Van De Walle’s Career Closes With MAC Tournament Loss

Friday, November 18

Geneva, Ohio (SPIRE Institute)

4:30 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Northern Illinois

Photo by: BGSU Photography

November 18, 2011 | Volleyball

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

Boxscore

Geneva, Ohio – Bowling Green head coach Denise Van De Walle coached the 905^th and final match of her career as the BGSU volleyball team was eliminated from the Mid-American Conference Tournament by top-seeded Northern Illinois in the quarterfinals Friday 25-12, 25-16, 25-17. The match was held at the SPIRE Institute in the first season of MAC Tournament play at the venue.

Van De Walle retires following the conclusion of an illustrious 29 years leading the program. She leaves after guiding the team to an 11-win improvement over a year ago, the most in the MAC. A youthful Falcon squad ended the year with a record of 19-12, which included a 12-match winning streak, the longest in program history to open a season. It was also the first season in the Stroh Center for the program and was highlighted by a four-set win over Michigan State in the first match ever played in the arena.

As for the MAC Tournament match itself, Northern Illinois left little doubt why it is the top seed, controlling play throughout. The Huskies hit .434 and held Bowling Green to just a .101 attack percentage. MAC Player of the Year Lauren Wicinski had 10 kills in the first set and finished with 19. Northern Illinois' top four hitters all hit over .500 for the match.

Bowling Green fell behind early in each of the first two sets and was never able to battle back. The Falcons showed some fight in the third, splitting the first eight points of the match. After falling behind 17-10, BGSU scored four in a row on a Leah Shaw kill and two Erica Fullenkamp aces. The Huskies answered back though with a mini-run that gave them enough of a cushion to come away with the win.

Danielle Tonyan, who was named first team All-MAC a day earlier, led Bowling Green with 10 kills, but no other Falcon had more than four. Ashley Dunn had a match-high 11 digs, her 19^th straight contest with a double-digit dig total. Tonyan and Kari Galen had two blocks each.

Van De Walle concludes her career with a record of 527-378. The Falcons also had two four-year seniors who saw their careers come to a close in Emily Kauth and Madison Nitta.