Falcons Close Pre-MAC Slate At Purdue

Purdue Active Ankle Challenge
Sept. 14-15, 2012
Mackey Arena/West Lafayette, Ind.

BGSU vs. Alabama Birmingham
Sept. 14, 2012; 12:00 p.m.
Live Stats: Link Coming Soon

BGSU vs. Jacksonville State
Sept. 14, 2012; 5:00 p.m.
Live Stats: Courtesy Purdue

BGSU at #14 Purdue
Sept. 15, 2012; 7:00 p.m.
Live Stats: Courtesy Purdue
Live Video: Courtesy Purdue
Live Audio: Courtesy Purdue

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

Bowling Green closes out its pre-conference schedule this weekend by competing at the Active Ankle Challenge, hosted by Purdue. While Purdue typically plays in Holloway Gymnasium, this tournament will take place in Mackey Arena. The Falcons will face 5-6 Alabama Birmingham Friday at noon and will face 6-5 Jacksonville State at 5 p.m. On Saturday, the Falcons will face No. 14 Purdue, at 6-2 on the year, in the final match of the tournament at 7 p.m. BGSU is just 2-6 on the year but those six losses have come against teams that are a combined 45-11 on the season.

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
* UAB Preview (not yet available)
* Jacksonville State Preview (not yet available)
* Purdue Preview (not yet available)

ABOUT ALABAMA BIRMINGHAM
UAB is off to a 5-6 start to the season, but that includes a three-set sweep of Mid-American Conference foe Buffalo. The Blazers do not have a player averaging three kills per set but serve aggressively and defend well at the net. Three different players have at least 10 aces and 6-foot-2 senior middle blocker Sam Serley is a force at the net, posting 1.32 blocks per set. Serley also leads the team in kills (2.66 per set) and boasts a .376 attack percentage. Head Coach Kerry Messersmith is in her seventh season at UAB with a record of 136-78. Her career record of 610-330 makes her one of the winningest active coaches in the country.

ABOUT JACKSONVILLE STATE
Jacksonville State has opened the season with a 6-5 record, including a tournament championship at the season-opening Alabama State ISTAP Invitational. Since that point, though, the Gamecocks are just 2-5. Jen Meyer, a 6-foot-1 senior outside hitter, has more than 100 kills on the year and is hitting at a .314 clip, while 5-foot-7 senior Kelsey Anderson leads a strong service game with 17 aces. Meyer and 6-3 sophomore middle blocker Nicole Merget lead the defense at the net as each have more than 30 blocks. Joseph Goodson is in his second season at Jacksonville State and has a career record of 17-25.

ABOUT PURDUE
Purdue was considered during the preseason as a national championship contender and has started the year with a 6-2 record, dropping two matches against ranked teams in Washington and Louisville. The Boilermakers do just about everything well, including hitting .262, averaging 1.56 aces per set, and posting 2.26 blocks per set. Ariel Turner, a 6-foot-1 senior outside hitter, averages 4.00 kills per set and leads the team with 13 aces. At the net, Purdue has five players with double-digit block totals. Head Coach Dave Shondell is a member of one of the best-known families in volleyball coaching as his father Don won 769 career matches and his brother Steve is head coach at Ball State. Dave is 197-110 in year 10 at Purdue.

FOLLOWING THE FALCONS
If you can't be at the tournament this weekend, live stats will be available via links at BGSUFalcons.com. Fans can also 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
BGSU's intersquad scrimmage was televised via tape-delay by the Buckeye Cable Sports Network (BCSN), broadcasting to the greater Toledo area. BCSN will also televise the Falcons' Sept. 22 match against Kent State. More information about BCSN is available online at www.bcsn.tv.

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.

ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS
Bowling Green has spread out the all-tournament honors this year as three different players have earned the award at three different events. Most recently, junior Paige Penrod was named all-tournament at the BYU Nike Invitational. That came one week after junior 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.

ACE ACE BABY
Since being held without an ace in the season-opener against Marquette, junior Paige Penrod has posted double-digit ace totals in seven consecutive matches. Penrod ranks second in the MAC in that statistic and had a season-high four against Georgia Tech. Her 16 aces this year give her 74 for her career, putting her 24 away from Wendy Watkins to move into the top 10 in BGSU history.

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 paid off at the BYU Nike Invitational. Bowling Green had more digs than its opponents in all three matches during the past weekend and peaked with 95 digs against Utah, 18 more than the Utes.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
A year ago, Bowling Green opened the year by winning 12 consecutive matches but accomplished that against a relatively weak schedule. This year, the Falcons beefed up the schedule and the strength of the opponents has shown early. Bowling Green's eight opponents thus far are a combined 55-20 and two teams, Northwestern and BYU, remain undefeated. BYU, in fact, is ranked in the top 25 in the country. The Falcons get little relief this weekend as they will face another ranked team in Purdue.

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:

TEAM STATS (Rank out of 12 MAC team)
Hitting Percentage – 9. BGSU .184
Opponent Hitting Percentage – 12. BGSU .247
Assists – 9. BGSU 11.40
Kills – 8. BGSU 12.50
Blocks – 9. BGSU 1.82
Service Aces – 1. BGSU 1.47
Digs – 11. BGSU 13.50

INDIVIDUAL STATS (Top 10 rankings)
Hitting Percetage – 2. Leah Shaw .361
Kills – 4. Paige Penrod 3.83; 8. Danielle Tonyan 3.33
Assists – 6. Laura Avila 9.73
Service Aces – 1. Paige Penrod 0.53

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Much like the MAC leaders, Bowling Green fares well in comparison to the rest of the country in service aces. The Falcons rank 73^rd out of 328 teams in aces and Paige Penrod is 22^nd in the country individually. Listed below is how BG ranks nationally as a team and individually

TEAM STATS (Rank out of 328 NCAA Division I teams)
Service Aces – 73. Bowling Green 1.47
Assists – 179. Bowling Green 11.4
Blocks – 208. Bowling Green 1.82
Digs – 231. Bowling Green 13.5
Hitting Percentage – 197. Bowling Green .184
Kills – 154. Bowling Green 12.5

INDIVIDUAL STATS (Top 250 Nationally)
Aces – 22. Paige Penrod 0.53
Assists – 113. Laura Avila 9.73
Blocks – 235. Kaitlyn Skinner 0.97
Digs – 223. Ashley Dunn 3.73
Kills – 80. Paige Penrod 3.83; 179. Danielle Tonyan 3.33
Points – 57. Paige Penrod 4.58; 184. Danielle Tonyan 3.82

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK
In her first two seasons at Bowling Green, Kaitlyn Skinner posted just seven career blocks. But in just the first eight matches of 2012, the junior middle has 28 blocks, averaging a team-best 0.97 per set. Skinner has recorded at least two blocks in seven of the eight matches this year and has twice posted at least six. She had a career-best seven against Northwestern during the opening weekend of the season.

HOLDING ALL THE ACES
Bowling Green ranks first in the MAC in service aces, averaging 1.47 per set. The Falcons have been led in the early going by Paige Penrod, who also leads the league with 0.53 per set. BGSU has at least three aces in every match this year, with a season-high seven against Northwestern.

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 this weekend and needs only 105 more to tie Jo Lynn Williamson for the top 10 in a career at BGSU.

ON-PACE
While it is still early in the season, BGSU has a few players on pace to break into the top 10 in a single-season in some statistical categories. Leah Shaw's .361 attack percentage would be the fourth-best in program history. Paige Penrod is on pace for 56 service aces, which would be second-most all-time at Bowling Green, and her 0.53 aces per set would put her third.

CAREER MARKS IN DOUBT
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 603 more attack attempts to tie Kendra Halm for tenth place and 24 more aces to tie Wendy Watkins for tenth. Ashley Dunn is 105 digs away from Jo Lynn Williamson to move into the top 10 all-time at BGSU and Laura Avila is 72 assists shy of Sara Sikorski for tenth.

BEATING UP THE BIG TEN
With a four-set win over Indiana earlier this year, Bowling Green improved to 2-1 against Big Ten schools in the past two years. The Falcons defeated Michigan State in four sets a year ago and lost to Northwestern in four sets during the opening weekend of the 2012 regular season. The Falcons will put that record on the line against Purdue this weekend.

THE DYNAMIC DUO
Bowling Green has one of the most talented attacking duos in the Mid-American Conference in juniors Danielle Tonyan and Paige Penrod. The pair is the only set of teammates in the MAC to both rank in the top eight in the league in kills (Penrod is fourth and Tonyan is eighth) and they were the only set of teammates to do that a year ago as well. Both have recorded more than 300 kills in each of their first two years. Only one player in program history, Corey Domek, reached 300 kills in all four years of a 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 20 career double-doubles after posting four so far this year. Laura Avila follows with 13 (three this year) and Erica Fullenkamp has five. Danielle Tonyan has both of her career double-doubles this year and Ashley Dunn has one.

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

20 KILLS OR 20 DIGS
Danielle Tonyan and Paige Penrod have each recorded 20 kills in a match seven times in their career. While Tonyan is yet to have 20 this year, Penrod has posted at least 26 twice. Those seven career 20-kill matches are the most for a BGSU player since Corey Domek had nine from 2006-09. Ashley Dunn posted seven 20-dig matches as a freshman, three more as a sophomore, and has two more this year for a career total of 12. Her career total is the most since Chelsey Meek had 44 career matches with at least 20 digs from 2005-08.

20-Dig Matches In 2012
8/25/12 vs. Northwestern – Ashley Dunn 23 digs
9/1/12 at Indiana – Ashley Dunn 20 digs

20-Kill Matches In 2012
9/1/12 at Indiana – Paige Penrod 26 kills
9/8/12 vs. Utah – Paige Penrod 30 kills

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.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
The Stroh Center has proven to be a strong home court advantage for all three BGSU athletic teams that compete in the arena. For volleyball, BGSU stunned Michigan State a year ago in the arena in four sets behind a record crowd of 2,961. In fact, that was the largest crowd any MAC team played in front of a year ago, home or away.

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.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Next Event

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Bowling Green State University Athletics

Falcons Close Pre-MAC Slate At Purdue

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos