Falcons to Play Two Matches at Home on Homecoming Weekend

Friday, October 16

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Central Michigan (Alumnae Night)

Buy Tickets

Volleyball Homecoming weekend story shot

October 15, 2015 | Volleyball

By: by Kevin Davis, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

Central Michigan (8-11, 3-3 MAC)
at
Bowling Green (5-14, 1-5 MAC)
Match 20
Friday, October 16, 2015; 7 p.m. ET
Stroh Center / Bowling Green, Ohio
LIVE STATS
LIVE VIDEO ON ESPN3
LIVE AUDIO
WEEK 8 - BGSU MATCH NOTES
GAMEDAY CENTRAL PAGE

Eastern Michigan (11-8, 3-3 MAC)
at
Bowling Green (5-14, 1-5 MAC)
Match 21
Saturday, October 17, 2015; 7 p.m. ET
Stroh Center / Bowling Green, Ohio
LIVE STATS
LIVE AUDIO
WEEK 8 - BGSU MATCH NOTES
GAMEDAY CENTRAL PAGE

FALCONS RETURN HOME
BGSU will return home this weekend for MAC play against both Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan in cross-divisional play. The Falcons are 2-3 at home overall and have played just five of their 19 matches at home in the Stroh Center.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
Both matches this week can be followed via live stats at www.BGSUFalcons.com. BGRSO will also be on-hand to provide flagship audio coverage of both matches at www.falconradio.org. The Friday night match versus Central Michigan will also be video streamed live at ESPN3. Links to all in game media outlets are located on the BGSU volleyball schedule page online at www.BGSUFalcons.com. Fans can also follow along via Twitter @BGSUVolleyball.

FALCONS ALL-TIME VERSUS THIS WEEKS OPPONENTS
BGSU is a combined 58-50 all-time versus both Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan on the volleyball court. The Falcons have posted an overall record of 27-24 versus the Chippewas of CMU, including having gone 14-10 versus CMU at home in Bowling Green, Ohio. Against Eastern Michigan, the Falcons are 31-26 overall all-time and 13-10 against the Eagles at home.

ALUMNAE NIGHT ON FRIDAY AS PART OF HOMECOMING WEEKEND
The BGSU volleyball team will host an Alumnae Night on Friday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m. versus Central Michigan as part of BGSU's Homecoming Weekend. All returning volleyball alumnae will be recognized between the second and third sets.

DIG PINK MATCH SET FOR SATURDAY, OCT. 17
The volleyball team will continue the Falcons "Think Pink" initiative this weekend with its annual Dig Pink match, sponsored by Kroger, on Saturday night, Oct. 17. The volleyball team will sport pink warmups and pink breast cancer socks in support of the Dig for a Cure. During that match Falcon fans can help the team Dig for a Cure by donating money for every dig that the Falcons record or by making a one-time donation which will go to local charities that help support the fight against breast cancer. The first 500 fans will get a pink Kroger ralley towel. Click Here.

WEEKEND TICKET PROMOTIONS
Friday, Oct. 16 - Maumee Night; Saturday, Oct. 17 - Camper Reunion Night
BGSU fans, come out to the Stroh Center this weekend to enjoy a full slat of BGSU volleyball action. Maumee (Friday) residents have the opportunity to pre-purchase tickets for a low price of $2 for Maumee Night on Friday, Oct. 16. Camper Reunion Night will take place on Saturday night, where all former campers can receive are invited back to cheer on the Falcons. Make sure to call the BGSU Ticket Office at 877-BGSU-Ticket to get your special ticket offers for this weekend's matches. Discounted tickets are only redeemable in advance and offers are not acceptable on the day of the match.

MAKE A DAY OUT OF IT ON HOMECOMING WEEKEND
Fans can get into the volleyball match versus Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. ET for FREE with their football ticket from the Falcons' afternoon game versus Akron.

AUTOGRAPHS! GET YOUR FALCON AUTOGRAPHS!
The BGSU volleyball team will be signing autographs not once, but twice this weekend. The Falcons will be in the concourse signing autographs after Friday night's match versus Central Michigan and after Saturday night's match versus Eastern Michigan.

COACH TOMIC CHALK TALK IS BACK
One of the many benefits for Bowling Green State University volleyball season ticket holders in 2015 is the chance to go beyond the seats in the Stroh Center and behind the scenes with fourth year head coach Danijela Tomic in a series of chalk talk sessions throughout the 2015 season. The next Coach Tomic Chalk Talk session is scheduled for this Saturday, Oct. 17, at 5:30 p.m. prior to the Falcons' home match versus Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. The session will take place in the Stroh Center practice court and is open to all volleyball season ticket holders. For a complete listing of the Coach Tomic Chalk Talk sessions click here.

FALCONS AT HOME
This season, the Falcons have played a total of five home matches and it is already midway through the month of October. BGSU is 2-3 at home this season with wins over IPFW and Akron. Under Coach Tomic, who is in her fourth year at BGSU, the Falcons are 22-15 overall at home in the Stroh.

LAST WEEK FALCON RECAP
BGSU will host a pair of MAC West Division foes this weekend when both Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan come to the Stroh Center. The Falcons dropped a pair of road decisions last week with a 3-0 loss at Miami and a 3-1 defeat at Western Michigan. Junior Jelena Sunjic paced the Falcons over the two matches with 25 kills, an average of 3.57 per set, while three other Falcons in Nicole Slimko, Alyssa Maloney and Katie Scholten also totaled double digit kills. Scholten totaled 67 assists, 12 digs and 12 kills on the week, while Maloney led BGSU with seven total blocks overall. Libero Kallie Seimet extended her streak of consecutive matches with double digit digs to seven with outings of 18 and 19 digs on the week, while Madeline Garda totaled 30 digs over seven sets of play.

FOCUS ON THE FALCONS
The Falcons return home this weekend after playing two matches on the road one week ago. The young BGSU squad will look for a little home court advantage this weekend to snap a two-match losing streak. BGSU's Kallie Seimet has totaled double digit digs in seven straight matches heading into play this weekend, while outside hitter Jelena Sunjic has registered double digit kills in all six of the Falcons' MAC contests this season and in each of the last seven matches. In each one of the Falcons' wins this season, BGSU has had the same number or more service errors than its opponent for the match and as a team have hit over .225 in all but one of those victories. BGSU has been bigger at the net having posted more blocks than its foes in all five of its wins on the season and have held its opponents to a team attack percentage under .200 in four of the five triumphs.

CATCHING UP ON THE CMU CHIPPEWAS
Central Michigan, who will take on Miami (Ohio) on Thursday night, Oct. 15, in Oxford, Ohio, enter play this week having won two straight home matches over Ball State and Toledo last weekend. The Chippewas are 8-11 overall and 3-3 in MAC play on the season. Offensively, Jordan Bueter leads the Chips with 242 kills and 28 service aces. Five different Chips have totaled over 105 kills overall for the season, while as a team CMU is posting an attack percentage of .225 overall. Defensively, CMU is out averaging 2.20 blocks per set as a team and are led by Angelique White's team-best 72 total blocks on the season.

EYEING THE EAGLES OF EMU
Entering the weekend with an overall record of 11-8 and a MAC record of 3-3, the Eastern Michigan Eagles will take on both Miami (Ohio) on Oct. 16 and BGSU on Oct. 17 in cross-divisional match ups. The Eagles are almost even across the board statistically with their opponents on the season and have posted an attack percentage of .204 overall on the year. EMU has a slight edge at 85-80 in service errors and in total blocks at 142-133 overall on the season. Stacey Perinar leads an offensive charge with 259 kills, an average of 3.98 per set, as five different Eagles have tallied over 100 spikes on the year. Libero Corynne Smith, the reigning MAC West Defensive Player of the Week, leads the team with 357 digs overall, while at the net the trio of Cassie Haut, Katie Krasowski and Kelsey Jones have combined for 24 solo blocks and 144 blocks assists overall.

COACH'S COMMENTS
"We are excited to be back at home in the Stroh Center in front of our fans. Home court advantage plays a big role in MAC matches throughout the year. To be playing at home twice this weekend on Homecoming Weekend in front of our fans, our alumnae and a lot of BG alumnae is a great experience for our team. I have been pleased with our practice this week. We continue to work hard and improve each day."

CLOSING IN ON CAREER MILESTONE 1,000
A trio of Falcons are closing in on a 1,000 career milestone in a number of different categories. Junior Madeline Garda enters play this weekend with 877 career digs and is only 123 digs away from the 1,000 career mark. Fellow junior Jelena Sunjic is only 258 kills away from 1,000 career spikes in her career at BGSU, having totaled 742 slams thus far. Setter Katie Scholten has passed out 709 set assists in just her two years at BGSU and is only 291 assists shy of the 1,000 career mark.

CAREER MATCH RECORDS SET ALL AROUND THIS SEASON
A number of Falcons set new career match high records so far this season.
   * Ryann Cox: 8 digs vs. Indiana; 2 aces vs. MTSU
   * Kallie Seimet: 28 digs vs. Buffalo & Loyola; 2 aces vs. Indiana
   * Isabel Kovacic: 9 kills vs. Indiana; 6 blocks vs. CSU; 3 service aces (twice); 11 digs at Pitt
   * Jelena Sunjic: 25 kills vs. Akron; 15 digs vs. Buffalo
   * Katie Scholten: 49 assists vs. CSU & IPFW; 7 kills at Miami
   * Delaney Arkeilpane: 5 assists vs. CSU
   * Alyssa Maloney: 10 blocks vs. Notre Dame; 5 aces vs. Akron; .529 attack percentage vs. NAU
   * Madeline Brandewie: 8 kills at Pitt;7 blocks vs. CSU

FIVES SETS ... NO PROBLEM
The Falcons are 3-1 this season in five set thrillers. BGSU came back from down 2-1 versus Cleveland State at the Blue Raider Bash on Aug. 29 and at home versus IPFW on Sept. 5 to win 3-2 by taking both the fourth and fifth sets in each contest. In MAC play, BGSU erased a 2-0 deficit to Akron to storm back and defeat the Zips 3-2 in five sets on Oct. 2. The Falcons' lone five set loss came in the season opener against Indiana on Aug. 28.

SLOW STARTERS
The young Falcons have been notoriously slow starters this season having been victorious in the first set to start a match just three times out of their 19 matches. BGSU took the opening set versus IPFW 27-25 in the Falcons' 3-2 win over the Mastodons and took set one versus Lehigh 25-15 in a 3-0 sweep at the Panther Invitational. Most recently, BGSU dominated the Western Michigan Broncos en route to a 25-12 first set win on Oct. 10. In fact, the Falcons have been outscored 457-385 over the first set of play thus far on the year.

POWER 5 PLAY IN 2015
BGSU played a total of five matches versus teams out of the Power 5 conferences Indiana twice, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and Pitt. The Falcons went 1-4 overall versus the Power 5 foes with the win coming over the Fighting Irish on Aug. 29 at the Blue Raider Bash.

SUNJIC & SCHOLTEN: PANTHER INVITE ALL-TOURNEY NODS
The Falcons' Jelena Sunjic and Katie Scholten each earned a spot on the Panther Invitational All-Tournament Team on Sept. 18-19. Sunjic led the Falcons with 41 kills, an average of 4.10 per set, on a team-best attack percentage of .277 over the three matches. She also tallied 16 digs, six blocks, one ace and led BGSU with a total of 45.5 points. Scholten passed out 107 assists, an average of 10.70 per set, and totaled 27 digs in 10 sets of play. The sophomore setter also recorded six kills, three blocks and a service ace on the weekend.

MALONEY MAKES IU INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
BG middle Alyssa Maloney was named to the Indiana Invitational All-Tournament Team for the weekend of Sept. 11-12. Maloney was the most consistent Falcon over BGSU's three matches, totaling 21 kills, eight blocks, five service aces and five digs. She also posted a career-high attack percentage of .529 versus NAU on Friday, Sept. 11.

SUNJIC SEIZES HAMPTON INN ALL-TOURNEY RECOGNITION
Outside hitter Jelena Sunjic earned Hampton Inn All-Tournament Team honors from the weekend of Sept. 4-5. Sunjic led the team with 47 kills, 3.92 per set, over the Falcons' three matches. The junior was third on the team with 19 digs and five total blocks. She also led the Falcons with 52.0 total points overall.

#MAKEHISTORYNOW
The 2015 Falcons made history in the first weekend of play with their 3-1 win over Notre Dame at the Blue Raider Bash on Aug. 29. The win was BGSU's first win over an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent since defeating Maryland back in 2001. It was also the Falcons' first win over a Power 5 conference foe since beating Indiana of the Big Ten in 2012.

MALONEY GARNERS MAC EAST DPOTW HONORS (9/1)
Junior Alyssa Maloney was a force for the Falcons at the net on opening weekend, as the BGSU middle led the Falcons with a total of 24 blocks, an average of 1.41 per set, over the four matches. She was second on the team with an attack percentage of .262 overall and third in kills with 30 spikes overall. Maloney totaled a season-best 12 kills and 10 total blocks in the 3-1 win over Notre Dame, the Falcons' first win over an ACC foe since beating Maryland in 2001. Her 10 total blocks was a new career-high.

SCHOLTEN SNAGS ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM HONORS
Sophomore Katie Scholten was named to the Blue Raider Bash All-Tournament Team for her play over the Falcons' four matches on Aug. 28-29. The setter totaled 159 assists, an average of 9.18 per set, 33 digs, 15 kills and nine blocks overall. She posted her first two career double-doubles as a Falcons with 43 assists and 12 digs versus Notre Dame and 49 assists and 11 digs in the 3-2 win over the Vikings of Cleveland State.

FALCONS PICKED FOURTH IN MAC EAST
BGSU Volleyball was picked to finish fourth 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 Miami. Kent State was chosen third, while Buffalo and Akron were selected fifth and sixth, respectively.

SUNJIC NAMED PRESEASON ALL-MAC EAST...AGAIN
BGSU junior outside hitter Jelena Sunjic was named to the Preseason All-MAC East Division Team for the second straight year. Sunjic, who earned 2014 All-MAC First Team honors last season despite missing most of the year due to injury, averaged 3.00 kills per set, which was second-best on the team, and hit a Falcon-best .246 overall for the season. She recorded at least 10 kills in nine of the 14 conference matches in which she competed and blasted a season-best 19 kills later in the year against Miami. Her 35 blocks and nine aces in conference play both ranked third on the team, while she also ranked eighth in the MAC in kills both over the course of the entire season and in conference play.

SCHOLTEN SLIDING IN AT THE SETTER SPOT
After spending most of last year as a freshman learning behind four-year letter award winner Erica Fullenkamp, sophomore Katie Scholten slides into the setter position for the Falcons in 2015. Scholten, who played in 20 matches last season in an injury hampered year, tallied more than 1,300 assists during her high school career at Visitation Academy (Mo.) where she was a first-team all-district selection.

KEY RETURNERS FOR 2015
BGSU will look to a number of key returners in 2015. 2014 First-Team All-MAC and 2013 All-MAC Freshman Team selection Jelena Sunjic will look to bounce back from an injury plagued season in which she played in just 15 matches in 2014. Sunjic had 168 kills overall and an average of 3.00 kills per set in just 15 matches in 2014. She posted a team-best .246 attack percentage in 2014 and was fourth on the team with 37 total blocks. Sophomore Nicole Slimko led the Falcons with 340 kills overall and an average of 3.24 kills per set last year as a freshman and was also second on the team with 22 service aces and fourth with 192 digs. Junior libero Madeline Garda returns after leading the MAC in digs in conference play with an average of 5.88 per set and finished second overall in the MAC with 4.89 digs per contest last year. She also led the team with a total of 513 digs and ranked third with 14 service aces on the season. Delaney Arkeilpane, who started in 27 matches for BGSU last season, posted a team-best .953 serve receive percentage and ranked third on the team in digs with 197 in 2014. Junior Alyssa Maloney returns after playing in all 28 matches for the Falcons in 2014 in which she was second on the team with 86 blocks and fifth in kills with an average of 1.48 per set.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
The Falcons are one of the youngest teams in the country this season, as BGSU has only four upperclassmen on the roster and not a single senior. Coach Tomic's squad consists of four juniors - Jelena Sunjic, Madeline Garda, Delaney Arkeilpane and Alyssa Maloney, two sophomores - Nicole Slimko and Katie Scholten, and five freshmen - Mahlia Blair, Ryann Cox, Kallie Seimet, Isabel Kovacic and Madeline Brandewie.

CHAMPIONS IN THE CLASSROOM
BGSU Volleyball has been recognized by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) for 15 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 all NCAA Division I institutions that sponsor women's volleyball.

UP NEXT FOR THE FALCONS
The Falcons will return to the road for MAC cross-divisional matches at Toledo (Oct. 23) and at Ball State (Oct. 24) next weekend. Both matches are slated for a 7 p.m. start time.

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