Rigorous Week Ahead For Falcons

BGSU vs. Oakland
Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012; 7:00 p.m.
Stroh Center/Bowling Green, Ohio
Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com
Live Audio: BGRSO
Live Video: America One Network

BGSU at Eastern Michigan
Friday Oct. 12, 2012; 7:00 p.m.
Convocation Center/Ypsilanti, Mich.
Live Stats: Courtesy Eastern Michigan
Live Video: Courtesy Eastern Michigan

BGSU at Central Michigan
Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012; 7:00 p.m.
McGuirk Arena/Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Live Stats: Courtesy Central Michigan
Live Audio: Courtesy Central Michigan
Live Video: Courtesy Central Michigan

2012 MAC STANDINGS
EAST TEAMS	MAC	OVERALL
Bowling Green	6-0	10-7
Ohio	5-1	10-8
Akron	3-3	10-8
Kent State	2-4	5-13
Buffalo	1-5	7-11
Miami	0-6	5-14
WEST TEAMS	MAC	OVERALL
Central Michigan	5-1	11-6
Western Michigan	4-2	11-7
Northern Illinois	4-2	13-9
Eastern Michigan	3-3	13-9
Ball State	2-4	9-10
Toledo	1-5	7-11

Bowling Green has a rigorous week ahead as the Falcons host non-conference foe Oakland Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the Stroh Center. Following that match, BGSU hits the road to face Eastern Michigan Friday night and MAC West leader Central Michigan Saturday night. At 10-7 overall and 6-0 in conference play, Bowling Green sits atop the conference standings as the only undefeated team remaining in the league. Oakland, though, went 3-1 in non-conference play against MAC schools. Eastern Michigan is 3-3 in conference play and Central Michigan is 5-1. With the six league wins, Bowling Green has equaled its conference win total from a year ago when the Falcons went 6-10.

LINKS, LINKS, LINKS
Here's a list of links that fans may find interesting heading into the weekend's matches:
* BGSU volleyball players single-match season and career highs (.pdf)
* Mid-American Conference statistical leaders
* NCAA statistical leaders
* NCAA RPI Rankings
* Dunn Named MAC Defensive Player of the Week Again
* Oakland Preview
* Eastern Michigan Preview (not yet available)
* Central Michigan Preview (not yet available)

ABOUT OAKLAND
Oakland enters Tuesday night's contest with a record of 11-8 overall and the Grizzlies are 4-4 in Summit League action. Oakland has played four non-conference matches against MAC schools already this year and have won three of those, defeating Toledo, Buffalo and Eastern Michigan, while losing to Central Michigan. Oakland ranks ninth in the country in digs, averaging 18.04 per set. Libero Alli Kirk, a 5-foot-8 senior, is 15th in the country with 5.55 digs per set herself. Not to be outdone, 5-10 senior outside hitter Meghan Bray is among the nation's leaders in kills and points, averaging 4.36 kills and 4.71 points per set, both of which lead the Summit. Head Coach Rob Beam is in his sixth year at Oakland with a mark of 79-83.

ABOUT EASTERN MICHIGAN
Eastern Michigan enters the weekend with a record of 13-9 overall and 3-3 in conference play. After a 1-3 start to league play, the Eagles rebounded by winning road matches at Toledo and at Ball State this past weekend. Much like Oakland, EMU's strength comes in its defense and the Eagles rank second in the MAC with 16.74 digs per set. Offensively, 5-foot-11 senior outside hitter Rachel Iaquaniello is a force and she leads the MAC with 4.12 kills per set but no other Eagle is higher than 2.38 kills. Head Coach Kim Berrington is in her 17th year leading the EMU program and has a career record of 264-254.

ABOUT CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Central Michigan has opened the season with an 11-6 overall record and holds sole possession of first place in the MAC West Division at 5-1. The Chippewas opened conference play with a four-set loss at Northern Illinois but have bounced back to win five straight heading into the weekend. CMU ranks third in the MAC with a .233 attack percentage and is holding opponents to a paltry .175 clip. The Chippewas also rank among the top three in the league in kills and aces. Kaitlyn McIntyre, a 5-foot-11 sophomore outside hitter, averages 3.72 kills per set and 5-11 junior setter Kelly Maxwell has handed out 11.66 assists per set. Jenna Coates, a 5-5 junior defensive specialist, ranks first in the MAC with 4.98 digs per set. Head Coach Erik Olson is in his eighth season with the Chippewas with a career record of 119-129.

FOLLOWING THE FALCONS
If you can't be at Tuesday night's match vs. Oakland in the Stroh Center, there are a variety of ways to follow the action. Live stats, audio and video will be available for the match via links on BGSUFalcons.com. Live stats will also be available for matches and Friday and Saturday night on the road at BGSUFalcons.com. As well, fans can keep up with the action on Twitter by following @BGAthletics and @jknavel.

TURN THE DIAL
The Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO) will provide a radio broadcast of all BGSU volleyball home matches this season, which will also be available on the web via live streaming. Follow links at BGSUFalcons.com to listen on the web.

ON THE TUBE
The Buckeye Cable Sports Network (BCSN), broadcasting to the greater Toledo area, has televised three BGSU home matches this year beginning with the team's Orange and Brown scrimmage. As well, the Falcons' matches against Kent State and Western Michigan were broadcast.

LEADERS OF THE MAC
At 6-0 in conference play, Bowling Green is the only unbeaten team remaining in the MAC. Two teams – Ohio and Central Michigan – sit just one game back at 5-1. The Falcons are 6-0 for the first time since the 2006 team started 10-0 and swept their first three league matches in straight sets for the first time in program history. In fact, the team has four straight-set victories in conference play this year. BGSU has dropped just three sets in conference play.

THE SAME AS LAST YEAR, BUT BETTER
With six Mid-American Conference wins this year, Bowling Green has already equaled its conference win total from a year ago. Only one other MAC team has done that already. Akron has three wins this year in
MAC play after going 1-15 a year ago.

LOOKING WAY AHEAD
Eight teams advance to the Mid-American Conference Tournament played at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio beginning Nov. 16. If play were to start today, the Falcons would be the No. 1 seed for the tournament and would face off against one of two teams with a 2-4 conference record – Kent State or Ball State. The Falcons hold a four-match lead in an attempt to qualify for the tournament.

RPI LEADERS
The NCAA released the latest Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) ranking of the 2012 season Monday and Bowling Green was up three spots to No. 65, the highest ranking of any school in the MAC. A year ago, BGSU finished the year at No. 138. The Falcons' two conference opponents this week are the second and third-highest ranked teams in the league. Eastern Michigan is No. 71 and Central Michigan is No. 75. Meanwhile, Oakland is rated No. 107.

HOGGING THE HARDWARE
In a four-week stretch, the Mid-American Conference has honored BGSU by handing down five MAC Player of the Week awards. Ashley Dunn has been named MAC East Division Defensive Player of the Week in each of the past two weeks. The week prior to that, Lindsey Butterfield earned Offensive Player of the Week honors and Leah Shaw was named Defensive Player of the Week. The week before that, Paige Penrod earned MAC East Division Offensive Player of the Week honors. Dunn has now been named MAC Defensive Player of the Week four times in her career. For Penrod, she has earned three Player of the Week honors (two offensive and one defensive), while Butterfield and Shaw were named for the first time. Along with those four, Danielle Tonyan and Kari Galen also have been named MAC Player of the Week at least one time in their careers.

HITTING ON ALL CYLINDERS
Junior outside hitter Paige Penrod and junior setter Laura Avila have been playing at an extraordinary level lately. Penrod is averaging 4.54 kills per set over the past 10 matches, posting at least 11 kills in all of those contests. During the same stretch, Avila is averaging 11.6 assists per set and has had at least 50 four times. Prior to these past 10 matches, Avila had only handed out 50 assists in a match one time in her career.

SHE'S ON A ROLL
Junior outside hitter Lindsey Butterfield has possibly been the most critical part of the Falcons' 6-0 start in league play, stepping up her game once conference action began. Butterfield never had more than seven kills a year ago and reached double-digit kill totals just four times in 11 non-conference matches this year. But since MAC play has begun, she has at least 10 in 5-of-6 matches and is hitting .289, a strong improvement over her .221 attack percentage in non-conference contests.

BLOCK PARTY
Senior middle Leah Shaw has been almost impossible to hit around since MAC play began. She set a new career-high with seven blocks in a three-set win over Kent State and then followed that up with 12 blocks in the four-set win at Buffalo, the most for a BGSU player since Kendra Halm had 14 in 2008. Her 11 block assists in that match tied the program record for a four-set match. Since MAC play has begun, Shaw has 33 blocks, an average of 1.57 per set, which is the best in the conference.

A RECORD-BREAKING NIGHT
In Bowling Green's win over Buffalo, the Falcons set or tied a number of blocking records. The team had 23.0 team blocks, which are the most ever by a BGSU team in a four-set victory. The team also had a program record 40 block assists, while Leah Shaw tied the school record with 11 block assists in a four-set match.

NEW COACHING STAFF
For the first time in 30 years, the BGSU volleyball team has a new head coach. Three-time Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year Danijela Tomic takes over leadership of the program after 29-year head coach Denise Van De Walle retired following the 2011 season. Tomic spent seven years as the head coach at FIU, racking up a career record of 158-61. Assistant coaches Tucker Short and Jessica Hohl are also new to the program, as is Coordinator of Operations Lindsay Laurent.

BEST IN THE MAC
Junior Paige Penrod leads the MAC with 0.37 service aces per set. For much of the year, she has also led the conference in kills but currently ranks second at 4.08, one of only two players in the league averaging at least 4.00 per set.

CAN YOU DIG IT?
In the team's first three matches, BGSU had 28 fewer digs than its opponents, but the Falcons have worked hard to improve in that area and it has paid off. The Falcons have outdug 11 of their 14 opponents since that time (including 5-of-6 conference teams), posting a total of 76 more than their opponents. In six league matches, BGSU has 47 more digs than opponents.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
BGSU is 4-0 inside the Stroh Center in 2012 and the Falcons have the third-best home attendance in the league at 715 (only Ohio and Western Michigan are better). A year ago, BGSU stunned Michigan State in four sets in the Stroh Center behind a program-record crowd of 2,961.

STACKING UP THE MAC
The list below shows where BGSU ranks as a team and individuals among the MAC leaders in various statistical categories. Team or individual stats that rank first in the MAC are bolded and italicized:

OVERALL STAT LEADERS
TEAM STATS (Rank out of 12 MAC team)
Hitting Percentage – 6. BGSU .213
Opponent Hitting Percentage – 5. BGSU .199
Assists – 5. BGSU 12.48
Kills – 5. BGSU 13.76
Blocks – 2. BGSU 2.32
Service Aces – 5. BGSU 1.27
Digs – 6. BGSU 14.92

INDIVIDUAL STATS (Top 10 rankings)
Hitting Percentage – 6. Leah Shaw .300
Kills – 2. Paige Penrod 4.08; 8. Danielle Tonyan 3.34
Assists – 4. Laura Avila 10.63
Service Aces – 1. Paige Penrod 0.37
Blocks – 3. Kaitlyn Skinner 1.07; 4. Leah Shaw 1.07
Digs – 9. Ashley Dunn 4.24

MAC MATCHES ONLY STAT LEADERS
TEAM STATS (Rank out of 12 MAC team)
Hitting Percentage – 3. BGSU .249
Opponent Hitting Percentage – 1. BGSU .126
Assists – 2. BGSU 13.38
Kills – 2. BGSU 14.67
Blocks – 1. BGSU 3.10
Service Aces – 4. BGSU 1.29
Digs – 3. BGSU 16.76

INDIVIDUAL STATS (Top 10 rankings)
Hitting Percentage – 10. Danielle Tonyan .301
Kills – T3. Paige Penrod 4.00
Assists – 4. Laura Avila 11.24
Service Aces – 10. Ashley Dunn 0.29
Blocks – 1. Leah Shaw 1.57, 4. Kaitlyn Skinner 1.37
Digs – 1. Ashley Dunn 5.52

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Much like the MAC leaders, Paige Penrod ranks among the top 100 in the country in three statistical categories – kills, points, and aces. Listed below is how BG ranks nationally as a team and individually:

TEAM STATS (Rank out of 328 NCAA Division I teams)
Service Aces – 143. Bowling Green 1.27
Assists – 86. Bowling Green 12.48
Blocks – 73. Bowling Green 2.32
Digs – 148. Bowling Green 14.92
Hitting Percentage – 121. Bowling Green .213
Kills – 56. Bowling Green 13.76

INDIVIDUAL STATS (Top 250 Nationally)
Aces – 76. Paige Penrod 0.37
Assists – 56. Laura Avila 10.63
Blocks – 138. Kaitlyn Skinner 1.07; 140. Leah Shaw 1.07
Digs – 145. Ashley Dunn 4.24
Hitting Percentage – 218. Leah Shaw .300
Kills – 42. Paige Penrod 4.08; 172. Danielle Tonyan 3.34
Points – 36. Paige Penrod 4.69; 190. Danielle Tonyan 3.80

DUNN IS DIGGING IT
Ashley Dunn has already put her name in the BGSU record book a couple of times. As a freshman, she posted 457 digs, eighth most in program history. She followed that up with 450 a year ago, tenth most. She went over 1,000 career digs earlier this year and moved into the top 10 in BGSU history against Buffalo. With 1,170 career digs, Dunn currently ranks seventh all-time, trailing Lori Kemmerer (1996-99) by 27 for sixth place.

CHARTING THEIR CAREERS
Junior setter Laura Avila moved into 10^th place in career assists at BGSU earlier this year and became just the 10^th player in program history with 2,000 career assists in the win over Ohio. She needs 391 more to tie Wendy Watkins (1994-97) for ninth place on the leaderboard. Paige Penrod is on pace to move into the top 10 in two career statistical categories by the end of her junior year. She needs 201 more attack attempts to tie Kendra Halm for tenth place and 17 more aces to tie Wendy Watkins for tenth. Ashley Dunn has already moved into seventh place in career digs at BGSU and could climb to sixth this week.

THE DYNAMIC DUO
Bowling Green has one of the most talented attacking duos in the Mid-American Conference in juniors Paige Penrod and Danielle Tonyan. The pair is one of only two sets of teammates in the MAC to both rank in the top eight in the league in kills (Penrod is second and Tonyan is eighth) and they were the only set of teammates to both rank in the top 10 a year ago. Both have recorded more than 300 kills in each of their first two years and are on pace to reach that total again this year. Only one player in program history, Corey Domek, reached 300 kills in all four years of a career. Penrod, in fact, needs just seven more kills for 1,000 in her career.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Five 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). Paige Penrod has a team-high 25 career double-doubles after posting nine so far this year. Laura Avila follows with 16 (six this year) and Erica Fullenkamp has five. Danielle Tonyan has both of her career double-doubles this year and Ashley Dunn has one. Penrod's 25 career double-doubles are the most since Chrissy Gothke had 38 from 2003-06.

Double-Doubles In 2012
8/24/12 at Marquette – Danielle Tonyan 12 kills, 10 digs
8/25/12 vs. Northwestern – Danielle Tonyan 19 kills, 10 digs
8/25/12 vs. Northwestern – Paige Penrod 13 kills, 11 digs
9/1/12 at Indiana – Paige Penrod 26 kills, 10 digs
9/1/12 at Indiana – Laura Avila 44 assists, 10 digs
9/7/12 vs. Portland State – Laura Avila 49 assists, 11 digs
9/8/12 at BYU – Paige Penrod 11 kills, 13 digs
9/8/12 vs. Utah – Paige Penrod 30 kills, 19 digs
9/8/12 vs. Utah – Laura Avila 64 assists, 14 digs
9/14/12 vs. UAB – Paige Penrod 19 kills, 12 digs
9/14/12 vs. UAB – Laura Avila 60 assists, 10 digs
9/14/12 vs. Jacksonville State – Laura Avila 50 assists, 15 digs
9/21/12 vs. Ohio – Paige Penrod 14 kills, 13 digs
9/21/12 vs. Ohio – Laura Avila 37 assists, 11 digs
9/28/12 at Akron – Paige Penrod 15 kills, 15 digs
9/29/12 at Buffalo – Paige Penrod 11 kills, 11 digs
10/6/12 vs. Western Michigan – Paige Penrod 21 kills, 14 digs

20 KILLS OR 20 DIGS
Paige Penrod has posted 20 kills in a match nine times in her career and Danielle Tonyan has reached that total eight times. Against Jacksonville State, Tonyan and Penrod both recorded 20 kills, marking the third time in their careers that they have done it in the same match. Penrod has reached 20 or more kills four times this year. Those nine career 20-kill matches for Penrod are the most since Corey Domek also had nine from 2006-09. Ashley Dunn posted seven 20-dig matches as a freshman, three more as a sophomore, and has four more this year for a career total of 14. Her career total is the most since Chelsey Meek had 44 career matches with at least 20 digs from 2005-08. Cassie Berning posted the first 20-dig match of her career against UAB.

20-Dig Matches In 2012
8/25/12 vs. Northwestern – Ashley Dunn 23 digs
9/1/12 at Indiana – Ashley Dunn 20 digs
9/14/12 vs. UAB – Cassie Berning 22 digs
9/29/12 at Buffalo – Ashley Dunn 27 digs
10/6/12 vs. Western Michigan – Ashley Dunn 29 digs

20-Kill Matches In 2012
9/1/12 at Indiana – Paige Penrod 26 kills
9/8/12 vs. Utah – Paige Penrod 30 kills
9/14/12 vs. Jacksonville State – Paige Penrod 21 kills
9/14/12 vs. Jacksonville State – Danielle Tonyan 20 kills
10/6/12 vs. Western Michigan – Paige Penrod 21 kills

THE CLASSROOM COMES FIRST
Following her MAC East Offensive Player of the Week recognition, Lindsey Butterfield was also named the MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Sept. 26. A biology major with a 3.89 GPA, Butterfield earned the league's weekly award given to just one male and one female student-athlete across all sports.

ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS
Four different BGSU players earned all-tournament honors at one of the four pre-conference tournament this year. Paige Penrod earned the honor twice (making five in her career), being named to the team at the last two tournaments, the Purdue Active Ankle Challenge and the BYU Nike Invitational. Laura Avila was also named all-tournament at the Purdue Active Ankle Challenge (the second of her career), while Kaitlyn Skinner earned her first career all-tournament honor at the Indiana Invitational. Danielle Tonyan opened the year by being named to the Marquette Challenge All-Tournament team, the third all-tournament honor she has earned in her three years at BGSU.

PRESEASON PICKS
BGSU was picked to finish third in the Mid-American Conference East Division, by vote of the league's 12 head coaches in the MAC Preseason Poll. The Falcons trailed just Ohio and Miami in the poll, and ranked ahead of Buffalo, Kent State, and Akron. Western Michigan was picked to win the West and the Broncos were also selected as the overall regular season champions and the tournament champions.

TONYAN NAMED PRESEASON ALL-MAC
Junior right side hitter Danielle Tonyan was named East Division Preseason All-MAC, in voting by the league's 12 head coaches. Tonyan is coming off of a sophomore year in which she was named first team All-MAC and ranked third in the league in kills. She finished the year among the top 100 nationally in both kills and points. She joined Ohio's Chelsea Bilger, Lexie Hartnett and Kelly Lamberti, Buffalo's Liz Scott and Miami's Madison Hardy on the team. The West Division Preseason All-MAC team consisted of Western Michigan's Jessica Brown and Terin Norris, Ball State's Kara Bates, Central Michigan's Kaitlyn McIntyre, Eastern Michigan's Rachel Iaquaniello, and Northern Illinois' Mary Kurisch.

OLD SCHOOL
For the past few years, we've talked about how young the BGSU volleyball team is, but that's not the case anymore. Eleven of the 13 team members are either juniors or seniors (four seniors and seven juniors). That total is more than any other in the Mid-American Conference. Akron, Ball State, and Northern Illinois all have nine juniors and seniors. On the other end of the spectrum, Kent State has just three and Western Michigan has four.

TRANSFER OF POWER
The lone newcomer on the BGSU volleyball team is sophomore transfer Kelsey Bates. Bates, who hails from Willshire, Ohio, spent her freshman season at Syracuse before returning to her home state for this season.

MOST IMPROVED
With an 11-win increase over a year ago, Bowling Green was easily the most improved team in the Mid-American Conference a year ago. The Falcons improved from 8-24 in 2010 to 19-12 in 2011. The second most improved team in the conference was Central Michigan, which had a five-win increase.

MAC ATTACK
Danielle Tonyan was named first team All-MAC as a sophomore in 2011, becoming the first player to earn that honor since Shari Luther in 2009. Kendra Halm, in 2006, was the last BGSU sophomore to be named first-team All-MAC and she went on to earn first team honors again as both a junior and senior.

HITTING THE BOOKS
Bowling Green has always stressed academics and Falcon volleyball has been a model of that philosophy. The 2011 BGSU volleyball team received the AVCA Academic Team Award for the 12th 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 13 times overall. Two BGSU players, Laura Avila and Kari Galen, were named Academic All-MAC a year ago, while Lindsey Butterfield, Libby Dachenhaus, Ashley Dunn, and the graduated Emily Kauth were named honorable mention.

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