Falcons Push MAC Champs Northern Illinois To Five Sets

Saturday, November 12

Bowling Green, Ohio

2:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Northern Illinois (Senior Day)

November 12, 2011 | Volleyball

By: by Jason Knavel, Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team won the first two sets against Northern Illinois, but the Huskies battled back to take the final three sets and earn sole possession of the Mid-American Conference regular season championship in a 23-25, 22-25, 27-25, 25-15, 15-11 victory Saturday afternoon in the Stroh Center.

The match was Senior Day for Bowling Green, honoring Emily Kauth and Madison Nitta. It was also 29-year head coach Denise Van De Walle's final home match as she will retire at the conclusion of the season. The Falcons, however, did earn a trip to the eight-team MAC Tournament during the upcoming weekend.

Facing the best team in the MAC and one of the most dynamic volleyball players in the country in Lauren Wicinski, Bowling Green struck first behind the strong offensive efforts of Danielle Tonyan, Paige Penrod and Kari Galen. The trio combined for 12 kills in the first set and the Falcons came up with big plays down the stretch.

Each of the first two sets were tied at 22-22 but the Falcons scored on the important points. In the first set, Lauren Mizgalski closed out the frame with back-to-back kills. Tied at 22-22 in the second set, Penrod had a kill and then Wicinski had an attack error. Tonyan followed with a kill to give the Falcons a 25-22 win.

With a chance at a huge upset, Bowling Green had an opportunity for the sweep in the third set. The stanza was again tied at 22-22 but the Falcons fought off two set points to tie the score at 25-25 on a Penrod kill. A BGSU service error followed by a Falcons attack error gave Northern Illinois the victory.

At that point, momentum shifted and the Huskies rolled to a 25-15 win in the fourth to force a final set. In that fifth set, Northern Illinois used a 9-1 run to build a 9-2 lead. Bowling Green fought back with an 8-3 run to get within two points but the deficit was too much to overcome and the Huskies came away with the 15-11 win.

Bowling Green contained the top attacker in the country, holding Wicinski to just 16 kills on a .227 attack percentage. She did add 10 digs, seven blocks and three aces but also had seven attack errors.

On the other hand, Penrod finished with 18 kills and Tonyan added 16. Mizgalski posted 14 kills as well and attacked at a .289 rate. Ashley Dunn had 19 digs and Kauth posted four blocks.

Bowling Green ends the regular season with a record of 19-11 overall and 6-10 in conference play. The Falcons will compete in the MAC Tournament this weekend. More information will be made available on BGSUFalcons.com on time and opponent.