Falcon Insider with Derek van der Merwe: Dec. 8
12/8/2023
Important news happening in and around Bowling Green Athletics compiled by Director of Athletics Derek van der Merwe. This Falcon Insider shares upcoming dates to remember and news to be aware of in regards to Bowling Green State University Athletics.
Falcon Family:
The Fall semester is quickly ending, and our student-athletes are completing their final exams. As we head into the holiday season and start to close out 2023, we have much to celebrate!
For the second year in a row, our football program is bowl-eligible. The Falcons will be heading to Detroit to compete against Big Ten opponent Minnesota on December 26. Coach Scot Loeffler and his squad put together a 7-5 season for the first winning season since 2015. I am extremely proud of this program and look forward to what Dec 26 brings! I hope you will join us in Detroit as we try and give our Falcons a home field edge at Ford Field. Last year’s game was the most viewed regular and post season MAC football game for the entire year with 2.3 million households tuning into the game. Last year’s Quick Lane Bowl also garnered the second-highest attendance in the MAC for a bowl game. The game offers a unique opportunity for us to engage Falcon alum and fans from the region and have significant national visibility. For all details related to the Quick Lane Bowl, visit our Bowl Central website.
Football also put 10 Falcons on the All-MAC team, which trailed only Toledo’s 14 and 12 from MAC Champion Miami (OH). The football team enters Bowl Season No. 1 in the country in takeaways and is the only team in the nation that has increased its win totals increments of +4 from 2020 to 2021, +2 from 2021 to 2022 and +1 from 2022 to 2023. We look forward to watching our Falcons go for win No. 8 in Detroit.
Our volleyball program showed tremendous resilience this season. The team fought their way into the top six in the MAC to participate in the Conference Tournament hosted in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The Falcons, who were a 6 seed, defeated 3 seed Ball State and 2 seed Buffalo before taking on the number 1 seed Broncos in the Championship match. The Falcons overcame a 2-set deficit to force a 5th but their late rally fell short. Sophomore, Lauryn Hovey and senior Jaden Walz, were both named to the MAC All-Tournament team. We are immensely proud of the adversity this program overcame and what it accomplished this year!
It is always bittersweet when a member of the BGSU family gets another professional opportunity. Head women’s soccer Coach Jimmy Walker is heading to Creighton to begin the next chapter of his career. Under his guidance, the soccer program went to the MAC tournament four consecutive years with two trips to the NCAA tournament. I wish to extend the best of luck to Jimmy, his wife Kerri and daughters Emma and Anna. We immediately began the process to identify the next head coach for this incredible group of young women.
Head women’s basketball coach Fred Chmiel has built a challenging schedule for the Falcons this season with a marquee game when the No.1 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks come to Stroh on Dec. 19! We are excited to have the top program in the nation competing in our house! Tickets are on sale now. Do not miss your opportunity to be part of this historic moment in our athletic history and cheer on our Falcons.
As the fall semester comes to a close, we continue to excel in the classroom. We have 48 student-athletes who have graduated and are currently enrolled in graduate programs or taking post graduate classes. One specific partnership that has thrived is with our Allen w. and Carol M. Schmidthorst College of Business. We have 26 student-athletes enrolled in the MBA program and two former student-athletes who are currently finishing their MBA’s – after their eligibility ended. Two-time MAC Volleyball Player of the Year Petra Indrova, football All-MAC player Darren Anders and starting offensive tackle Kam Stewart highlight some of this fall’s MBA graduates.
BGSU Athletics values all our campus partnerships and their willingness to collaborate with us on ways of telling the story of BGSU Athletics. Falcon Media Sports Network is one of those significant partners. Falcon Media Sports Network is the home for all student-run media coverage of BGSU Athletics. They strive to help get students invested into the practices of journalism, marketing, and overall content creation through a wide variety of media. We have started to integrate much of their content into our media platforms. This partnership will continue to grow. From broadcasting more than 150 sporting events every year on our two radio stations (88.1 FM WBGU, Falcon Radio), to supporting our BG24 newscast, Falcon Media's once-a-week news program, to supplying stories for the BG News, our weekly newspaper that has served the Bowling Green community for more than 100 years. Currently, there are 25-30 students that are involved in Falcon Media Sports.
Follow Falcon Sports Media:
- Twitter/X page: https://twitter.com/BG_FMSN
- Website: https://bgfalconmedia.com/sports/
- Falcon Media Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BGFalconMedia/
- Falcon Media Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bgfalconmedia/?hl=en
Each year, the Bowling Green State University community comes together to celebrate BGSU One Day – the University’s dedicated day of giving. This 36-hour online fundraising effort, scheduled for April 3-4, 2024, has continued to inspire Falcons to give back to their favorite BGSU program, college or area of interest and empower life-changing opportunities for our students. Last year, Falcon Athletics raised $658,000 across all sports from 1,607 gifts!
Falcon Club members are reminded that you can fully renew your annual membership gift for One Day and receive the benefits of Falcon Club membership for the 2024-25 school year, including, but not limited to, parking privileges for 2024 Football and 2024-25 Basketball and Hockey season ticket holders.
Additionally, this year, BGSU Athletics will include a campaign to support our integration with the campus Life Design program for our student-athletes. Stay tuned for additional details!
As we head into the new year, we are excited to have our women’s gymnastics program competing in the Stroh! What an amazing venue to showcase the talents of our student-athletes! If you have never attended a gymnastics meet, you are in for a treat. It is a high-flying adrenaline filled experience on the floor, uneven bars, beam and vault! The Falcons' first home meet will be January 7 against Illinois State. Tickets for the 2024 season are currently on sale.
For those of you who were not able to attend or catch the broadcast of our football game vs Toledo, Orel Hershiser joined the broadcast to share what it meant to be back on campus and how Bowling Green University is changing and growing more than he thought possible. Click here to view Orel's time on the broadcast. Orel Hershiser will be back again as the keynote speaker at our Baseball First Pitch dinner on January 27. Look for registration for that event to open soon.
January is an exciting month for our softball program as they host their Softball First Pitch Dinner on January 11. The keynote speaker for the event is collegiate softball coaching legend Mike Candrea, who led Arizona to eight NCAA titles and 24 College World Series appearances. He also led Team USA Softball in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics winning gold and silver, respectively. This event will take place from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the Bowen Thompson Student Union’s Lenhart Grand Ballroom. Register for the event with the link below.
https://connect.bgsu.edu/events/2024-softball-first-pitch-dinner
From my family to yours, I hope you have a great holiday season and a happy new year … and, as always, AY ZIGGY ZOOMBA!
Derek van der Merwe
Director of Athletics
Orel Hershiser, the long-time @MLB pitcher and @BGSU_Athletics Hall of Famer, returned to BGSU!
— Bowling Green State University (@bgsu) December 5, 2023
"If you're in high school, think about Bowling Green. This is a campus you need to visit. What's going on in Bowling Green is really big."
-@OrelHershiser
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BGSU announces that Hall of Fame coach Mike Candrea will be the Keynote Speaker at @BGSUSoftball's ?????????? ?????????? ???????????? on January 11, 2024.
— BGSU Athletics (@BGSU_Athletics) November 29, 2023
Coach Candrea won 8 NCAA titles for Arizona Softball & led Team USA to the Gold Medal ?? at the 2004 Olympic Games ??
Mark your calendars and join @vandermerwe63 for your morning cup of ??
— BGSU Athletics (@BGSU_Athletics) December 1, 2023
??? Dec. 12
? 7-9 a.m.
?? Rustbelt Coffee
?? Toledo#AyZiggy ???? pic.twitter.com/c9bEsxZIwa
The Mid-American Conference is transitioning to a new format for the conference this upcoming football season. The UT-BG rivalry will be protected.https://t.co/qFdJ97mHA3 pic.twitter.com/Ck4q1PQrgD
— Falcon Media Sports Network (@BG_FMSN) November 30, 2023
Dates to Remember
• Dec. 9 – Indoor track & field hosts the Tom Wright Open (Perry Field House)
• Dec. 10 - Falcon Football Fan Celebration (Schmidthorst Heritage Hall)
• Dec. 12 - Coffee and Conversations with the AD (Rustbelt Coffee in Toledo, 7-9 a.m.)
• Jan. 11 – Softball's “First Pitch Dinner” (Bowen Thompson Student Union Lenhard Grand Ballroom) - Register Here
• Jan. 20 – Men’s Basketball vs Western Michigan – Bill Frack Game/Alumni Day
• Jan. 27 – Baseball's “First Pitch Dinner” (Bowen Thompson Student Union Lenhard Grand Ballroom) - Registration will open soon
• Jan. 27 – Women’s Basketball vs Kent – Alumni Game – Contact Audra Clark, Women’s Basketball Video Coordinator, clarkag@bgsu.edu, for more information.
An Orange Wave: The resurgence of the Falcon Fanatics! The BGSU focus on the “student experience” defines our culture and vision. Athletics is committed to supporting this Universiry mission! #AyZiggy @bgsu ?@BGSU_Athletics? ?????? https://t.co/yRyh1RfTIF
— Derek van der Merwe (@vandermerwe63) December 6, 2023
Happiness is listening to @OrelHershiser talk about @BGSU on national TV ??#AyZiggy ???? pic.twitter.com/zY05xEqj2W
— BGSU Athletics (@BGSU_Athletics) November 15, 2023
A cinematic recap of the @BGSUWBB trip to Iowa City.#AyZiggy x #onemore pic.twitter.com/BUddqLqiCa
— BGSU Athletics (@BGSU_Athletics) December 6, 2023
Let's Go Bowling ?? pic.twitter.com/Z5VpSnEuU5
— BGSU Football (@BG_Football) December 4, 2023
???????? & ??????????:
— BGSU Football (@BG_Football) December 1, 2023
Bowling Green is the only school in the nation with each of the following win increases over the past three seasons:
?? +4 ('20??'21)
?? +2 ('21?? '22)
?? +1 ('22?? '23)#ToTheMoon ?? pic.twitter.com/glBrUfZQyV
??Happy FALCON FRIDAY!!!??@BGSUSoftball had a great fall/winter… this group works so hard and their commitment and passion to each other is my favorite part!
— Coach Fenton BGSU Softball (@CoachFentonBG) December 1, 2023
???? Good luck on final exams next week Falcons!!!! #falconfam @vandermerwe63 @Pres_Rogers pic.twitter.com/Ahy90cEwai
Football
• Bowling Green secured its first winning season since 2015 with its 34-10 win at Western Michigan in the regular season finale.
• BGSU is going to back-to-back bowl games for the first time since going to four in a row from 2012-15.
• BGSU is the only school in the nation to improve from 2020 to 2021 with +4 wins, then +2 wins from 2021 to 2022 and +1 wins from 2022 to 2023.
• BGSU placed 10 on the All-MAC team with TE Harold Fannin Jr. and CB Jalen Huskey highlighting the squad on the first team. BG’s 10 honorees were third-most in the MAC behind UT (14) and 12 from Miami (OH).
Ice Hockey
• Brody Waters was named CCHA Rookie of the Week on Nov. 27. He scored twice in a win over Norther Michigan.
Swim & Dive
• Rayah Blood won MAC Diver of the Week for the second time this season. Full Release.
• Joanna Robertson in her first collegiate meet swam to the 6th-fastest time in program history in the 100 Breaststroke.
• Grace Bodrock in the Falcons' last meet of the Fall Season swam to the 9th-fastest time in program history in the 200 Butterfly.
Volleyball
• Appeared in fifth-straight MAC Championship match at WMU, falling in five sets after trailing 2-0 earlier.
• Lauryn Hovey (first team), Kat Mandly (second team) earned All MAC Honors.
• Won 12 of their last 14 to finish the season, including nine via a 3-0 sweep.
• Was 7-1 in November and is 25-6 in the month of November dating back to 2019 season.
• Lauryn Hovey's 59 aces second in program history for aces in a single season
Men's Basketball
• Started 2-0 in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1983-84 and 1984-85.
• Head coach Todd Simon became seventh coach in program history to begin tenure with BGSU 2-0.
Jason Spurgin logged first BGSU double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds against Oakland.
• BGSU went 2-1 at the Northern Classic in Montreal. The Falcons defeated Lipscomb and Canisius after opening with a narrow defeat to Western Kentucky.
Women’s Basketball
• After downing Duquesne on Nov. 27, BGSU is now 2-0 at home this season. The Falcons have won both games after trailing in the final minute. BG downed Cleveland State, 89-86, in the home opener (Nov. 7) after trailing with as few as 1.9 seconds to go.
• On Nov. 27, BG trailed with just over 20 seconds remaining, before Lexi Fleming's three-pointer.
• Both games were tied with 1.0 or fewer seconds left before BGSU wound up winning in regulation. Against CSU, Fleming hit a pair of free throws with exactly one second to go. And Amy Velasco's winning shot came as the final buzzer sounded.
• The Falcons' win over Lehigh on Thanksgiving Day marked the return of Morgan Sharps to the court. Sharps, a transfer from Xavier, played in each of BGSU's first 50 games after coming to BG, but was injured in the Falcons' win over Toledo in January of 2023.
• Sharps, who started the first 17 games last season, made her presence felt immediately in the win over the Mountain Hawks. In less than 20 minutes of action, she had 15 points, three rebounds and three steals. Then, on Nov. 27, she had 11 points in the win over Duquesne.
Women’s Track & Field
• The indoor season starts on Dec. 9 at the Tom Wright Open at BG’s Perry Field House.
Baseball
• Released 2024 schedule which includes weekend series at Memphis, at Tennessee and at Xavier. BGSU also has mid-week games with Michigan State, Notre Dame and Ohio State. Click here to view full schedule.
Softball
• The 2024 schedule has been released and includes tournaments at Northern Kentucky, Indiana and Coastal Carolina. Click here to view full schedule.
