Bowling Green Set To Face Marshall In BGSU Invitational Opener

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball program is back home in the Stroh Center this Thursday to host the BGSU Invitational that will take place over Sept. 13-15. Bowling Green is scheduled to play Marshall (6:00 p.m.) on Sept. 13, IUPUI (6:00 p.m.) on Sept. 14, and will cap off the tournament with a 12:00 p.m. first serve against Nicholls State on Sept. 15.

The BGSU Curriculum Learning Center will be present at Thursday's match against Marshall to celebrate Kid's Literacy Day. The first 100 kids to arrive for the match will receive a free book, and the first 250 fans will receive free volleyball bookmarks. The team will also be available for poster signing session following the match.

Leading up to their match against Nicholls State, the Falcons will wear teal shirts during warmups for Ovarian Cancer Awareness.

COACH TOMIC QUOTE
"We are excited to be playing on our home court this week and in front of our Falcon fans. After a tough non-conference schedule on the road, we are ready to play at home. We hope our fans will notice the growth and improvements of our team since the last time they saw us play. We want to start a winning home streak and hope to accomplish that against a very good Marshall team."

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
• Live stats throughout the tournament will be provided by BGSU Athletics.
• All matches will be lived streamed through the WBGUTV YouTube channel.
• The Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization (BGRSO) will be with the team in the Stroh Center to provide radio coverage for all three of the Falcons' matches.
• All links can be accessed at the top of this page, or by visiting the volleyball schedule page at BGSUFalcons.com.

SCOUTING THE MARSHALL THUNDERING HERD
• The Herd will enter the BGSU Invitational with a record of 5-6 after suffering defeats to Alabama (1-3) and Northern Illinois (0-3), before picking up a win against Georgia Tech (3-1) in the Hampton Inn Bama Bash. Setter Gabrielle Coulter was named to the All-Tournament team after putting up 107 assists, 11 kills, and 26 digs for the Herd.
• Marshall last met the Falcons in 2016, where they claimed all three sets. Isabelle Marciniak, Isabel Kovacic, Madeline Brandewie, Kallie Seimet, and Jessi Holly were in the roster for the Falcon side that fell to the Herd.
• As a team, Marshall is hitting at .170, while allowing opponents to hit at .221

SCOUTING THE IUPUI JAGUARS
• The Jaguars currently face a five-game losing streak after falling to the Ball State Cardinals (0-3) on Tuesday.
• Last year, the Jaguars faced a similar five-game losing streak in non-conference before ending their Horizon League campaign with a record of 12-4. The Jaguars are currently at a record of 2-8 this season.
• Senior Maddie Gibson fell short by one dig in reaching her fourth triple-double of the season in the Jaguars' match against Ohio. Gibson is tied with Miranda Wucherer of Northern Kentucky in leading the NCAA in most triple-doubles this season.

SCOUTING THE NICHOLLS STATE COLONELS
• The Colonels were swept in all three of their matches last weekend in the Texas A&M Invitational, bringing their current record to 2-8.
• Nicholls State ended the 2017 season with an overall record of 4-25.
• Jay Van Vark enters his first season as head volleyball coach for the Colonels. Van Vark was a part of the coaching staff at Ohio State that made a sweet-16 appearance in the NCAA Volleyball Championship in 2014.

STATISTICAL LEADERS FOR THE FALCONS
• Kallie Seimet needs only 39 more digs to reach the 250 mark this season; she is 10^th in the NCAA in the total digs with 211. Seimet also ranks third in digs per set with an average of 5.86.
• Isabelle Marciniak is averaging a team-high 8.88 assists per set and has totaled of 302 assists in the season so far.
• Offensively, Isabel Kovacic leads the Falcons with 82 kills, averaging 2.56 kills per set.
• Katie Kidwell is now up to 36 blocks this season to lead the squad.
• Jacqueline Askin has recorded a team-high 11 aces this season.

PREPARING FOR CONFERENCE PLAY
• Under the direction of Danijela Tomic, the Falcons have always centered training and non-conference matches around being able to hit the ground running when conference play begins.
• So, even though the 2018 Falcons are off to a 3-7 start, history has shown that BGSU, under Tomic, is still more than capable of competing for championships.
• Last season is a prime example. BGSU went 4-9 in non-conference play before going 13-3 within the conference to earn a share of the regular-season crown.
• Additionally, BGSU is challenging itself with more non-conference games in 2018 away from the Stroh Center. The Falcons have four home non-conference matches – the least amount since playing three games in 2015.

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.

UP NEXT
• After the BGSU Invitational, the Falcons' will prepare for two away games on opening weekend of MAC play. The Falcons will face Buffalo on Friday, Sept. 21 (6:00 p.m.) in the Alumni Arena and Akron on Saturday, Sept. 22 (5:00 p.m.) in the James A. Rhodes Arena.

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