Falcons Open Up MAC Play this Weekend at Ohio & Kent State

Friday, September 25

Athens, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Ohio

Photo by: JD Pooley

September 23, 2015 | Volleyball

By: by Kevin Davis, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

Bowling Green (4-9, 0-0 MAC)
at
Ohio (10-3, 0-0 MAC)
Match 14
Friday, September 25, 2015; 7 p.m. ET
Convocation Center / Athens, Ohio
LIVE STATS
LIVE VIDEO
LIVE AUDIO
WEEK 5 - BGSU MATCH NOTES

Bowling Green (4-9, 0-0 MAC)
at
Kent State (6-6, 0-0 MAC)
Match 15
Saturday, September 26, 2015; 7 p.m. ET
Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center / Kent, Ohio
LIVE STATS
LIVE VIDEO
LIVE AUDIO
WEEK 5 - BGSU MATCH NOTES

#MACTION IS HERE
BGSU will open up MAC play this weekend at Ohio and at Kent State. The Falcons will have a total of 16 MAC contests this season with eight of those bouts coming at home in the Stroh Center. In fact, all of the Falcons' remaining regular season matches in 2015 will come in MAC play.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
Both matches during the weekend can be followed via live stats. Friday night's match will have both live stats and a live video feed through the www.ohiobobcats.com website. Saturday night's match will have live stats and live video available at www.kentstatesports.com. BGRSO will also be on-hand to provide flagship audio coverage of both of the BGSU matches at www.falconradio.org. 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.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN ...
BGSU has covered a lot of miles thus far this season, as 10 of its 13 matches thus far this season have been either on the road or at neutral sites away from the Stroh Center. In fact, the Falcons last played at home on Sept. 4-5 when they hosted the Hampton Inn Invitational. BGSU will have played a total of 12 matches away from Bowling Green, Ohio before hosting its first MAC contest on Oct. 2.

FALCONS ALL-TIME VERSUS WEEKEND FOES
With the start of MAC play comes the renewal of in-conference rivalries and contests versus annual foes. The Falcons are 42-33 overall versus Ohio, but is just 14-18 versus the Bobcats in Athens. BGSU is 50-22 all-time versus the Golden Flashes in volleyball action and holds a slight 18-14 lead in matches played at the M.A.C. in Kent, Ohio.

FLIP THE SCRIPT
The MAC flipped the script for the 2015 schedule, as the Falcons open up MAC play on the road at Ohio and at Kent State for their first two MAC contests. Last year, Bowling Green ended the regular season on the road at Ohio and at Kent State in the Falcons' final two MAC bouts.

OPENING WEEKENDS OF MAC PLAY UNDER TOMIC
Since head coach Danijela Tomic's first season with the Falcons in 2012, BGSU is 4-2 in conference weekend opening contests. BGSU opened 2012 MAC play with wins at home over both Ohio and Kent State, and went 2-0 with wins at Miami and against Northern Illinois in 2013. Last year the Falcons dropped their first two MAC contests at Buffalo and at Akron on the first weekend of conference play.

FOCUS ON THE FALCONS
Having played five Power 5 Conference foes and 10 of its first 13 matches on the road or at neutral sites in tournaments at Middle Tennessee, Indiana and Pittsburgh over the non-conference slate, the Falcons are ready to set their sights on MAC play this weekend. BGSU, who went 4-9 overall in conference play, will look to get off to a strong start in MAC play this season after going just 4-12 in conference action in 2014. The young Falcons team, which will have a total of five players making their conference debuts this weekend, are led by outside hitter Jelena Sunjic who leads the MAC with 185 total kills and is second at 3.78 kills per set. Fellow junior Alyssa Maloney ranks fifth in the MAC in both blocks per set at 1.10 and in service aces with 18 on the season. Sophomore Katie Scholten will be seeing her first significant MAC action this weekend, as she leads the team with 469 set assists, which ranks fourth in the MAC overall thus far this season.

OUTLOOK ON OHIO
Looking to maintain its hold atop of the MAC East Division, the Ohio Bobcats enter MAC play this weekend with a 10-3 overall record with wins over No. 10 Kentucky, LSU, Xavier, Seton Hall, VCU, Utah, Florida Atlantic and FGCU. The Bobcats, whose lone three losses this year have come at Purdue, versus Michigan and at Louisville, went a perfect 16-0 last season over MAC regular season play. This year Ohio is led by Jaime Kosiorek and her team-high 164 kills and Shelby Walker with her 121 kills. Senior Karin Bull is hitting a stellar .341 on the season, which ranks third overall in the MAC, while setter Abby Gilleland leads the MAC with an average of 10.31 assists per set. The Bobcats are holding its opponents to a MAC low .134 attack percentage thus far this season and is tops in the conference in both blocks per set at 2.66 and digs per set at 16.86.

GAUGING THE GOLDEN FLASHES
The Kent State Golden Flashes, who will host Miami on Friday at 7 p.m., wrapped up their non-conference slate at 6-6 overall, including going 2-1 at home. The Golden Flashes have not one, not two, but three players with over 100 kills already this season in Kelsey Bittinger (174), Kelly Hutchinson (135) and Bridget Wilhelm (103), while setter Katarina Kojic has totaled 434 set assists and 18 service aces overall on the year. Wilhelm is second in the MAC with an attacking percentage of .363 overall, while Bittinger is ranked third in total kills and kills per set with an average of 3.70. As a team, Kent State leads the MAC in kills per set with an average of 12.74 per frame, ranks third with a .216 team hitting percentage and third in service aces per set with an average of 1.32 per set and 62 total aces.

COACH'S COMMENTS
"We are excited to start MAC play this weekend and face familiar conference opponents. We are facing another two tough teams on the road that will definitely be challenging. However, I am confident that the last four weeks of our non-conference play have prepared us well. Ohio again has a very strong and balanced team, with quick offense and outstanding defense. We will have to bring our 'A' game and execute the game plan completely in order to beat them. Kent State is one of the most improved teams in the MAC with an aggressive style of play. Ultimately, it will be on us to be disciplined in execution of the game plan in both matches in order to maximize our strengths and expose the opponents' weaknesses."

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: 20 digs vs. CSU & 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: 22 kills vs. CSU; 13 digs vs. Loyola
   * Katie Scholten: 49 assists vs. CSU & IPFW; 3 aces vs. IPFW
   * Delaney Arkeilpane: 5 assists vs. CSU
   * Alyssa Maloney: 10 blocks vs. Notre Dame; 3 aces (twice); .529 attack percentage vs. NAU
   * Madeline Brandewie: 8 kills at Pitt;7 blocks vs. CSU

FIVES SETS ... NO PROBLEM
The Falcons are 2-1 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. 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 twice out of their 13 matches. BGSU took the opening set versus IPFW 27-25 in the Falcons' 3-2 win over the Mastodons and most recently took set one versus Lehigh 25-15 in a 3-0 sweep at the Panther Invitational. In fact, the Falcons have been outscored 320-260 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.

THE TOMIC FILE
BGSU volleyball coach Danijela Tomic is one of the winningest coaches in NCAA Division I, posting a career winning percentage of .635. At 205-118 overall, she posted her 200th career win a 3-0 sweep of Akron on Oct. 31, 2014. Tomic helped the Falcons to a 22-11 mark in her initial season at Bowling Green in 2012 and has guided BGSU to a 27-21 record in the Mid-American Conference over the past three seasons.

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 will finally return home to the Stroh Center for the first time since hosting the Hampton Inn Invitational on Sept. 4-5, when the Falcons welcome both Akron and Buffalo to Bowling Green on Oct. 2-3. The Falcons will host the Akron Zips on Friday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m. before tangling with the Bulls of Buffalo on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 5 p.m.

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