Falcons Begin Quest For MAC Championship Thursday

TELEVISION
-Thursday's game at Miami will not be available on television.
-Saturday's game vs. Northern Illinois will air live on Time Warner Cable Sports. The game can also be found on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN app.

TICKETS
-Tickets for Thursday night's match at Miami are available for purchase at MURedHawks.com.
-Fans can purchase tickets for Saturday night's match at BGSUFalcons.com, or by calling 877-BGSU-TICKET.

WEBSITES/SOCIAL MEDIA
-Bowling Green (BGSUFalcons.com); Miami (MURedHawks.com); Northern Illinois (NIUHuskies.com)
-Stay up-to-date all season long by following BGSU Athletics on Twitter (@BGAthletics). Fans can find volleyball updates @BGSUVolleyball.

LIVE STATS/LIVE AUDIO/LIVE VIDEO
-Live stats can be found for both matches this week at BGSUFalcons.com.
-Live audio is available courtesy of BGRSO, all season long, at BGSUFalcons.com.
-Thursday's match at Miami will be live streamed online. A link to the video stream can be found at BGSUFalcons.com. Saturday's match will be aired on ESPN3.com.

SERIES INFO
-Miami leads Bowling Green in the all-time series, 42-27-0. The Falcons are just 12-19 at Miami in series history.
-Northern Illinois leads the Falcons 24-9 in the series. Bowling Green is 5-8 vs. the Huskies at home.

PROMOTIONS
-Saturday night's match has been tabbed 'Overflow The Stroh'
-The first 2,000 fans will be given a glow stick, to help the Falcons light up the Stroh.
-Youth (8th grade and younger) can print off a flyer from BGSUFalcons.com for a $2 ticket.
-Fans can receive a FREE volleyball ticket when they present their football ticket from Saturday afternoon's game vs. Akron.

The Week Ahead
The Bowling Green State University volleyball team will transition into Mid-American Conference play this week, as the Falcons play Miami and Northern Illinois. Bowling Green travels to face the RedHawks on Thursday night in Oxford, before hosting the Huskies on Saturday night at the Stroh Center.

Overflow The Stroh
Saturday's match against NIU has been designated as Overflow The Stroh. In a rematch of Bowling Green's thrilling five-set win over the Huskies in the 2012 MAC Tournament championship, Saturday night's game will be aired live on Time Warner Cable Sports and ESPN3.

Ticket Deals For Overflow The Stroh
Fans that present their ticket from Saturday afternoon's football game vs. Akron (2:30 p.m. kickoff) will be able to get one free ticket to Saturday night's volleyball match. In addition, youth (8th grade and younger) can present a flyer from BGSU Athletics (found on BGSUFalcons.com) for a $2 ticket.

A Look Back At The Non-Conference Schedule
The Falcons are 3-8 as they head into MAC play this week, after facing arguably the toughest non-conference schedule in school history. The Falcons faced six teams that were ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA Preseason Top 25 Poll, and faced a total of four ranked teams in the first 11 games. The Falcons began the season by hosting Marquette, #25 Creighton, and #13 BYU in the Bowling Green Hampton Inn Invitational. The Orange and Brown went 1-2 during that tournament, defeating 13th-ranked BYU in five sets for the program's first ever win against a top 25 opponent. The next weekend, the Falcons went 0-2, falling at Notre Dame and vs. No. 22 Purdue, as well as in an exhibition to Polish professional team Dabrowa. The following weekend, the Falcons played another ranked team in No. 25 Wisconsin, in the InnTowner Invitational hosted by the Badgers. The Falcons closed the non-conference portion of the schedule by winning two of the final three, defeating Youngstown State and Rice this past week.

Previewing The RedHawks
Miami is coached by Carolyn Condit, who is in her 30th season as the head coach at MU. The RedHawks are 8-4 entering MAC play this week, including a 2-0 mark inside Millett Hall. Miami enters Thursday's match looking to snap a three-game losing streak. Miami is led by Jenny Ingle and Meg Riley, who both average more than 2.7 kills/set. The 'Hawks also utilize a two-setter system, as Riley and Krista Brakauskas both have at least 220 assists. On the defensive side of things, Ingle is a force to be reckon with, as she averages more than a block per set. Five Miami players have at least 80 digs on the year.

A Look At The Huskies
Northern Illinois is coached by the 2012 MAC Coach of the Year, Ray Gooden, who is in his 12th season at the helm of the Red and Black. Gooden's Huskies come into the week with an overall record of 8-6. The Huskies will travel to Kalamazoo for a matchup with Western Michigan on Thursday night, before continuing on to Bowling Green. Last season, NIU won the regular season finale against the Falcons, but the Orange and Brown got revenge in the MAC Championship game to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Mackenzie Roddy leads the NIU attack, averaging 3.44 kills/set. Setter Alexis Gonzalez has 499 assists on the year to lead the team. Four Huskies have totaled at least 100 digs on the season.

Last Week
BGSU went 2-1 last week, moving their record inside the Stroh Center to 2-2 on the season with their three-set win over Youngstown State. The Falcons then traveled to Louisville, Ky. for the Louisville Invitational Active Ankle Challenge. Bowling Green finished the tournament 1-1, falling to Virginia Tech before defeating Rice in four sets on Saturday night. In that match, freshman Jelena Sunjic posted a career high with 19 kills. Tuesday's win was the first three-set victory for the Falcons this season.

Stacking Up Against The MAC
Similar to 2012, the Falcons struggled against a difficult non-conference schedule early on this season. While the Falcons rank last in the MAC in both hitting percentage and opponent hitting percentage, that stat is not indicative of the Falcons' potential once MAC play begins. Bowling Green ranks fifth in assists, fourth in blocks, and eighth in kills among 12 MAC teams.

Falcons' Rank Among Best In MAC
Several Falcons rank among the top ten in many statistical categories through the completion of non-conference play. Junior setter Erica Fullenkamp ranks eighth in assists, averaging 7.87 per set. Senior Paige Penrod is ninth in the MAC with 3.15 kills per set, while libero Ashley Dunn ranks 10th, averaging 4.10 digs per set. A pair of Falcons rank in the top nine for blocks, with Kaitlyn Skinner (1.28/set) ranking third, and Danielle Tonyan (1.00) in ninth.

Successful Senior Class Closes In On Career Marks
Several members of the senior class are quickly closing in on career records.
-Laura Avila currently ranks 2nd all-time with 3,049 assists. She is just 70 assists shy of moving into 4th place in school history.
-Ashley Dunn currently sits in 2nd with 1,639 career digs. She is 648 digs shy of Chelsea Meek's all-time record.
-Paige Penrod currently sits in the top 10 in three different categories. Penrod's 3,800 attack attempts currently rank second in school history. She is only 21 attempts shy of moving into a first-place tie with Carlyn Esslinger. Penrod currently sits in 5th place in school-history with 1,354 career kills. She is just 73 shy of 4th place, and 355 short of Tammy Schiller's all-time mark. Penrod is currently 9th all-time with 105 service aces. She is 20 shy of Corey Amos for 8th on the all-time list.
-Senior Danielle Tonyan is just shy of the top ten all-time for a couple of different statistical categories. Her 1,203 career kills are just 40 shy of Holli Costein's mark for 10th all-time, while her 2,934 attack attempts are just 50 shy of Heather Murphy's 2,984 for 10th on the all-time list.

Sunjic Shines In Louisville
Freshman Jelena Sunjic has been heating up as the season goes on, as the freshman from Croatia has adjusted nicely to the pace of play of collegiate volleyball. Sunjic, a native of Metkovic, Croatia, had 33 kills in three matches last week, including a career-high 19 kills in a four-set victory over Rice. Sunjic (prounounced Shoon-itch) currently ranks third on the team with 109 kills on the season.

Butterfield Has CLASS
Senior Lindsey Butterfield is not only a star on the volleyball court, but one off of it, as well. A nominee for the Senior CLASS Award, Butterfield embodies what it means to be a student-athlete. Butterfield, who was named first team all-MAC last season, holds a 3.824 GPA in biology. Butterfield is currently second on the team in kills, with 119, and was named to the preseason all-MAC East team by the MAC's head coaches prior to the season.

Been There, Dunn That
Senior libero Ashley Dunn is a veteran on the court for the Falcon volleyball program. A graduate of Bowling Green High School, Dunn came to Bowling Green in 2010 under head coach, at the time, Denise Van de Walle. Dunn currently ranks second all-time at Bowling Green with 1,639 career digs. She has played in every set during the past three seasons for the Falcons, and was an integral part of last season's MAC Championship team.

Skinner A Dual Threat At The Net
Kaitlyn Skinner has been a force at the net for the Falcons all season long, playing strong defense and picking and choosing when to use her offensive skills. A native of Ontario, Skinner currently leads the Falcons with 50 blocks (2 BS, 48 BA). She also has 48 kills on the season, making her a dual-threat at the net.

First National Broadcast Ever
Saturday night's match will mark the first time in program history that a Bowling Green State University volleyball match will be broadcast nationally. Time Warner Cable Sports will broadcast regionally on television, while ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN app will air the match to be available to a national audience.

Time Warner Cable Sports
Time Warner Cable Sports will air five MAC Volleyball matches this season, including Saturday night's match between the Falcons and Huskies at the Stroh Center. The matches can be viewed regionally on Time Warner Cable.

Bob McElligott (Play-by-Play)
Bob McElligott is the radio play-by-play voice of the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets and has been with Time Warner Cable Sports for the past 11 years. He started in the Upstate New York Region calling basketball and football games for Syracuse and Colgate Universities, as well as baseball and hockey, at the Triple-A level, for the Syracuse Chiefs and Syracuse Crunch. The Somerset, PA native handles play-by-play for football, basketball, hockey and volleyball on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.

Lyndsay Rowley (Color Analyst)
Lyndsay Rowley hails originally from Columbus, Ohio. However, she attended High Point University in North Carolina, where she played four years of Division I college volleyball. After graduating, Lyndsay moved back to Ohio, and was a graduate assistant volleyball coach while getting her master's degree at Ohio Dominican University. Lyndsay got valuable on-camera experience through football sideline reporting and volleyball color commentating for Time Warner Cable Sports Channel and Sports Time Ohio. Lyndsay also does broadcast work in North Carolina. Currently, along with doing sideline reporting and color commentating for Time Warner Cable Sports Channel in Ohio and North Carolina, she also serves as the in-house television host for the Charlotte Bobcats and hosts various shows for the ACC Digital Network.

Recapping The 2012 MAC Championship Match
The Bowling Green volleyball team is returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 21 years as the Falcons fought back from a two-set deficit and fought off two match points to defeat Northern Illinois 20-25, 24-26, 26-24, 25-20, 15-4 Sunday afternoon at the SPIRE Institute.

After dropping the first two sets, Bowling Green trailed 24-22 in the third, leaving Northern Illinois just one point shy of the MAC Tournament. Northern Illinois' Meghan Romo had an attack error and then BGSU's Lindsey Butterfield tied the score with a kill. After a Northern Illinois timeout, Butterfield added another kill and one more attack error by the Huskies gave the Falcons a 26-24 win.

That four-point stretch propelled the Falcons forward and BGSU capitalized. The Falcons jumped out to an 11-5 lead in the fourth and never looked back to send the match to a deciding fifth set.

Heading into the fifth, Bowling Green had all the momentum and confidence that it would win. The Falcons had won a fifth set in the semifinals just one day earlier and had won seven consecutive matches that went five sets. The Huskies never stood a chance.

Bowling Green scored the first four points of the fifth just a day after scoring the first six points of the fifth against Western Michigan in the MAC Tournament Semifinals. NIU temporarily stalled the Bowling Green attack with two straight points but a Paige Penrod kill started an eight-point run in which the Falcons recorded four blocks. Once the dust cleared, the Falcons led 12-2 and got the championship-clinching point on a Butterfield kill from the left side for the 15-4 win.

As usual, the team's three first team All-MAC hitters were the leaders. Butterfield tied her career-high with 21 kills and added 14 digs to be named to the all-tournament team. Penrod was named MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player after posting 17 kills and a career-best 28 digs. Danielle Tonyan added 15 kills, eight digs and four blocks.

Bowling Green returns to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1991, which is also the last time the Falcons won the MAC Tournament. BGSU had lost in the MAC Championship on five other occasions. The defeat marked the third consecutive year that Northern Illinois lost in the MAC Championship.

The win also avenged a number of heart-breaking defeats at the hands of the Huskies. A year ago, Northern Illinois ended Bowling Green's season in the first round of the MAC Tournament, sweeping the Falcons. Just a week ago, NIU beat Bowling Green in the final match of the regular season, costing the Falcons a MAC regular season championship and the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament. Instead, the Falcons had to battle through as the No. 2 seed, sweeping No. 7 seed Eastern Michigan in the quarterfinals before defeating No. 3 seed Western Michigan and No. 4 seed Northern Illinois in five sets.

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