Kari Galen Spearheads Pair Of Falcon Wins

Friday, September 2

Tampa, Fla.

11:00 a.m.

Bowling Green State University

Eastern Kentucky

September 02, 2011 | Volleyball

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

BGSU/Eastern Kentucky Boxscore
BGSU/Bethune-Cookman Boxscore

Tampa, Fla. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team remained undefeated on the season by defeating both Eastern Kentucky and Bethune-Cookman on day one of the USF Volleyball Invitational. The Falcons improved to 4-0 this year with the wins.

Bowling Green came from behind to win the final two sets and beat Eastern Kentucky in the opener 25-23, 21-25, 23-25, 25-18, 15-12. The Falcons then cruised to victory over Bethune-Cookman 25-20, 25-20, 25-17.

Kari Galen dominated defensively at the net, posting 15 blocks in the two matches, including a career-high 10 in the win over Eastern Kentucky. She followed that up with a team-best 11 kills to go with five blocks in the three-set sweep of Bethune-Cookman.

In the opener, the Falcons held Eastern Kentucky to a .177 attack percentage by posting 14.0 team blocks. After winning the opening set 25-23, Bowling Green found its back against the wall after dropping both of the next two frames. But in the fourth, the Falcons jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, building an 18-8 advantage and cruising to victory to force a fifth set.

In that final stanza, Danielle Tonyan had three kills and Galen had a pair of blocks. Eastern Kentucky, though, took an 11-10 lead before Lindsey Butterfield posted a kill to tie the score. The teams traded the next two points to tie the score at 12-12 before senior Emily Kauth slammed home a kill for a 13-12 lead. Eastern Kentucky used a timeout but it didn't help as a Paige Penrod kill forced match point. Kauth and Lauren Mizgalski paired up for a block to end the match with a 15-12 win.

The Falcons were never really challenged in the second match, rolling past Bethune-Cookman and hitting a remarkable .427. That is the best single-match percentage for the team since hitting .553 in a win over Buffalo in 2007. Galen led the way with 11 kills, while Tonyan and Kauth added 10 each.

Now 4-0, Bowling Green will look for its second tournament championship in two weekends as the Falcons play two more matches tomorrow, facing Maryland Eastern Shore at 2 p.m. and the host school, South Florida, at 7:30 p.m.