Falcons Open 2018 Season In West Lafayette This Weekend

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball program opens the 2018 season this weekend at the Purdue Mortar Board Premier in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Falcons will play Tulsa and hosts Purdue on Aug. 24, before concluding the event with a single match versus Wofford on Aug. 25.

COACH TOMIC QUOTE
"At this time of the season, my approach has always been to focus on ourselves … all of the things that we try to emphasize every day in practice – that's what we are going to try and do on Friday and Saturday. As our team develops, we will have scouting and we will have analytics. But right now, it's all about us."

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• All matches this weekend will feature live stats, as provided by Purdue Athletics.
• Radio coverage for all BGSU matches this weekend will be provided by the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO).
• BGSU's match against Purdue will be streamed live on BTN+ (paid subscription required).
• All links can be accessed at the top of this page, or by visiting the volleyball schedule page at BGSUFalcons.com.

SCOUTING THE TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE
• Tulsa graduated two seniors from last year's team that went 15-17 (9-11 C-USA).
• Senior outside hitter Emily Thorson is back after earning First Team All-Conference honors a season ago. Last year, Thorson posted 525 kills.
• Junior libero Taylor Horsfall also picked up First Team All-Conference honors, on top of being named Conference USA's Libero of the Year. Horsfall averaged 6.04 digs per set in 2017.
• In exhibition play last weekend, the Golden Hurricane posted a 3-0 win over Texas Women's University.

SCOUTING THE PURDUE BOILERMAKERS
• Purdue enters this weekend ranked No. 23 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason poll, marking the eighth-straight season that Purdue has earned a spot on the preseason poll.
• Last season, the Boilermakers went 23-10 and beat four top-10 teams in one season for the first time in program history.
• Purdue was picked to finish seventh in the 2018 Big Ten preseason poll.
• Redshirt-senior outside hitter Sherridan Atkinson, after registering 394 kills and hitting .322 last season, was unanimously selected to the preseason All-Big Ten team.

SCOUTING THE WOFFORD TERRIERS
• Wofford returns six starters from a 2017 team that finished 22-11 (10-6 SoCon).
• The Terriers were the No. 4 seed at their conference tournament last year, and made it all the way to the championship match, but took a 3-0 loss to East Tennessee.
• Junior outside hitter Catie Cronister posted 556 kills on her way to being named the Southern Conference's Player of the Year as a sophomore last season.
• Wofford went 8-3 in 2017 in matches played on neutral courts.

FALCONS PICKED TO FINISH SECOND IN MAC EAST
• Bowling Green was picked to finish second in the East Division, as voted on by the conference's 12 head coaches.
• The Falcons received three votes to win the regular season, and one vote to win the 2018 MAC Tournament.
• Ohio was picked to win the East Division, regular-season title, and tournament title. Ball State was picked to win the MAC West.
• Additionally, senior libero Kallie Seimet and sophomore middle blocker Katie Kidwell were selected to the seven-member Preseason East All-MAC Team.
• Seimet averaged 6.81 digs per set last year to lead the country. In fact, it marked the second-straight season that a Falcon led the nation in the category, as Madeline Garda averaged 6.66 digs per set in 2016.

BGSU EARNS SWEEP IN EXHIBITION MATCH
• On Aug. 18 at the Stroh Center, the Falcons picked up a 3-0 (25-20; 25-16; 25-23) exhibition win over Purdue Fort Wayne.
• Bowling Green's defense dominated the match, as the Falcons posted 16 blocks and held Purdue Fort Wayne to a .083 hitting percentage on the afternoon.
• Isabel Kovacic, over 24 attack attempts, had 10 kills and hit .417. She did not commit a single attack error.
• Kallie Seimet recorded 23 digs (7.66 per set), and also had six assists.
• Isabelle Marciniak notched a double-double, as she finished the match with 24 assists and 13 digs.
• Katie Kidwell hit .294 (6-1-17), and led the way for the Falcons with four blocks.

THE DEFENDING CHAMPIONS
• Bowling Green went 13-3 in the MAC a season ago, winning the final three matches of the season to clinch a share of the regular-season MAC crown.
• BGSU won at Buffalo, 3-1, on the last day of the regular season to secure its share of the title.
• The Falcons ultimately were defeated in the semifinals of the MAC Tournament by Western Michigan.
• The Orange and Brown received a bid to play in the first-annual National Invitational Volleyball Tournament. The Falcons lost a tough five-set match at Green Bay in the opening round.

UP NEXT
• Bowling Green welcomes Oakland to the Stroh Center for a 6 p.m. match on Tuesday, Aug. 28.
• The match against Oakland is Bowling Green's 2018 home opener.
• The following weekend, BGSU heads to Pittsburgh over Aug. 31 – Sept. 1 to take part in the Duquesne Tournament.
• At the Duquesne Tournament, Bowling Green will take on Duquesne and Youngstown State on Aug. 31, prior to wrapping up the tournament with a match versus UNLV on Sept. 1.

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Katie Kidwell

Isabel Kovacic

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