Falcons To Face Two Top-15 Teams This Weekend

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

Bowling Green heads south for the second week of the 2010 volleyball season to compete in the Florida Invitational Friday and Saturday. The Falcons will face some of the stiffest competition they've faced in years when they open the tournament by playing No. 15 Colorado State and then follow that up with No. 6 Florida. BGSU will also face Albany on Saturday to conclude the event. Coming off of a 1-2 weekend at the Michigan State Invitational, Bowling Green will need to be in midseason form.

THE OPPONENTS
• Colorado State climbed from No. 17 in the preseason to No. 15 in this week's poll after wins over Duke and Furman to start the year. The Rams were picked to win the Mountain West Conference after returning five starters from a team that went 25-6 a year ago and finished the season ranked No. 17, advancing to the NCAA Regional Semifinals. Head coach Tom Hilbert is in his 14th season at the helm, has been named MWC Coach of the Year seven times in the 11-year existence of the league, and has a career mark of 508-157 with a record of 334-85 at Colorado State.
• Florida has had the most impressive start to the 2010 season in the country, opening with wins over then-No. 9 Iowa State and then-No. 2 Nebraska to move to 2-0. With those results, Florida climbed from No. 13 in the AVCA Preseason Poll to No. 6 in the first regular season release of the rankings. The Gators have quickly shown that they are a contender for the national championship under coach Mary Wise, who is in her 19th season at Florida with a record of 686-130.
• Albany opened its season by going 2-1 at the Big Orange Bash, hosted by Clemson, defeating both Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville but losing to the host school. The Great Danes were picked to finish second in America East and senior setter Brooke Stanley is the defending conference player of the year. Coach MJ Engstrom is starting her second year at the helm and led the squad to a 23-9 record a year ago, including 12-0 in league play.

VAN DE WALLE STARTS ON THE NEXT 500
With a victory over rival Toledo in the Mid-American Conference Tournament a year ago, Bowling Green coach Denise Van De Walle won her 500th career match, becoming the first to reach that total as a coach in the MAC. The team's win over IUPUI this past weekend started her on the downslide to 1,000 with her 501st victory. She is 501-344 all-time, including 235-188 in conference play. In 28 seasons at the helm, she has 13 20-win seasons and a 30-win campaign in 1992. Her teams have won five MAC regular season championships and Van De Walle has been named MAC Coach of the Year four times.

SPITLER NAMED ALL-TOURNAMENT
Senior Noelle Spitler was named to the MSU Showcase All-Tournament Team after posting 29 kills and a .417 attack percentage in three matches. She tied her career high with 12 kills in the loss to Evansville and then surpassed that with 13 in the win over IUPUI. In that match, she hit .524 and added two aces, two digs, and a block.

FIVE-SET SPECIALISTS
In recent history, Bowling Green has thrived in five-set matches, posting a .500 record or better in such contests in each of the last five years. Overall, the team is 24-8 in such matches since 2005. In fact, of Bowling Green's final six wins of the 2009 season, five of those matches went the distance.

Bowling Green's Record In Five-Set Matches Since 2005
2009 6-2
2008 9-1
2007 5-1
2006 2-2
2005 2-2

THE YOUNGEST EVER?
This year's team has seven freshmen and four sophomores on the roster. No team under head coach Denise Van De Walle has ever had more than six freshmen and none have had a combined 11 freshmen and sophomores. Since volleyball became a varsity sport under the athletics department in 1976, there is no record of any other team having seven freshmen on the varsity roster. While it certainly means big things could be in store for the future, the Falcons will be relying on inexperienced players to learn through on-the-job training.

FRESHMAN CONTRIBUTIONS
With such a young team in 2010, Bowling Green will be relying on freshman to produce right from the start. The class did not disappoint during the opening weekend, led by Danielle Tonyan. Tonyan's 30 kills are the third-most for any BGSU player in their first three collegiate matches in the past decade, while Paige Penrod's 14 are the seventh most. The Falcon freshman class may have an even bigger impact defensively as Penrod, Ashley Dunn, and Laura Avila rank first, second, and tied for third on the team in digs with a combined 58 thus far.

COMING INTO HER OWN
Junior middle Emily Kauth had 289 kills a year ago, the most among all returners this year. Her improvement from 2008 was impressive as she played in just five matches as a freshman and recorded only one kill. But in 2009, Kauth became one of the leaders on the team with a .247 attack percentage and 77 blocks, averaging 2.39 kills per set.

CLOSING THE DOORS OF THE HOUSE THAT ROARS
All year long, Bowling Green will be celebrating the final year of Anderson Arena with "Closing The Doors Of The House That Roars". Anderson Arena has hosted BGSU volleyball matches for 35 years and the athletics department has announced that season tickets are just $35. Call 877-BGSU TICKET to order your season tickets today.

ALL-ANDERSON VOLLEYBALL TEAM
As part of the "Closing The Doors Of The House That Roars" celebration, Bowling Green has announced the All-Anderson Volleyball Team, recognizing the 14 best players to play for BGSU in the Anderson Arena era. The group represents 20 First Team All-MAC selections, 13 First Team Academic All-MAC picks, four MAC Player of the Year awards, and four selections to the BGSU Hall of Fame. The group will be honored at BGSU's home volleyball match against Western Michigan on Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. The complete team can be viewed on page five.

NEW FALCON NEST
The volleyball team will move into the Stroh Center, a new convocation center, in 2011 along with the men's and women's basketball and gymnastics teams. It has been announced that the Falcons will open the arena Friday, Sept. 9, 2011 against Michigan State. The last time BGSU hosted a Big Ten school came in 2005 when the Falcons lost a five-set match to Ohio State in the BGSU Invitational.

FALCONS PICKED TO FINISH FIFTH
Bowling Green was picked to finish fifth in the East Division in the Mid-American Conference Preseason Poll. Ohio was selected to win the East Division, followed by Miami, Buffalo, Kent State, BGSU, and Akron.

MAC Preseason Poll
East Division - 1. Ohio (10 first place votes), 2. Miami (2 first place votes), 3. Buffalo, 4. Kent State, 5. Bowling Green, 6. Akron
West Division - 1. Central Michigan (7 first place votes), 2. Western Michigan (5 first place votes), 3. Northern Illinois, 4. Toledo, 5. Ball State, 6. Eastern Michigan
Regular Season Champion - Central Michigan 5, Ohio 3, Western Michigan 2, Miami 2
Tournament Champion - Ohio 6, Central Michigan 2, Western Michigan 2, Miami 2

MARK THE CALENDAR
Bowling Green has announced a number of promotions throughout the year. The Falcons will recognize the All-Anderson Volleyball Team and hold Alumnae Day on Oct. 2 when BGSU hosts Western Michigan at 7 p.m. The Oct. 22 home game against Toledo at 7 p.m. will serve as the annual Pink Out game to raise Cancer awareness. Parent's Night will take place Oct. 29 against Buffalo at 7 p.m. and Senior Night will be the next day against Akron at 3 p.m.

HALL OF CHAMPIONS
Bowling Green coach Denise Van De Walle was inducted into the Northwest Ohio Fellowship of Christian Athletes' Hall of Champions on May 24. She joined BGSU graduate John Harbal, along with Tom Amstutz, Chuck Ealey, and Tom Beutler in the inaugural class.

HITTING THE BOOKS
Bowling Green has always stressed academics and Falcon volleyball has been a model of that philosophy. The 2009 BGSU volleyball team received the AVCA Academic Team Award for the 10th 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 11 times overall. The volleyball team has been a big part of BGSU leading the way in the MAC in academics. Bowling Green was awarded the Faculty Athletic Representatives' award for the second consecutive year in recognition of having the highest GPA among women student-athletes and the Falcons also received the 2010 MAC Institutional Academic Achievement Award for having the highest GPA among all of its student-athletes in the conference.

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