Falcons Sweep Aside Service Academies To Open 2011 Season

Friday, August 26

Annapolis, Mary.

11:00 a.m.

Bowling Green State University

Air Force

August 26, 2011 | Volleyball

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

Boxscore vs. Air Force
Boxscore vs. Navy

Annapolis, Mary. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team opened the 2011 season in impressive fashion, defeating both Air Force and Navy in straight sets Friday in the Kristen Dickmann Invitational. Saturday's play has been cancelled due to Hurricane Irene but the Falcons have build momentum with the 2-0 start to the year.

The Falcons squeaked out first-set wins in both matches before dominating play in the final two sets. Bowling Green beat Air Force 28-26, 25-16, 25-16 and defeated Navy 27-25, 25-13, 25-14.

In the opening match, Bowling Green jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first set behind back-to-back service aces from sophomore Paige Penrod. But the Falcons were unable to pull away and Air Force built a two-point lead at 13-11. With the score tied at 24-24, a Penrod attack error gave Air Force an opportunity to take the opening set but junior college transfer Leah Shaw posted a kill to tie the score back up. At 26-26, Penrod posted a kill and Air Force's Cami Richan had an attack error to give Bowling Green the 28-26 win.

From that point forward, the Falcons dominated play. Bowling Green hit .500 in the second set and .545 in the third behind the brilliant hitting of Danielle Tonyan and Penrod. Tonyan had 16 kills and just one attack error to hit .536 for the match. Penrod added 13 kills to go with nine digs and those two aces. Bowling Green was strong at the net, hitting .376 for the match and posting 8.5 blocks, five from Emily Kauth. The Falcons never hit as high as .300 in a match a year ago and had not had a higher attack percentage since crushing the ball at a .411 clip against Miami (Ohio) on Oct. 30, 2008.

In the second match, Bowling Green again pulled out a first-set win late. Navy took a 24-23 led on an Alex Cassel kill, but a Tonyan kill followed by a block from Tonyan and Kauth gave the Falcons a 25-24 lead. The Midshipmen tied the score with another kill but followed with a service error. Tonyan then recorded an ace for the 27-25 win.

Navy never threatened over the final two sets as the Falcons held the Midshipmen to -.088 hitting in the second frame and just .074 hitting in the third. Bowling Green hit above .300 in all three sets.

Tonyan led a more-balanced attacking effort in the second match with 11 kills. Penrod added nine and Kauth had six, while Kari Galen finished with five.

With the cancellation of the remainder of the tournament, Bowling Green will compete next in the South Florida Invitational Friday and Saturday. The Falcons face Eastern Kentucky and Bethune-Cookman Friday before playing Maryland Eastern Shore and South Florida Saturday.