Falcons Look To Build Winning Streak On Road

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FALCONS LOOK TO ADD TO WINNING STREAK ON ROAD
Bowling Green, now in the thick of the race for a MAC Tournament spot after going 2-0 last week, heads to the road for the final four matches of the regular season. Currently in a three-way tie for the eighth and final spot to the league tournament, the Falcons play at Miami Thursday night and then at Northern Illinois on Saturday. The Miami match is set for 7 pm and BGSU will face Northern Illinois at 8 pm on an ESPN3 national broadcast.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
Both matches during the weekend can be followed in a variety of ways. Live stats and live audio will be available through links at BGSUFalcons.com. Both games will have audio broadcasts courtesy of flagship coverage of BGSU Volleyball through the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO). Saturday's match will be broadcast nationally on ESPN3. Fans can also follow along on Twitter via @BGSUVolleyball.

ABOUT MIAMI
Since starting conference play with a 2-3 record, Miami has been on fire, winning seven consecutive matches and moving into third place overall in the league standings. In fact, the RedHawks have dropped only four sets during the winning streak. Miami has leaned on strong defense and efficient offense. The RedHawks rank in the top 30 in the country in digs, while junior middle hitter Jenny Ingle leads the conference with a .392 attack percentage and sophomore middle hitter Paige Hill is third at .350. Head coach Carolyn Condit is in her 31st season leading the charge, with a career mark of 537-428.

ABOUT NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Northern Illinois enters the weekend with a record of 18-8 overall and an 11-1 mark in the conference. With a new MAC Tournament format, the Huskies are looking for one of the top two seeds, which carries with it byes through the first two rounds of the event. NIU ranks 16th in the country in service aces, averaging 1.63 per set with junior setter Alexis Gonzalez leading the way at 0.39 aces per set. Senior outside hitter Mackenzie Roddy is second in the MAC with 4.22 kills per set. Head coach Ray Gooden is in his 13th season leading the Huskies with a career mark of 242-171.

LAST WEEKEND
BGSU doubled its Mid-American Conference win total over the weekend by defeating Akron and Buffalo on back-to-back nights in the Stroh Center. The Falcons swept Akron and then beat Buffalo in five sets to avenge losses to both teams earlier this year. With 35 kills in the two matches, Nicole Slimko earned MAC East Division Offensive Player of the Week honors. Madeline Garda had 48 digs on the weekend and was named MAC East Division Defensive Player of the Week.

IN HER WORDS
"We have to continue playing like this on the road. These two wins should give us a lot of confidence. We have to continue to improve though."
-- BGSU Volleyball Coach Danijela Tomic

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
BGSU swept the MAC East Division Player of the Week honors this week as freshman Nicole Slimko earned the Offensive Player of the Week and sophomore Madeline Garda was named the Defensive Player of the Week. For both players, it is the first time in their careers that they were honored by the MAC for a weekly award.

CAN YOU DIG THIS?
Sophomore libero Madeline Garda continued her torrid pace of racking up digs over the past weekend. She has posted at least 15 digs in 10 of the past 11 matches and had 48 in the two contests Friday and Saturday, including 29, tying her career-high, against Buffalo. On the season, Garda is averaging 4.48 digs per set, an average that would place her fifth in a single season in BGSU history. In conference matches only, she is averaging 5.37 digs per set, most in the MAC.

TWO GRAND
With 47 assists against Toledo, Erica Fullenkamp reached 2,000 for her career despite the fact that this is her first full season as the team's setter. As a freshman, she recorded 449 assists splitting time as a setter and outside hitter. In 2012, Fullenkamp played just 19 sets and had 30 assists. A year ago, she had 839 assists in a split setter role before taking over full time this season. She currently has 825 assists and ranks fifth in the MAC with 9.93 assists per set in conference contests.

FIVE-SETTERS
With a win over Buffalo Saturday, Bowling Green improved to 4-3 in five-set matches this year and has gone 17-8 in three years under head coach Danijela Tomic in matches that have gone the distance. In fact, the Falcons have traditionally played well in five setters, posted a record of .500 or better in all but one season since 2005 with a winning percentage of .676 (46-22) since that time. Both the 2008 and 2012 teams went 9-1 in five-setters on the season.

AGE IS JUST A NUMBER
In just one year, the Bowling Green volleyball team went from being one of the most experienced programs in the country to one of the least. Eleven of the team's 13 players are either freshmen or sophomores and seniors Erica Fullenkamp and Kelsey Bates are the only remnants from a squad that won the MAC Championship just two years ago.

DT200
With a win over Akron Friday night, BGSU head coach Danijela Tomic won her 200th career match. She won 158 matches in seven years at Florida International and now has 43 wins in her third season at BGSU.

FANTASTIC FRESHMAN
Freshman outside hitter Nicole Slimko posted 31 kills in the team's five set victory over Wright State on Sept. 6, the most for a BGSU player since Oct. 8, 1999. Slimko currently leads the Falcons in kills with 3.32 per set. Her 299 kills leave her just one shy of becoming the sixth player since 1986 to record at least 300 as a freshman. She needs just 15 kills this weekend to move into fourth place in BGSU history for kills as a freshman.

MARATHON MATCH
Bowling Green and Wichita State combined to set a pair of NCAA records in their match at the Bluejay Invitational. Wichita State's 127 points were the most ever for a match in the 25-point era (since 2008) and Bowling Green's 124 points were the most for a losing team in the 25-point era. In fact, BGSU's 35-33 fourth-set win was the program's highest scoring set in the same 25-point era.

GETTING TO .200
Bowling Green is 7-1 this year when hitting at least .200, losing just once in a four-set match at Central Michigan, and 0-16 when attacking below that number.

CHAMPIONS IN THE CLASSROOM
BGSU Volleyball has been recognized by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) for 14 consecutive years for posting a team cumulative grade point average of 3.30 or higher. The string is the second-longest in the country among NCAA Division I institutions.

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