.png&type=webp)
Bowling Green State University Athletics
Friday, August 29
Bowling Green, Ohio
3 PM
Bowling Green State University
vs
Pittsburgh vs. Middle Tennessee State
Falcons Open Season By Hosting Hampton Inn Invitational
August 27, 2014 | Volleyball
Complete Game Notes (.pdf)
Live Stats For All Matches
Live Audio For BGSU Matches
Live Video For BGSU Matches
FALCONS HOST HAMPTON INN INVITATIONAL
The BGSU volleyball team opens the season Friday and Saturday by hosting the Hampton Inn Invitational in the Stroh Center. Dayton, Middle Tennessee State and Pittsburgh will all take part in the two-day round-robin event. Saturday night's BGSU contest against Pittsburgh will be Camper Reunion Night and will be televised in Northwest Ohio on BCSN.
FOLLOW THE FALCONS
All three matches during the weekend can be heard on FalconRadio.org through flagship coverage of BGSU Volleyball by the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO). Live stats and live video are also available via links found at BGSUFalcons.com. Follow along on Twitter via @BGSUVolleyball.
ABOUT DAYTON
A member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, Dayton faced BGSU in the final game of the regular season a year ago with the Flyers coming away with a 25-22, 24-26, 25-23, 25-20 win in Dayton. The Flyers were picked to finish third in the A10 Preseason Poll and will be led by Tim Horsmon, who is returning for his second stint at Dayton. From 2003-07, he went 128-43 and has a career mark of 304-207. The Flyers return three starters (and their libero) from an 18-16 team a year ago. In total, they have seven returning letter winners. A year ago, Dayton was among the nation's top blocking teams, with 3.00 blocks per set. However, Dayton graduated its top blocker from a year ago in Megan Campbell.
ABOUT MTSU
Middle Tennessee State was picked to finish seventh in the Conference USA Preseason Poll with junior outside hitter Chelsea Ross earning preseason all-conference honors. MTSU went 17-13 a year ago, including an 8-6 mark in CUSA, and returns three starters from that squad. In all, the Blue Raiders have nine letter winners returning. Head coach Matt Peck has a career record of 734-297 in 30 years of coaching, including a mark of 191-101 over the past 10 years at Middle Tennessee State. The Blue Raiders will look to fill the gap left by the transfer of honorable mention All-American Tyler Richardson, who hit .414 a year ago, 13th-best in the country.
ABOUT PITTSBURGH
Pittsburgh enters 2014 after going 19-14 a year ago, including a record of 11-9 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Panthers closed the season with six consecutive victories. Head coach Dan Fisher enters his second season at Pitt following a stop at Concordia University, where he went 75-2 in two seasons and earned an NAIA National Championship. The Panthers return almost all of their starters from a year ago and boast a veteran squad with five seniors and three juniors. Pitt ranked among the top 20 in the country in aces in 2013 and return their top two servers, both of whom ranked among the top 100 individually in the country.
LAST TIME OUT
BGSU played its Orange and White Scrimmage Saturday in the Stroh Center and the Falcons got the opportunity to see exactly what they have. Sophomore Jelena Sunjic led the way with 16 kills, followed by freshman Paige O'Connor with 14 and senior Kelsey Bates with 13. Freshman setter Katie Scholten had 38 assists and sophomore defensive specialist Delaney Arkeilpane posted 28 digs. Bates added a match-high seven blocks.
FALCONS PICKED THIRD IN MAC EAST
BGSU Volleyball was picked to finish third in the Mid-American Conference East Division, as voted on by the league's 12 head coaches. Ohio was picked to win the East, followed by Buffalo. Miami was chosen fourth, followed by Kent State and Akron.
SUNJIC NAMED PRESEASON ALL-MAC EAST
BGSU sophomore outside hitter Jelena Sunjic was named to the Preseason All-MAC East Division Team. After starting 20 times as a freshman a year ago, Sunjic was third on the team with 299 kills, averaging 2.79 kills per set. She also posted 66 blocks and was named to the All-MAC Freshman Team in 2013. She had a career-best 22 kills in a home win over Miami and posted double-digit kill totals 16 times.
AGE IS JUST A NUMBER
In just one year, the Bowling Green volleyball team goes 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.
SETTING THE TABLE
If a team is going to be as young as this year's Bowling Green squad, experience at setter is critical and the Falcons do have that. Senior Erica Fullenkamp started 31 matches as a freshman back in 2011 and has played in 71 career contests entering 2014. A year ago, she started 20 times at setter.
BATES BREAKS OUT
After having a limited impact in her first two seasons of collegiate volleyball, Kelsey Bates burst onto the scene a year ago as a junior. She started 21 matches for the Falcons and was second on the squad with 0.82 blocks per set. Over her first two years in college, she played in just 13 matches (six at Syracuse as a freshman and seven at BGSU as a sophomore).
SUNJIC THE SOPHOMORE SENSATION
A native of Metkovic, Croatia, Jelena Sunjic took little time adjusted to the pace of American collegiate volleyball and was named to the MAC All-Freshman team in 2013. She will look to avoid a sophomore slump after ranking third on the team with 2.79 kills per set a year ago.
THE TOMIC FILE
BGSU volleyball coach Danijela Tomic is one of the winningest coaches in NCAA Division I, posting a career winning percentage of .688. At 194-88 overall, she is just six wins shy of 200 for her career. Tomic helped the Falcons to a 22-11 mark in her initial season at Bowling Green in 2012 and has guided BGSU to a 23-9 record in the Mid-American Conference over the past two seasons.
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.
BG VB : Postgame Interviews 11.22
Sunday, November 23
BG VB : Postgame Interviews 11.21
Saturday, November 22
BG VB : Postgame Interviews 11.8
Sunday, November 09
BG VB : Postgame Interviews 11.7
Saturday, November 08