Falcons Host Historic Weekend Of Volleyball

Best Western Falcon Plaza Invitational
Hosted by Bowling Green State University
Sept. 9-10/Bowling Green, Ohio
Tournament Website

Bowling Green (6-0) vs. Michigan State (6-0)
Sept. 9, 6 p.m.
All-Time Series History: MSU leads 7-3 (Streak/MSU 6 wins)
Live Stats/Live Video/Live Audio

Bowling Green (6-0) vs. SIU-Edwardsville (4-4)
Sept. 10, 11 a.m.
All-Time Series History: First Meeting
Live Stats/Live Video/Live Audio

Bowling Green (6-0) vs. Canisius (4-2)
Sept. 10, 5:30 p.m.
All-Time Series History: First Meeting
Live Stats/Live Video

Bowling Green remains undefeated after winning its second tournament championship of the year, going 4-0 at the USF Volleyball Invitational over the weekend. Kari Galen was named tournament Most Valuable Player, while Emily Kauth and Ashley Dunn were named to the all-tournament team. At 6-0, the Falcons are off to their best start in 21 years and will attempt to keep the streak going this weekend in the Best Western Falcon Plaza Invitational Friday and Saturday.

A HISTORIC WEEKEND APPROACHES
This will be a historic weekend in BGSU volleyball, BGSU Athletics, and University history as the school holds the dedication of the Stroh Center Friday at 2 p.m. This event is open to the public and leads up to BGSU volleyball's match against Michigan State at 6 p.m. That contest will serve as the first varsity athletic event in the new Stroh Center.

FOLLOWING THE FALCONS
If you can't be at the Stroh Center this weekend, fans can follow BGSU volleyball and the entire tournament in a variety of ways. All six matches will have live stats available at BGSUFalcons.com and all six matches will also be live video streamed via the America One Network on BGSUFalcons.com. As well, in conjunction with the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO), Bowling Green's matches against Michigan State (Friday at 6 p.m.) and against SIU-Edwardsville (Saturday at 11 a.m.) will be broadcast on WFAL Radio. The live stream can be heard via the Live Audio link (under Fan Zone section) on BGSUFalcons.com. Fans can also follow along on twitter through the official twitter page of BGSU Athletics (@BGathletics) and/or via volleyball SID Jason Knavel (@jknavel).

THE OPPONENTS
The Stroh Center opener will be a tough challenge for the BGSU volleyball team as Michigan State is off to a 6-0 start, just like the Falcons, and has swept all six matches without dropping a set, including a 3-0 win over MAC rival Toledo. While the Spartans are not currently ranked, they are receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches poll. Michigan State is hitting .336 on the year and holding opponents to .116 hitting. Jenilee Rathjee, a 5-foot-11 senior outside hitter, leads the team with 86 kills, an average of 4.78 per set. Alexis Mathews, a 6-3 sophomore middle blocker, is dominating defensively at the net with 32 blocks. The Spartans are also digging at an extremely high rate (50 more digs than opponents so far) and 5-6 senior defensive specialist/libero Carli Weiler leads the way with 72 digs or 4.00 per set.

SIU-Edwardsville enters the Best Western Falcon Invitational on a two-match winning streak to improve to 4-4 on the season. The Cougars have faced one MAC school so far, losing to Kent State in five sets. SIU-Edwardsville has a lot of balance as nine players have at least 20 kills on the year, but the team is hitting only .193 on the year. Junior setter Sammi Minton has 300 assists, averaging 9.38 per set. The Cougars are an aggressive serving team with 60 aces (32 more than opponents) and three players have at least 10 on the year – Cori Harris, Kelsey Augustine, and Minton. In the back, freshman defensive specialist Chelsea Colclasure is averaging 4.72 digs per set.

Canisius opened the year by winning the La Salle Invitational but the Griffins went just 1-2 the past weekend to fall to 4-2 on the year. The team has played one MAC school, losing to Akron in four sets. Danielle Brown, a 5-9 senior outside hitter, leads the team with 83 kills, an average of 4.15 per set. Senior setter Janelle Davis is posting 9.32 assists per set and she also leads the squad with 2.47 digs per set. Canisius is hitting a respectable .216 on the year but is only serve receiving at an .899 clip, giving up 41 aces in six matches.

ANOTHER TOURNEY TITLE
In the first two weeks, Bowling Green has brought home first-place hardware twice. The Falcons went 2-0 at the hurricane-shortened Kristen Dickmann Invitational, hosted by Navy, to earn the tournament championship. The team then went to Tampa, Fla., and won the USF Volleyball Invitational with a record of 4-0.

M-V-P, M-V-P
In back-to-back tournaments to open the year, a Bowling Green player earned tournament MVP honors. Danielle Tonyan earned the award at the Navy Invitational after posting 16 kills with a .536 attack percentage in a three-set sweep of Air Force and adding 11 kills, three aces, and two blocks in a sweep of Navy. Kari Galen was then named MVP of the USF Volleyball Invitational after posting 26 blocks in four matches, including a career-high 10 against Eastern Kentucky. She also had 29 kills and hit at a .386 clip.

ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS
Along with the tournament MVP awards, the Falcons have raked in all-tournament trophies as well. Emily Kauth has earned the award in each of the team's first two tournaments, while Ashley Dunn was named all-tournament in the USF Volleyball Invitational.

FROM MVP TO PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Both Danielle Tonyan and Kari Galen earned Mid-American Conference Player of the Week honors after their performances as Most Valuable Player at the first two tournaments. Tonyan was named MAC East Offensive Player of the Week and Galen was honored with MAC East Defensive Player of the Week.

ONLY THREE OF THE CURRENT PLAYERS WERE EVEN BORN THEN
It's been 21 years since the BGSU volleyball team started the year 6-0 as this year's team has done. In 1990, the Falcons opened the year 10-0 before eventually losing to Michigan State. Ironically, for the Falcons to extend their winning streak this year, they will need to beat the Spartans Friday.

PACE LAP
It's very early in the year, but the Falcons are currently on pace to post some impressive stats historically. At her current pace, Kari Galen would set the school record for single-season attack percentage at .422 and would rank fourth all-time in blocks per set with 1.50. Paige Penrod 0.50 aces per set would place her third in program history and Emily Kauth's .344 attack percentage would be the fifth-best single-season total in BGSU history.

A SIMPLE FORMULA
If a team can hit better than its opponent, in most cases that team is more likely to win. For Bowling Green, that's proving to be true in the early-going. The Falcons rank second in the Mid-American Conference in hitting percentage (.263) and rank first in the league in opponent's hitting percentage (.138). Those numbers stand in stark contrast to a year ago when Bowling Green ranked dead last in the 12-team MAC in hitting percentage and 11th in opponent's hitting percentage.

THE DYNAMIC DUO
Bowling Green returns one of the most talented attacking duos in the Mid-American Conference in sophomores Paige Penrod and Danielle Tonyan. Currently, the duo is one of only two teammates in the MAC to both rank in the top 10 in the league in points. Tonyan is sixth with 4.05 per set and Penrod ranks 10th at 3.41.

COMPARING THE MAC
Here are Bowling Green's rankings in the MAC as a team and as individuals:

Team
Hitting Percentage – 2. Bowling Green .263
Opponent Hitting Percentage – 1. Bowling Green .138
Assists/Set – 9. Bowling Green 11.27
Kills/Set – 9. Bowling Green 12.36
Blocks/Set – 2. Bowling Green 2.39
Aces/Set – 4. Bowling Green 1.45
Digs/Set – 12. Bowling Green 10.27

Individuals (Top 10 Rankings)
Hitting Percentage – 2. Kari Galen .422; 10. Emily Kauth .344
Kills/Set – 6. Danielle Tonyan 3.27
Aces/Set – 2. Paige Penrod 0.55
Blocks/Set – 2. Kari Galen 1.50
Points/Set – 6. Danielle Tonyan 4.05; 10. Paige Penrod 3.41

THE MAC IS TOUGH
In the first two weeks of the 2011 volleyball season, the Mid-American Conference has made a strong showing. The conference went 25-12 in week one and 27-13 in week two. Bowling Green, at 6-0, is one of two remaining undefeated teams along with 7-0 Ball State. Only two teams in the conference are below .500 at this point.

FIVE-SET SPECIALISTS
In recent history, Bowling Green has thrived in five-set matches, posting a .500 record or better in such contests every year since 2005. Overall, the team is 28-10 in such matches since 2005 and, even more impressively, 24-6 in the past five years. This year, the Falcons are 2-0 in five-setters, beating Eastern Kentucky and Maryland Eastern Shore in such matches. In fact, Bowling Green needed to win both the fourth and fifth sets in both of those matches.

Bowling Green's Record In Five-Set Matches Since 2005
2011: 2-0
2010: 2-2
2009: 6-2
2008: 9-1
2007: 5-1
2006: 2-2
2005: 2-2

DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Three active players have recorded at least one double-double in their career (posting at least 10 kills, digs, assists, blocks, or aces in a match in two of those categories). With two this year, Paige Penrod has a team-high 12 career double-doubles, followed by Laura Avila with five and Ashley Dunn with one.

20 KILLS OR 20 DIGS
Paige Penrod enters the season with three career matches with at least 20 kills (and a career-high 25 against Buffalo on Oct. 29, 2010), while Danielle Tonyan has added one career 20-kill match (23 vs. Western Michigan on Oct. 2, 2010). Ashley Dunn posted seven 20-dig matches a year ago with a career-best 26 in matches against St. Francis (Sept. 17, 2010) and Eastern Michigan (Oct. 16, 2010).

VAN DE WALLE GOING OUT ON TOP
Last spring, Bowling Green head coach Denise Van De Walle announced that the 2011 season would be her last before she retires. With this year's 6-0 start, she has a career record of 514-365 and has been named MAC Coach of the Year four times. The Falcons have posted a record of 237-202 in conference action over the course of her career.

PENROD NAMED PRESEASON ALL-MAC
Sophomore outside hitter Paige Penrod was picked as a Preseason All-MAC East Division player by vote of the league coaches. Penrod joined Akron's Tina Dimitrijevs, Buffalo's Abby Niekamp, Miami's Cassie Farrell, and Ohio's Katie Post and Lexie Hartnett on the team.

FALCONS PICKED FIFTH
Bowling Green was picked to finish fifth in the Mid-American Conference East Division in the preseason poll by vote of the league's coaches. Ohio was selected to win the East, followed by Miami, Akron, Buffalo, BGSU, and Kent State. In the West, Northern Illinois was picked to win, followed by Ball State, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, and Toledo.

RED, WHITE AND BLUE
Senior defensive specialist Madison Nitta represented the United States on the US Deaf Volleyball Team during the past summer. Nitta, who has profound hearing loss, was a key player as the United States won the 2011 Friendship Games in Washington, D.C. The USA defeated the Ukraine twice along the way to the championship, the first time in more than six years that the Ukraine had been defeated in international play.

THE NEW HOME
The volleyball and basketball teams will move into the Stroh Center this year, a brand new arena on the campus of BGSU. The Falcon volleyball team will host the first athletic event in the facility, playing Michigan State at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 9. The last time BGSU hosted a Big Ten school came in 2005 when the Falcons lost a five-set match to Ohio State in the BGSU Invitational.

HITTING THE BOOKS
Bowling Green has always stressed academics and Falcon volleyball has been a model of that philosophy. The 2010 BGSU volleyball team received the AVCA Academic Team Award for the 11th consecutive season, compiling a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 or better. The Falcons have the second longest streak in all of NCAA Division I and has received the award 12 times overall.

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