.png&type=webp)
Bowling Green State University Athletics
Friday, September 5
Dayton, Ohio
7 PM
Bowling Green State University
vs
CSU Bakersfield
Falcons Travel Down I-75 For Second Pre-Conf. Tournament
September 03, 2014 | Volleyball
Complete Game Notes (.pdf)
FALCONS HEAD TO DAYTON IN SEARCH OF FIRST WIN
After losing three matches in the Hampton Inn Invitational during the past weekend, the BGSU volleyball team heads to Dayton for the Flyer-Raider Invitational, co-hosted by Dayton and Wright State. BGSU will face a trio of teams at Wright State that are a combined 7-3 in the early going. IPFW enters at 3-0, while Bakersfield is 2-1 and Wright State is 2-2.
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 for all three matches and live video for the Wright State contest are also available via links found at BGSUFalcons.com. Follow along on Twitter via @BGSUVolleyball.
ABOUT BAKERSFIELD
Bakersfield opened the season with three-set sweeps of Mississippi State and Louisiana Monroe before a three-set loss to Sam Houston State. The Roadrunners have three players averaging more than 3.00 kills per set and junior setter Luiza Martins averages 12.44 assists per set. A year ago, Bakersfield went 21-12 and 12-4 in WAC play. Head Coach Giovana Melo is in her first season as head coach after posting a record of 262-20 in six years at Western Nebraska Community College.
ABOUT IPFW
IPFW enters the second weekend of the season undefeated at 3-0 after a sweep of St. Francis (Pa.), a four-set win over Oakland and a five-set victory over Mid-American Conference foe Western Michigan. Senior outside hitter Emily Spencer averaged 4.83 kills per set to start the season, including at least 15 kills in every match. Head coach Steve Floria is in his first season as head coach at IPFW after spending 11 years on the staff of the Mastodons, helping the program to a 238-115 record during that span.
ABOUT WRIGHT STATE
After dropping a three-set decision to Indiana State to start the year, Wright State bounced back by sweeping both North Carolina A&T and Chicago State over the weekend. The Raiders then lost a midweek home match to Northern Kentucky. Senior Ashley Langjahr averaged 3.11 kills per set over the weekend and freshman setter Maddie Lohmeier has handed out 9.58 assists per set this year. Head coach Susan Clements is in her third year of a rebuilding project at Wright State. The team went just 2-30 in her first year and 6-26 a year ago. She has a career record of 169-152, including 161-95 prior to starting her current position.
LAST TIME OUT
BGSU opened the season by hosting the Hampton Inn Invitational at the Stroh Center and the Falcons lost three matches in the tournament. Bowling Green opened with a four-set loss to Dayton before a hard-fought five set loss to Middle Tennessee State and a three-set defeat to Pittsburgh. Erica Fullenkamp earned all-tournament honors and freshman Nicole Slimko posted 19 kills in her debut. In all, six freshmen got their first opportunities to compete at the collegiate level over the weekend.
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 ANSWERS THE CALL
Freshman outside hitter Nicole Slimko made a splash during the opening weekend of the season, posting 19 kills in her debut match. Combined with her 14 kills in the second match of the year, she became the first Falcon since Corey Domek in 2007 to post at least 14 kills in the first two matches of the season. She is the first freshman to do that in more than 15 years.
BLOCK PARTY
Sophomore Alyssa Maloney and senior Kelsey Bates had a strong opening weekend defensively at the net. Maloney had 12 blocks, an average of 1.00 per set, while Bates added 11, 0.92 per set. As a team, the Falcons averaged 2.08 blocks per set, winning the block battle in two of the team's three matches.
LOOKING TO REPEAT HISTORY
The last time Bowling Green opened the season with an 0-3 record was 2004, but the Falcons bounced back from that slow start. BGSU won their next six matches and was 9-4 by the time October began.
THE TOMIC FILE
BGSU volleyball coach Danijela Tomic is one of the winningest coaches in NCAA Division I, posting a career winning percentage of .681. At 194-91 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