Falcons Wins USF Invitational; Off To Best Start In 21 Years

Saturday, September 3

Tampa, Fla.

1:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

University of Maryland Eastern Shore

September 03, 2011 | Volleyball

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

BGSU vs. Maryland Eastern Shore Boxscore
BGSU vs. South Florida Boxscore

Tampa, Fla. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team beat Maryland Eastern Shore and host South Florida Saturday to go 4-0 at the USF Volleyball Invitational. Not only did the Falcons earn the tournament championship but, at 6-0 on the season, the team is off to the program's best start since 1990.

Bowling Green battled from behind to beat Maryland Eastern Shore early in the afternoon 24-26, 25-22, 22-25, 25-20, 15-9. The Falcons then buried South Florida in straight sets 26-24, 27-25, 25-23. The Falcons showed the mettle of an experienced team that has learned how to win close sets and close matches.

In the opener, Bowling Green dropped two of the first three sets but scored six straight points to close out a fourth-set victory. Trailing 5-3 in the fifth, the Falcons outscored Maryland Eastern Shore 12-4 the rest of the way.

In that critical fourth set, Bowling Green built a 16-11 lead but Maryland Eastern Shore fought back to take a 20-19 lead. A service error tied the score and Paige Penrod then served up five straight points. Erika Fullenkamp had two kills and Danielle Tonyan added a block during the rally to even the match.

In the fifth set, the Falcons trailed 5-3 but got back-to-back kills from Penrod and Tonyan. Leading 7-6, Bowling Green scored five straight points behind two Tonyan kills, a Penrod kill, and a Kari Galen block that gave the Falcons a 12-6 advantage. From there, Maryland Eastern Shore was unable to battle back.

Bowling Green hit .500 in the deciding fifth set, the team's best single-set percentage of the day. Tonyan had six kills and Laura Avila dished out six assists in the stanza.

For the match, Penrod led the way with 17 kills, while Tonyan, Emily Kauth, and Fullenkamp had nine each. As a team, the Falcons had 12.0 blocks, with Penrod and Galen recording six each.

Knowing a victory over South Florida would clinch the tournament championship, Bowling Green won three consecutive sets by just two points each in the nightcap. The team used balance as five players had between six and nine kills in the match.

Galen had eight kills and was the most efficient on the team with a .583 attack percentage. She also had a team-high five blocks. Ashley Dunn contributed 16 digs as the Falcons held a 39-34 edge in that category. Penrod added four service aces.

The team's 6-0 start is the best since the 1990 team opened the year 10-0. Ironically, that team's first loss came at the hands of Michigan State, which happens to be the team's next opponent this year.

The Falcons will play that match Friday night at 6 p.m. as the first match of the Best Western Falcon Plaza Invitational. It is also the first athletic event ever played in the new Stroh Center and the building will be dedicated at 2 p.m. that afternoon.