Falcons Gear Up For Final Regular Season Tournament

Weekly Game Notes (.pdf)
Weekly MAC Release (.pdf)

Bowling Green, Ohio - The Bowling Green volleyball team will look to bounce back from its first losing weekend of the year as the Falcons travel to Columbus to take part in the Ohio State Sports Imports Classic Friday and Saturday. The Tournament should provide Bowling Green with a sturdy test heading into conference play the next weekend. All four teams enter the tournament at .500 or better with Ohio State posting a 9-1 start and Cleveland State at 9-2. At 7-3, Bowling Green is one game behind last year's 8-2 start.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
Bowling Green holds a 17-14 edge in the all-time series with Cleveland State including a hard-fought five set road victory a year ago. In fact, each of the last two meetings between the programs have gone five sets and all of the last six contests have gone at least four sets. The Falcons have lost all nine meetings with Ohio State but the last time the two programs faced off, in 2005, the Buckeyes eeked out a five set victory. Bowling Green has won three of the four meetings all-time with Xavier but the last match came 22 years ago in a BGSU three-game sweep of the Musketeers.

THE OPPONENTS
Cleveland State is out to a quick start, going 9-2 including three consecutive wins this weekend at Western Carolina. The Vikings have played two common opponents to BGSU, sweeping both Howard and Robert Morris (Bowling Green swept Howard and has defeated Robert Morris in four sets twice). Cleveland State is holding opponents to a stellar .123 attack percentage while hitting .255. Amy Benz will be a key to slow down as she leads the team with 106 kills and is hitting .410 on the year. Libero Maggie Bonomini has been named Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week twice already and averages 4.31 digs per set.

Ohio State enters the tournament on a five-match winning streak and 9-1 overall. Although Ohio State has not played any common opponents to Bowling Green, the Buckeyes did beat fellow MAC school Western Michigan in five sets earlier this season. Emily Danks and Amanda Peterson lead an aggressive service game as the Buckeyes average 1.84 aces per set. Katie Dull is leading the team at 3.94 kills per set.

After starting the year 1-5, Xavier reeled off four straight-set wins at the NC State Classic this past weekend to get back to .500. The Musketeers have blocked well in the early going and have three blocks with at least 24 blocks on the year. Setter Claire Paszkiewicz was named tournament MVP at the NC State Classic.

THE VICTORY MARCH
With a 7-3 start to the 2009 season, head coach Denise Van De Walle has compiled a career record of 494-325 in 27 years at Bowling Green, needing just six more to reach milestone win No. 500. Since 2006, the Falcons have racked up an impressive 79-28 overall record and has 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 easily the most in Mid-American Conference history.

DEFENDING THE HOUSE THAT ROARS
Although the team went just 1-2 to open the season at home in the Best Western Falcon Plaza Invitational, the Falcons still hold one of the best home courts in the country -- Anderson Arena. BGSU is 23-5 at home since 2007 and entered this year with a nine-match winning streak. Opponents hit just .198 in 12 matches a year ago in "The House That Roars".

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. So far this year, she is averaging 2.66 kills per set and ranks second in the MAC with a .398 attack percentage. She also leads the team with 25 blocks.

ACTION JACKSON
Senior Kaitlin Jackson has been a versatile player throughout her career with the Falcons. She recorded the first two double-doubles of her career at the Duquesne/Robert Morris Tournament and continued to produce in New Orleans this past weekend, coming up one kill short of another double-double against Texas Tech. Jackson was a strong defensive presence during the past weekend with 25 digs, a team-high five blocks, and a .970 serve receive percentage.

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 10.97 assists per set (which ranks second in the MAC), is tied for the team lead with 10 aces, and is third on the team with 79 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 three spots this year to 10th place in BGSU history with 1,204 career kills. At her current pace, she could reach the top five by season's end. She leads the Falcons in kills this year and ranks third in service aces.

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 event 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 ranks fifth in the MAC and second on the team with a .338 attack percentage in 2009.

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 third in the MAC in assists at 10.97 per set. Cassie Berning ranks in the top six on the team in kills, digs, and blocks, gaining valuable early season experience. Kari Galen has played in five matches so far and has a respectable .267 attack percentage with a pair of 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 MAC record in the conference during that time frame. Here are the combined records for each MAC team since 2006:

Records through 9/13/09
Team Overall (Pct.) MAC (Pct.)
Ohio 86-21 (.804) 44-4 (.917)
Bowling Green 79-28 (.738) 37-11 (.771)
Western Michigan 74-40 (.649) 34-14 (.708)
Central Michigan 61-37 (.622) 29-19 (.604)
Northern Illinois 56-46 (.549) 30-18 (.625)
Miami 57-48 (.543) 34-14 (.708)
Kent State 52-51 (.505) 20-28 (.417)
Eastern Michigan 43-63 (.406) 18-30 (.375)
Toledo 38-62 (.380) 12-36 (.250)
Buffalo 36-68 (.346) 6-42 (.125)
Ball State 34-68 (.333) 18-30 (.375)
Akron 27-75 (.265) 7-41 (.146)

SEASON OPENERS
Bowling Green won its season opener for the second consecutive season with a sweep of Loyola (Mary.) at the Duquesne/Robert Morris Tournament. In all, the Falcons are 14-13 in season openers under head coach Denise Van De Walle.

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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