BGSU Volleyball Hits the Road for Contests at Buffalo & Akron this Weekend

Friday, November 6

Buffalo, N.Y.

5:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Buffalo

Photo by: Christine Nelson, BGSU Marketing & Communications

BGSU Volleyball Hits the Road for Contests at Buffalo & Akron this Weekend

November 04, 2015 | Volleyball

By: by Kevin Davis, BGSU Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

Bowling Green (6-19, 2-10 MAC)
at
Buffalo (6-18, 5-7 MAC)
Match 26
Friday, November 6, 2015; 5 p.m. ET
Alumni Arena / Buffalo, N.Y.
LIVE STATS
LIVE VIDEO ON ESPN3
LIVE AUDIO
WEEK 11 - BGSU MATCH NOTES

MATCH DAY CENTRAL PAGE

Bowling Green (6-19, 2-10 MAC)
at
Akron (8-17, 2-10 MAC)
Match 27
Saturday, November 7, 2015; 5 p.m. ET
James A. Rhoades Arena / Akron, Ohio
LIVE STATS
LIVE AUDIO
WEEK 11 - BGSU MATCH NOTES

MATCH DAY CENTRAL PAGE

MAC EAST PLAY ON THE ROAD
The Falcons will conclude their regular season road schedule this weekend with contests at both Buffalo (Nov. 6) and Akron (Nov. 7). All three teams are trying to play their way into a spot in the top eight in order to make the 2015 MAC Volleyball Championship Tournament on Nov. 19-22.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
Both matches this weekend will have live stats at the host institutions website. Friday night's match at Buffalo will have live stats available at www.ubbulls.com, while on Saturday versus Akron live stats can be found at www.gozips.com. Friday night's contest at Buffalo will also be streamed live on ESPN3. BGRSO will also be on-hand to provide flagship audio coverage of both of the Falcons' two matches this week at www.falconradio.org. Links to all in game media outlets are located on the BGSU volleyball schedule page online at BGSUFalcons.com. Fans can also follow along via Twitter @BGSUVolleyball.

FALCONS ALL-TIME VERSUS THIS WEEKS OPPONENTS
BGSU has fared well against its two MAC East foes this week all-time having posted an overall record of 60-23 versus Buffalo and Akron. The Falcons are 25-7 all-time versus the Bulls and have gone 10-4 overall against Buffalo on the road in Buffalo, N.Y. The Orange and Brown are 35-16 all-time versus the Zips and are a stellar 16-8 overall as the road team in Akron, Ohio.

FALCON FLASHBACK
The Falcons split with Akron and Buffalo in their previous meetings this season at home in the Stroh Center. BGSU erased a 2-0 match deficit to win the next three sets and earn a come from behind 3-2 win over the Zips on Oct. 2 in which Jelena Sunjic and Nicole Slimko posted 25 and 15 kills apiece, and the Falcons as a team totaled 13 service aces on the night. The following night on Oct. 3, however, BGSU fell to the Bulls 3-1 despite Sunjic's double-double of 16 kills and 15 digs, and Kallie Seimet's then career-high 28 digs.

FOCUS ON THE FALCONS
The Falcons have been playing some of their best volleyball of the season as of late, as three Falcons posted double-doubles in the win over the Golden Flashes last week, while four different players totaled double digit kills in the victory. The offense runs through setter Katie Scholten who has totaled 85 assists over her last two matches and ranks fifth in the MAC overall with an average of 9.35 assists per set. Both Jelena Sunjic and Nicole Slimko have played well as of late, as both are ranked in the top-10 in the MAC in kills per set with Sunjic fifth at 3.64 and Slimko 10th at 2.83. Junior middle Alyssa Maloney totaled 26 kills over BGSU's two matches last weekend and ranks in the top-10 in both aces per set (0.32) and in blocks per set at (1.01), while libero Kallie Seimet has totaled 417 digs overall on the year and ranks seventh in the MAC at 4.34 digs per set.

BROADCASTING ABOUT THE BUFFALO BULLS
Buffalo enters play this week having won three of its last four matches and has posted a record of 6-18 overall with five of those victories coming in MAC play. The Bulls, who are just 1-5 at home this season, tallied four wins over the month of October and will look to carry that momentum over into November. UB is third in the MAC overall in blocks with 2.18 per set on the year, but rank 10th or lower in the league in every other statistical category. Middle Cassie Shado is ranked second in the MAC in blocks with an average of 1.19 per set, as she has a league-high 107 total blocks, and is seventh in the league with a .307 attack percentage. Setter Marissa Prinzbach ranks sixth in the conference with 9.18 assists per set this season, while Megan Lipski is seventh in kills per set with an average of 3.00 per game.

ZONING IN ON THE ZIPS
The Zips are 8-17 overall and 2-10 in MAC play heading into action this weekend where they will host both Miami (Ohio) and Bowling Green. After posting five straight wins in early September, the Zips have gone just 2-14 over their last 16 contests and have dropped two straight matches entering play this week. Akron is second in the MAC in service aces with an average of 1.60 per set, as the Zips have totaled a league high 155 aces as a team this season. However, defensively the Zips are 12th in digs (12.34 per set), 12th in blocks (1.73 per set) and 12th in opponent hitting percentage (.230). Kelsey Wilson is second in the MAC in service aces per set at 0.40 and ninth in the MAC with a hitting percentage of .305 on the year. Dragana Micic is fifth in the league with 0.37 service aces per set, while Amanda Bedell is ninth in the MAC with an average of 2.96 kills per set overall on the year.

COACH'S COMMENTS
"We have two tough MAC East contests again this week on the road at Buffalo and at Akron. Having played both of them already this season, we know what they will do, so we have put together a game plan that allows us to use our strengths in order to give us the best chance to win. I'm proud of the way these young ladies have continued to compete day-in and day-out in practice these last few weeks and more importantly how they have grown since the start of MAC play over a month ago. We have seen what we can do when we compete, play hard, play together and execute our game plan, so now we just need put that all in to action this weekend."

LAST WEEK FALCON RECAP
BGSU split with the top-two teams in the MAC East last weekend with a 3-2 come from behind win over Kent State and a 3-0 loss to Ohio. BGSU set a number of career single match records in the win over Kent State led by freshman libero Kallie Seimet's career-high 34 digs and fellow first-year Falcon Madeline Brandewie's career-high 11 kills. Nicole Slimko had a career-high six total blocks to go with her 10 kills in the win. Three different Falcons registered double-doubles on the night, as Katie Scholten dished out a career-high 55 set assists to go along with 16 digs and junior middle Alyssa Maloney tallied 14 kills and a career-best 10 digs. Outside hitter Jelena Sunjic posted her sixth double-double of the season with a match-high 21 kills and 17 digs, which tied her career-high. Seimet again led the Falcons in digs with a match-high 24 in the loss to Ohio, while Alyssa Maloney recorded a team-high 12 kills for the match on a team-best attack percentage of .308 overall.

KALLIE CLAIMS MAC EAST DEFENSIVE WEEKLY HONOR (11/3)
Following a strong weekend in which she tallied a match-high digs in both contests, freshman libero and defensive specialist Kallie Seimet was named the Mid-American Conference (MAC) East Defensive Player of the Week, it was announced on Nov. 3. The Oregon, Ohio native totaled 58 digs over the two contests last week, an average of 7.25 digs per set. She also posted a reception percentage of .967 overall (58-of-60) to lead the Falcons. In BGSU's five set win over Kent State on Friday, Oct. 30, in which the Falcons were down 2-1 after three sets, Seimet registered a match-high 34 digs, which was also a career-high. The freshman then recorded a match-high 24 digs the following day in a three set match versus Ohio.

SEIMET DIGGING 20
Freshman libero Kallie Seimet has posted 20 digs or more seven times in her first year at BGSU this season. She totaled 20 digs versus Cleveland State (8/29) and against Loyola (Ill.) (9/5), before registering 28 digs at home against Buffalo (10/3). She also tallied 22 digs versus Eastern Michigan (10/17) and 23 digs at Toledo (10/23). Seimet then posted 34 digs, a career-high, in a win versus Kent State (10/30) and then led BGSU with a match-high 24 digs versus the Ohio Bobcats (10/31).

DOUBLE DIGIT STREAKS
Jelena Sunjic posted a season-high streak of 10 straight matches with double digit kills from Sept. 19 to Oct. 23. Not to be outdone, freshman libero Kallie Seimet recorded a career-high streak of 10 straight matches as well with double digit kills. Her streak started with 16 digs in the 3-0 win over Lehigh on Sept. 19 and ended with 23 digs at Toledo on Oct. 23.

MAKE IT A DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR SUNJIC
Outside hitter Jelena Sunjic has turned in six double-doubles thus far this season, a team-high. She tallied 18 kills and 10 digs versus Notre Dame (8/29) on opening weekend. The junior then posted 16 kills and 13 digs at home against Loyola (Ill.) (9/5), before recording double-doubles on back-to-back weekends at home with 16 kills and 15 digs versus Buffalo (10/3) and 16 kills and 12 digs against Eastern Michigan (10/17). Sunjic recorded a career-high 17 digs to go along with a match-high 13 kills for a double-double at Toledo (10/23) and just last week registered 21 kills and 17 digs in a five-set home win over Kent State (10/30).

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: 34 digs vs. Kent State; 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; 17 digs at Toledo & Kent State
   * Katie Scholten: 55 assists vs. Kent State; 8 kills at Toledo
   * Nicole Slimko: 6 blocks vs. Kent State
   * Delaney Arkeilpane: 5 assists vs. CSU
   * Alyssa Maloney: 10 blocks vs. Notre Dame; 5 aces vs. Akron; .529 attack percentage vs. NAU; 10 digs vs. Kent State
   * Madeline Brandewie: 11 kills vs. Kent State; 7 blocks vs. CSU
   * Mahlia Blair: 1 dig vs. CMU; 1 block vs. CMU; 1 kill at Toledo

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 a total of 943 career digs and is only 57 digs away from the 1,000 career mark. Fellow junior Jelena Sunjic is only 184 kills away from 1,000 career spikes in her career at BGSU, having totaled 816 spikes thus far. Setter Katie Scholten has passed out 927 set assists in just her two years at BGSU and is only 73 assists shy of the 1,000 career mark.

WE'LL GO FIVE
Bowling Green doesn't mind using all five sets to determine the outcome of the match, as the Falcons are 4-3 overall in five-set matches this season. BGSU has posted five-set wins over Cleveland State (8/29), IPFW (9/5), Akron (10/2) and Kent State (10/30).

SLOW STARTERS
The young Falcons have been notoriously slow starters this season having been victorious in the first set to start a match just five times out of their 25 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. BGSU dominated the Western Michigan Broncos en route to a 25-12 first set win on Oct. 10, held off Eastern Michigan to take the first set 25-18 on Oct. 17 and upended Kent State 25-22 in the first set on Oct. 30. In fact, the Falcons have been outscored 599-514 over the first set of play on the year.

POWER 5 PLAY IN 2015
BGSU played a total of five matches versus teams out of the Power 5 conferences in 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 Falcon 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.

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
BGSU's final week of regular season play will be next week with two home matches versus Miami (Ohio) and Northern Illinois. BGSU will host the RedHawks on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. ET. The Falcons' regular season finale will take place against Northern Illinois on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m. ET.

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