Volleyball to Host the Hampton Inn Invitational on Sept. 4-5

Wright State (3-1, 0-0 Horizon)
vs.
Bowling Green (2-2, 0-0 MAC)
Match 5
Friday, September 4, 2015; 7:00 p.m. ET
Stroh Center / Bowling Green, Ohio
LIVE STATS
LIVE AUDIO
ESPN3 - VIDEO
WEEK 2 - BGSU MATCH NOTES

Loyola (Ill.) (1-2, 0-0 MVC)
vs.
Bowling Green (2-2, 0-0 MAC)
Match 6
Saturday, September 5, 12:30 p.m. ET
Stroh Center / Bowling Green, Ohio
LIVE STATS
LIVE AUDIO
ESPN3 - VIDEO
WEEK 2 - BGSU MATCH NOTES

IPFW (1-3, 0-0 SUMMIT)
vs.
Bowling Green (2-2, 0-0 MAC)
Match 7
Saturday, September 5, 7:30 p.m. ET
Stroh Center / Bowling Green, Ohio
LIVE STATS
LIVE AUDIO
ESPN3 - VIDEO
WEEK 2 - BGSU MATCH NOTES

FALCONS' SHORT VISIT AT THE STROH CENTER
BGSU will make its first appearance in front of the home crowd at the Stroh Center this weekend, Sept. 4-5, at the Hampton Inn Invitational. The three home contests will be the Falcons' only home bouts for the month of September.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
All six matches during of the Hampton Invitational this the weekend can be followed via live stats at www.BGSUFalcons.com. BGRSO will be on-hand to provide flagship audio coverage of all three of the BGSU home matches as well at www.falconradio.org, while the Falcons' three contests will also be live on 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 WEEKEND FOES
Overall BGSU is 27-19 all-time versus this weekend's foes in Wright State (18-10), Loyola (Chicago) (3-2) and IPFW (6-7).

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 Wright State and after Saturday night's match versus IPFW. The Falcons WILL NOT be available for autograph signings following the afternoon contest against Loyola (Ill.).

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 first Coach Tomic Chalk Talk session is scheduled for this Saturday, Sept. 5, at 6 p.m. prior to the Falcons' home match versus IPFW at 7:30 p.m. The session will take place in the Stroh Center classroom next to the coaches' offices and is open to all volleyball season ticket holders. For a complete listing of the Coach Tomic Chalk Talk sessions click here.

RES. LIFE CHALLENGE ON FRIDAY NIGHT
Throughout the academic year select BGSU Athletic home events will be designated as a Residence Hall Challenge Event (Schedule here). For Friday night's volleyball versus Wright State be sure to claim your ticket using the new student ticketing website. By scanning your ticket at the match, the ticket department will track your attendance based by floor. The number of students from each floor will be counted, and the floor with the most students will win a chance to play volleyball on Bill Frack Court at the Stroh, as well as earn points to the year long competition.

SATURDAY MARKS CAMPER REUNION DAY
The BGSU volleyball team would like to invite all volleyball campers back for Camper Reunion Day on Saturday, Sept. 5. The Falcons will play at 12:30 p.m. versus Loyola (Ill.) and at 7:30 p.m. versus IPFW.

CATCH THEM WHILE YOU CAN
Falcon fans need to catch the 2015 team at home this weekend, Sept. 4-5, because it is BGSU's only three home contests at the Stroh Center for the month of September. The Falcons will next be at home on Oct. 2-3 in MAC play versus Akron and Buffalo.

FOCUS ON THE FALCONS
BGSU opened up the 2015 season last weekend by going 2-2 overall at the Blue Raider Bash hosted by MTSU. The Falcons bounced back from losses versus Indiana and Middle Tennessee to upend Notre Dame and beat Cleveland State on day two of the tournament. Bowling Green was strong at the net all weekend long, as the Orange and Brown posted an attack percentage of .236 as a team and totaled 40 team blocks over the four-match span. The Falcons hit over .200 as a team in three of the four contests and registered a total of 11.5 more blocks at the net than their opponents for the weekend overall. BGSU enters the Hampton Inn Invitational this weekend on a two-match winning streak.

WATCHING WRIGHT STATE
The Wright State Raiders are off to a strong 3-1 start to the 2015 season, which included three straight wins at home at the Holiday Inn Classic to start the year. WSU is coming off a 3-0 loss to Miami (OH) on Tuesday, Sept. 1, and will look to bounce back from their lone loss of the season this weekend at the Hampton Inn Invitational. The Raiders are led by sophomore Katie Klusman, who was named the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week on Aug. 31, and her team-high 4.90 kills per set. Tied with Klusman is sophomore Megan Hopkins with a team-high 49 kills. Setter Maddie Lohmeier has passed out 156 assists in four matches this season, an average of 12.0 per set, while five different players have recorded 25 digs or more on the season.

LOOKING AT LOYOLA (Ill.)
The Ramblers of Loyola (Ill.) opened up the 2015 season at home in the Rambler Challenge last weekend, Aug. 28-29, and went 1-2 overall for the two-day event. Loyola posted a 3-1 win over New Hampshire in the season opener, but then suffered back-to-back straight set 3-0 losses to Wake Forest and Northwestern. The Ramblers, who were picked to finish seventh in The Missouri Valley Conference preseason coaches poll, returned five starters plus their libero from last year's team. Morgan Reardon leads the team with 35 kills on the year, an average of 3.50 per set, while Brittany Brown is not far behind with 25 kills. A total of five different Ramblers have posted 22 digs or more thus far this season, while the duo of Maddy Moser and Caroline Holt have combined to pass out 101 set assists over 10 sets of play.

MAPPING OUT THE MASTODONS
IPFW enters the weekend with an overall record of 1-3 and having lost three straight matches after defeating Central Michigan in the season opener. The Mastodons, who were picked to finish sixth in the Summit League preseason poll by the league's head coaches return just two starters from last year in Somer Johnson and Sarah Heckman. Johnson leads the team with 82 kills, an average of 5.47 per set, while at the net Natalie Seller and Natasha Medic have combined for 39 total blocks on the season.

COACH'S COMMENTS
"We are very excited to finally play at home this weekend. Our team loves to play in the Stroh in front of our fans. We are looking to build on our success from the last two matches we played in Tennessee last Saturday. Our three opponents at the Hampton Inn Invitational will definitely be challenging, but that's the only way that our team will get better. Our focus will again be on ourselves and what we need to improve from the last time we played."

#MAKEHISTORYNOW
The 2015 Falcons made history in the first weekend of play last week 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.

CAREER MATCH RECORDS SET ALL AROUND
A number of Falcons set new career match high records last weekend at the Blue Raider Bash hosted by Middle Tennessee State University.
   * Ryann Cox: 8 digs vs. Indiana; 2 aces vs. MTSU
   * Kallie Seimet: 20 digs vs. CSU; 2 aces vs. Indiana
   * Isabel Kovacic: 9 kills vs. Indiana; 6 blocks vs. CSU
   * Jelena Sunjic: 22 kills vs. CSU; 10 digs vs. Notre Dame
   * Katie Scholten: 49 assists vs. CSU; 6 kills vs. CSU
   * Delaney Arkeilpane: 5 assists vs. CSU
   * Alyssa Maloney: 10 blocks vs. Notre Dame
   * Madeline Brandewie: 5 kills, twice; 7 blocks vs. CSU

MALONEY GARNERS MAC EAST DPOTW HONORS
Junior Alyssa Maloney was a force for the Falcons at the net this past 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. Full release here.

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.

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.

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.

THE TOMIC FILE
BGSU volleyball coach Danijela Tomic is one of the winningest coaches in NCAA Division I, posting a career winning percentage of .646. At 203-111 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 continue its in-season tournament play next weekend at the Indiana Invitational in Bloomington, Ind. on Sept. 11-12. The Falcons will open up with Northern Arizona at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 11, before playing the Hoosiers in a rematch from the season opener on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 12 p.m. ET. Bowling Green will wrap up the two-day event with a non-conference contest versus Virginia Tech on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET.

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