Bowling Green State University Athletics
Friday, September 26
Buffalo, N.Y.
7 PM
Bowling Green State University
at
Buffalo
Here Comes The MAC! Falcons Open League Play This Weekend
September 23, 2014 | Volleyball
Complete Game Notes (.pdf)
FALCONS OPEN MAC PLAY THIS WEEKEND
Following a win to close out non-conference action against Robert Morris on Saturday, the Bowling Green State University volleyball team will begin Mid-American Conference play Friday and Saturday on the road. BGSU will play at Buffalo Friday at 7 pm and at Akron Saturday at 5 pm. The Falcons are 23-9 in MAC play over the past two years, including 10-6 on the road during that span.
FOLLOW THE FALCONS
Both matches during the weekend can be followed via live stats, courtesy of Buffalo and Akron. BGRSO will be on-hand to provide flagship audio coverage of the two matches as well. Links to all are located at BGSUFalcons.com. Follow along on Twitter via @BGSUVolleyball.
ABOUT AKRON
The Akron Zips, now 6-9 on the season, look to rebound after going winless at the Rutgers Tournament this past week, dropping matches to Rutgers, James Madison, Princeton and American. The Zips have been successful in the service game and rank among the top 25 teams in the country in aces per set and sit second in their conference. Kelsey Wilson ranks fifth nationally at 0.61 aces per set and she will be leaned on to help the Zips find success. Head coach Ron Arenz, who trained nine U.S. Junior Olympic All-American players, has coached a total of eight seasons (seven with Akron) with a 110-147 overall record.
ABOUT BUFFALO
After winning two out of three matches at the Hoosier Classic this past weekend, Buffalo enters the weekend with a record of 9-4. Tahleia Bishop recorded the last three kills to seal the win in an exciting match with a strong Butler team. In the second match, the Bulls won three sets in a row after dropping the first set against Western Illinois. Bishop had 20 kills to lead the Bulls in the comeback and she now ranks in the top 25 in the country in kills per set, points per set and attacks per set. Head Coach Reed Sunahara, who was an assistant coach for USA Volleyball and has 15 years of coaching experience, is in his first year at Buffalo, holding a 317-153 overall collegiate record.
LAST TIME OUT
BGSU dropped two out of three matches at the Golden Grizzly Invitational, hosted by Oakland, over the weekend. The Falcons lost in three sets to both Oakland and UC Irvine, but bounced back with a five-set victory over Robert Morris to conclude the weekend. Paige O'Connor earned all-tournament status by posting 3.45 kills per set, including a career-best 20 in the victory over RMU. Alyssa Maloney had nine blocks in that victory as well and finished with 15 on the weekend, an average of 1.36 per set.
BLOCK PARTY
Kelsey Bates and Alyssa Maloney both rank among the top five in the Mid-American Conference in blocks. Bates is averaging 1.09 per set and is third in the MAC, while Maloney is at an even 1.00 block per set to rank fifth. The Falcons are the only team in the league to have two players averaging at least 1.00 block per set. As a team, BGSU ranks second in the conference with 2.32 blocks per set. The Falcons have outblocked each of their last three opponents and have posted at least 10.0 team blocks in a match five times this year.
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.
SLIMKO HITS THE MAGIC NUMBER
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 recorded 10 kills in the first set to set the tone for the match and added eight more in the second. Her 31 kills are the most for a player in the MAC this year. There have been just 11 30-kill matches this year, with Oral Roberts' Laura Milos leading the way with a 38-kill performance.
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.
NOT AN UNCOMMON START
A 3-9 start to the season may not sound like a comfortable position to be in, but the Falcons are pretty familiar with this type of beginning and have rebounded well. The 2012 team that eventually won the MAC Championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, was just 4-7 when non-conference play wrapped up. Last year's squad opened with a 2-8 record before bouncing back to win seven of its next eight matches.
GETTING TO .200
Bowling Green is 3-0 this year when hitting at least .200 and 0-9 when attacking below that number.
THE TOMIC FILE
BGSU volleyball coach Danijela Tomic is one of the winningest coaches in NCAA Division I, posting a career winning percentage of .670. At 197-97 overall, she is just three 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.
Players Mentioned
M
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
M
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballBG VB : Postgame Interviews 9.26
Saturday, September 27
BG VB : Postgame Interviews 9.25
Friday, September 26
BG VB : Postgame Interviews 9.17
Thursday, September 18
BG VB : Postgame Interview Sept. 5 (Stacey Clark Classic Game 3)
Friday, September 05