Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Volleyball Celebrates Start Of 2024 Campaign With Third Annual Dream Big Event
August 24, 2024 | Volleyball
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team hosted their third annual Dream Big with BGSU Volleyball event on Saturday (Aug. 24). The team welcomed fans to the Stroh Center for an evening that included a Q&A with players and coach, special remarks from alumna Hannah Best and an auction, kicking off the 2024 campaign for the Falcons.
Coming off of an earlier scrimmage against Oakland, the evening festivities began with player led tours of the Falcon volleyball locker room and was followed up with an on-court Q &A with the current Falcon players and head coach Danijela Tomic that was emceed by Steve Iwanek, the 2023 radio voice of BGSU volleyball and BGSU graduate. A major point of emphasis was the new changes this season: the inclusion of a new Teraflex court, new rules to college volleyball and fans were able to hear from new BGSU student-athletes. Notably, donors were able to hear from freshman Cecily Waynar about her experience so far wearing the same number as her mother Marin did when she played for the Orange and Brown.
After the Q&A, the event transitioned to Schmidthorst Heritage Hall for the remainder of the evening. Once all were in Schmidthorst Heritage Hall, dinner was served before speeches began. Iwanek began with opening remarks before introducing Athletic Director Derek van der Merwe who emphasized the role of working towards success and a winning standard of the volleyball program.
Tomic followed van der Merwe's speech recognizing those in attendance such as president Rodney Rodgers and the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Ellen Schendel and Dean of Allen W. and Carol M. Schmidthorst College of Business, Dr. Jennifer Percival as well as former head coach Pat Peterson and current head baseball coach Kyle Hallock.
She further thanked her staff and touched on the value of the program's fans and the connective tissue that bonds the team with its support. Tomic reinforced the vision for BGVB and emphasized the importance of giving to the program before introducing keynote speaker two-time BGSU alumnus Hannah Best.
Best, a 2023 alumna of the program, spoke on her experiences and the lessons she learned while competing at Bowling Green. Since graduating with her M.B.A, she currently works as a talent acquisition specialist with real.good.ventures. Best talked about four items she gained as a part of the program: gratitude, impermanence, courage and the power of others. She ended her speech emphasizing the impact of support for the program can have. The evening concluded with Van Wright hosting an auction .
The Falcons regular season will start for the Orange and Brown on Aug.30 hosting the Best Western invitational with three matches, taking on Chicago State, Illinois and Cincinnati.
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