Bowling Green State University Athletics
Photo by: Isaiah Vazquez/BGSU Athletics
Best Start In BGSU History? Here Are Eleven Greats
March 02, 2021 | General
Bowling Green, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball team is off to an 11-0 start to the year and received eight votes in the most recent AVCA poll, quite possibly the highest vote total in program history. With one more win, the Falcons will join the 2011 volleyball team, which opened the Stroh Center under legendary head coach Denise Van De Walle, at 12-0 to equal the greatest start in program history. But what is the greatest start in the history of varsity athletics at BGSU?
Through our research, we came up with 11 teams in school history that have begun a season with double-digit wins (ties don't cut it here). We will add the needed disclaimer that we could have missed a team or two (especially in some of our discontinued sports where archival data can be a little tricky to find), but we believe this to be the most comprehensive listing possible of the all-time best starts in BGSU history. As another disclaimer, this only includes teams that have traditional head-to-head won-loss records, so it does not include sports like golf, track & field, or cross country.
10-0
1990 VOLLEYBALL
Just listen to this compilation of wins -- Syracuse, Iowa State, Temple, Maryland, Cincinnati, Alabama and Northwestern. At 10-0, BGSU finally dropped a five-setter to MIchigan State before winning six more in a row, including victories over Rutgers and West Virginia. Van De Walle's squad would go 26-7 on the season but the Falcons were eliminated from the MAC Tournament by Miami (Ohio). That season was the springboard for the team's first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1991.Â
11-0
2021 VOLLEYBALL
When will this run end? We don't know and we hope it extends much longer. This year's team has swept six of the 11 matches but has also found a way to persevere in five-setters, going 4-0 when the stakes are the highest. In the oddest of seasons, BGSU has played only conference matches thus far.
2007-08 WOMEN'S TENNIS
Yet another legendary coach was roaming the courts in 2007-08 as Penny Dean had one of the most successful seasons of her career. BGSU's 11-0 start included wins over Butler, Cincinnati and Xavier. The Falcons went 16-5 on the season but were eliminated in the MAC Tournament semifinals by Western Michigan.
1959-60 WRESTLING
The 1959-60 team was the second straight BGSU wrestling team to go undefeated on the season with an 11-0 record. First year head coach Jim Young led the Falcons to a MAC Championship and was inducted into the BGSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988. Young played on Ohio State's national championship football team in 1954 before transferring to BGSU, lettering as a fullback on Doyt Perry's first MAC Championship team in 1956. As we know, there's no bigger win than Toledo and Young's squad unseated the No. 15 ranked Rockets to get to 10-0 that year.
1958-59 WRESTLING
The first of two straight 11-0 seasons, Bruce Bellard's crew rolled through the 1958-59 season in legendary fashion. Bellard served at Bowling Green from 1948-81 and was elected mayor of Bowling Green in 1983. In 24 years as wrestling coach, he posted 20 winning campaigns. It was also the program's first MAC Championship season, quickly followed by another the next year.
1946-47 MEN'S BASKETBALL
Harold Anderson goes down as one of the great coaches in BGSU history and this is the first of three of his teams mentioned on this list. The 1946-47 team opened 11-0 with wins ranging from Tiffin and Defiance to Kent State and Central Michigan to Pepperdine and Boston College. The Falcons went 28-7 and closed the season by winning 10 straight. The Falcons played two games in Cleveland Arena that year and two more in Chicago Stadium.
1944-45 MEN'S BASKETBALL
Just two years earlier, Harold Anderson had another 11-0 start. Led by Don Otten and Wyndol Gray, the Falcons went 24-4 and were runners-up for the NIT, beating St. John's in Madison Square Garden along the way. During the team's 11-game win streak to start the year, the Falcons beat a wide range of schools that included Western Kentucky and Ohio.Â
12-0
2011 VOLLEYBALL
The 2011 season was a changing of the guard for BGSU volleyball. Prior to the season, Denise Van De Walle announced that she would retire (and eventually Danijela Tomic was hired to take her place). But it was also the opening of the Stroh Center and the Falcons made the most of it. After going 8-24 the year prior, the Falcons opened by winning six straight road matches. When the Falcons came home to christen the Stroh Center, an undefeated Michigan State squad awaited. In front of one of the rowdiest volleyball crowds in BGSU history, the team won in four sets and would go on to extend the win streak to 11. BGSU went 19-12 that year but like some of the other seasons on this list, it springboarded the Falcons to bigger and better things, like a MAC Championship and the program's first and only NCAA Tournament victory in 2012 under Tomic.
1974 MEN'S LACROSSE
Mickey Cochrane, the father and architect of BGSU lacrosse, went 88-24 in 10 years as head coach. But there weren't many better seasons than 1974 when the squad went 12-0 and won the Midwest Lacrosse Association. The Falcons beat Notre Dame (10-3), Michigan State (8-0) and Ohio State (7-3), before closing the season with a 13-11 win over Ohio Wesleyan to clinch an unbeaten campaign.
14-0
1942-43 MEN'S BASKETBALL
The best start of Harold Anderson's career, the Falcons won 14 straight and finished with a record of 18-5. The Falcons beat many of the local Ohio schools during the streak, including Bluffton, Findlay and Ohio Northern. The Falcons also defeated Wayne and Ashland. BGSU was led by captain Mike Kish.Â
15-0
1964 MEN'S TENNIS
Bob Keefe's crew defeated Kentucky, Western Michigan and Miami (Ohio) on the way to an undefeated 15-0 season. The first coach in program history, Keefe told his team to "just keep the ball in play" prior to the big win over Miami on an uncharacteristically (tongue-in-cheek) windy day in Bowling Green. Lee Murray played No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles for one of the greatest Falcon teams of all-time.
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Through our research, we came up with 11 teams in school history that have begun a season with double-digit wins (ties don't cut it here). We will add the needed disclaimer that we could have missed a team or two (especially in some of our discontinued sports where archival data can be a little tricky to find), but we believe this to be the most comprehensive listing possible of the all-time best starts in BGSU history. As another disclaimer, this only includes teams that have traditional head-to-head won-loss records, so it does not include sports like golf, track & field, or cross country.
10-0
1990 VOLLEYBALL
Just listen to this compilation of wins -- Syracuse, Iowa State, Temple, Maryland, Cincinnati, Alabama and Northwestern. At 10-0, BGSU finally dropped a five-setter to MIchigan State before winning six more in a row, including victories over Rutgers and West Virginia. Van De Walle's squad would go 26-7 on the season but the Falcons were eliminated from the MAC Tournament by Miami (Ohio). That season was the springboard for the team's first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1991.Â
11-0
2021 VOLLEYBALL
When will this run end? We don't know and we hope it extends much longer. This year's team has swept six of the 11 matches but has also found a way to persevere in five-setters, going 4-0 when the stakes are the highest. In the oddest of seasons, BGSU has played only conference matches thus far.
2007-08 WOMEN'S TENNIS
Yet another legendary coach was roaming the courts in 2007-08 as Penny Dean had one of the most successful seasons of her career. BGSU's 11-0 start included wins over Butler, Cincinnati and Xavier. The Falcons went 16-5 on the season but were eliminated in the MAC Tournament semifinals by Western Michigan.
1959-60 WRESTLING
The 1959-60 team was the second straight BGSU wrestling team to go undefeated on the season with an 11-0 record. First year head coach Jim Young led the Falcons to a MAC Championship and was inducted into the BGSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988. Young played on Ohio State's national championship football team in 1954 before transferring to BGSU, lettering as a fullback on Doyt Perry's first MAC Championship team in 1956. As we know, there's no bigger win than Toledo and Young's squad unseated the No. 15 ranked Rockets to get to 10-0 that year.
1958-59 WRESTLING
The first of two straight 11-0 seasons, Bruce Bellard's crew rolled through the 1958-59 season in legendary fashion. Bellard served at Bowling Green from 1948-81 and was elected mayor of Bowling Green in 1983. In 24 years as wrestling coach, he posted 20 winning campaigns. It was also the program's first MAC Championship season, quickly followed by another the next year.
1946-47 MEN'S BASKETBALL
Harold Anderson goes down as one of the great coaches in BGSU history and this is the first of three of his teams mentioned on this list. The 1946-47 team opened 11-0 with wins ranging from Tiffin and Defiance to Kent State and Central Michigan to Pepperdine and Boston College. The Falcons went 28-7 and closed the season by winning 10 straight. The Falcons played two games in Cleveland Arena that year and two more in Chicago Stadium.
1944-45 MEN'S BASKETBALL
Just two years earlier, Harold Anderson had another 11-0 start. Led by Don Otten and Wyndol Gray, the Falcons went 24-4 and were runners-up for the NIT, beating St. John's in Madison Square Garden along the way. During the team's 11-game win streak to start the year, the Falcons beat a wide range of schools that included Western Kentucky and Ohio.Â
12-0
2011 VOLLEYBALL
The 2011 season was a changing of the guard for BGSU volleyball. Prior to the season, Denise Van De Walle announced that she would retire (and eventually Danijela Tomic was hired to take her place). But it was also the opening of the Stroh Center and the Falcons made the most of it. After going 8-24 the year prior, the Falcons opened by winning six straight road matches. When the Falcons came home to christen the Stroh Center, an undefeated Michigan State squad awaited. In front of one of the rowdiest volleyball crowds in BGSU history, the team won in four sets and would go on to extend the win streak to 11. BGSU went 19-12 that year but like some of the other seasons on this list, it springboarded the Falcons to bigger and better things, like a MAC Championship and the program's first and only NCAA Tournament victory in 2012 under Tomic.
1974 MEN'S LACROSSE
Mickey Cochrane, the father and architect of BGSU lacrosse, went 88-24 in 10 years as head coach. But there weren't many better seasons than 1974 when the squad went 12-0 and won the Midwest Lacrosse Association. The Falcons beat Notre Dame (10-3), Michigan State (8-0) and Ohio State (7-3), before closing the season with a 13-11 win over Ohio Wesleyan to clinch an unbeaten campaign.
14-0
1942-43 MEN'S BASKETBALL
The best start of Harold Anderson's career, the Falcons won 14 straight and finished with a record of 18-5. The Falcons beat many of the local Ohio schools during the streak, including Bluffton, Findlay and Ohio Northern. The Falcons also defeated Wayne and Ashland. BGSU was led by captain Mike Kish.Â
15-0
1964 MEN'S TENNIS
Bob Keefe's crew defeated Kentucky, Western Michigan and Miami (Ohio) on the way to an undefeated 15-0 season. The first coach in program history, Keefe told his team to "just keep the ball in play" prior to the big win over Miami on an uncharacteristically (tongue-in-cheek) windy day in Bowling Green. Lee Murray played No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles for one of the greatest Falcon teams of all-time.
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