the spring season.
 |
|
The Falcons have not only been successful on court but in the classroom as well as five players were honored with the Academic Achievement Award, which is given to those players earning a 4.0 GPA in either the fall or the previous spring season. Meek, Kaitlin Jackson and Shari Luther were honored for their GPA in both this fall and spring season, while Sam Fish and Louise Facca were honored for the fall season.
Halm, a Bucyrus, Ohio native was named BGSU Co-Player of the Year, BGSU Offensive Player of the Year and earned the Coaches Award. Halm had another stellar season on and off the court being named first team All-MAC for the third consecutive season and earning her second Academic All-MAC honor. She recorded double-digits kills in 24 of 34 matches, including a 10 match streak and double-digits in six of the last eight matches. She finished the season third in the MAC in hitting percentage, fourth in blocks and in the top 80 in the nation in hitting percentage and top 150 in blocks. Halm led the Falcons, the 51st ranked team in the nation in hitting percentage with a .332 hitting percentage. In her final season she was named to three All-Tournament teams, including two MVPs and a MAC East Player of the Week selection. Halm became the 14th player in BG history to record 1,000 kills against Oakland (Oct. 9, 2008). She amassed 1,299 career kills, fourth in BG history. She also set a new BG record for career block assists with 443 career block assists, also sixth in MAC history and finished her career third in BG history for career blocks with 515, also ninth in MAC history. Halm set new BG records for blocks and block assists in a three set match with a career high 14 blocks and 13 block assists against Florida A&M.
|
|
Meek, a Bowling Green, Ohio native was named BGSU Co-Player of the Year, BGSU Defensive Player of the Year and earned the Outstanding Competitor and Best Teammate Award. Meek was once again unstoppable on defense leading the Falcons defensive attack the entire season and finishing her collegiate career as the best defensive player in program history. She earned second team All-MAC honors, Academic All-MAC, for the second straight season and ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District team honors after finishing her senior campaign ranked 27th in nation and second in the MAC in digs. Meek had another record breaking season setting a new MAC record for career digs with 2,287 career digs, also holding the BG career record and becoming the first Falcon ever to record 2,000 career digs as she picked up her 2,000th dig against Buffalo (Oct. 11, 2008). She also set a new BG record for digs in a season (663) and became the all-time leader in the nation for consecutive matches of 10-plus digs (91), including 16 matches of 20-plus digs. Meek was named to three All-Tournament teams, earned a MAC Co-East Player of the Week selection and named MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week.
|
|
Mohr, an Elida, Ohio native was named BGSU Co-Player of the Year. Mohr was a consistent force on both ends of the court for the Falcons all season earning her second consecutive second team All-MAC honor and being named to the Academic All-MAC team. She led BG, the 87th tanked team in nation in kills with 409 kills. Mohr tallied a team high 10 double-doubles, including 22 double-digit kill matches marked by a 10 match streak of double-digit kills and 11 double-digit dig matches. She ended her collegiate career on a high note with four straight double-digit kill matches, including two with 20-plus kills. At the MAC Tournament, Mohr recorded a tournament high 58 kills and posted the second best kill average (4.83 kills per set). Mohr clipped a .390 at the MAC Tournament, the second best hitting percentage of any player on the a team finishing in the top four of the tournament. She was the only player at the MAC Tournament to finish in the top 10 of three statistical categories, finishing second in kills with 58 kills averaging 4.83 kills per set, sixth in hitting percentage with a .390 and eighth in service aces with five averaging 0.42 per set. Mohr finished the season 10th in MAC play in kills and service aces and earned three All-Tournament honors, including at the MAC Tournament.
|
|
Isphording, a Huron, Ohio native was named the BGSU Rookie of the Year and earned the Hustle Award. In her rookie season she recorded 245 digs, the fourth most on the team and 25 service aces, the second most aces of any Falcon. Isphording recorded 10 matches of double-digit digs, including a career high 15 against Ball State (Oct. 24, 2008). She also recorded two streaks of three consecutive matches with double-digit digs, including one to end the season at the MAC Tournament. From the service line Isphording recorded a seven match streak of at least one service ace, which included three matches with multiple aces and a career high three service aces at Marquette (Sept. 13, 2008).
|
|
Zlabis, a Wheaton, Illinois native was named the Most Improved in the fall season. In her sophomore campaign Zlabis improved greatly recording 191 digs on the season compared to 22 her freshman year. She recorded six matches of double-digit digs, ending the season with double-digits in three out of the last four matches, including a career high 20 digs against Western Michigan (Nov. 22, 2008) at the MAC Tournament.
BGSU Volleyball Awards List
Co-Player of the Year: Kendra Halm, Chelsey Meek, Meghan Mohr
Offensive Player of the Year: Kendra Halm
Defensive Player of the Year: Chelsey Meek
Rookie of the Year: Susie Isphording
Coaches Award: Kendra Halm
Hustle Award: Susie Isphording
Outstanding Competitor: Chelsey Meek
Best Teammate: Chelsey Meek
Most Improved (Fall): Alex Zlabis
Most Improved (Spring): Lauren Mizgalski
Academic Achievement Award (Fall): Chelsey Meek*, Kaitlin Jackson*, Shari Luther*, Sam Fish, Louise Facca *Also earned Academic Achievement Award for last spring.
