Falcons Finally Home Beginning Thursday

Complete Game Notes (.pdf)

FALCONS FINALLY BACK HOME THIS WEEKEND
After 11 consecutive matches over four weekends away from home, BGSU Volleyball returns to the Stroh Center Thursday and Saturday to host Miami and Western Michigan. The game against the RedHawks begins at 7 pm Thursday night and is Dollar Day with tickets for just one dollar through Wednesday and select concessions costing just one dollar. That contest will be televised live on BCSN2. Saturday, Bowling Green will host Western Michigan for Alumni Night at 7 pm on Homecoming Weekend.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
Both matches during the weekend can be followed in a variety of ways. Thursday night's match will be televised live in Northwest Ohio by BCSN2 and live stats, live audio and live video will be available via links at BGSUFalcons.com. Saturday's match is also available through links on BGSUFalcons.com for live stats, live audio and live video. Fans can also follow along on Twitter via @BGSUVolleyball.

ABOUT MIAMI
Miami is 8-6 on the season and opened conference play last weekend with a four-set victory at Akron and a three-set loss at Buffalo. The RedHawks have been strong defensively, ranking 18th in the country with 16.91 digs per set, but have played a conservative serving game with only 1.02 aces per set. Junior middle hitter Jenny Ingle is hitting .413 this year, among the top 20 in the country. Head coach Carolyn Condit is in her 31st season at Miami with a career record of 529-426 and is 279-192 in MAC play -- the most conference wins in league history.

ABOUT WESTERN MICHIGAN
Western Michigan is 9-6 on the season and 1-1 in Mid-American Conference play following a five-set home loss to Ball State and a three-set sweep of Toledo. The Broncos have thrived with a powerful offense directed by senior setter Lexie Pawlik. She is averaging 10.71 assists per set and her 632 assists are 16th nationally. Head coach Colleen Munson is in her 10th season at WMU and led the program to eight consecutive 20-win seasons from 2005-12.

LAST WEEKEND
BGSU struggled to close out sets and lost a pair of three-set matches at Buffalo and at Akron. The Falcons led or were tied late in every set but were unable to come up with the critical points to earn match victories. Nicole Slimko recorded 21 kills over the two matches, including 12 at Buffalo. Defensively, Delaney Arkeilpane had 13 digs against Buffalo and posted a strong .981 serve receive percentage over the two matches on the weekend.

HOME COOKING
BGSU went 16-5 combined in the Stroh Center in 2012 and 2013 and has finished each of the team's three seasons in the facility with a winning record at home. The Falcons are 0-3 this year in the Stroh Center after opening the season with three losses in the Hampton Inn Invitational but can begin the climb back above .500 this weekend.

TIME TO REBOUND
The Falcons opened 0-2 in conference play for the first time since the 2009 season. That team actually lost its first six conference matches but split the final ten to finish 5-11 and tied for fourth in the East Division. The squad then beat Toledo in five sets in the first round of the MAC Tournament. The 2008 team also started 0-2 in league play but went 12-2 the rest of the way and advanced through the first round of the league tournament as well.

BLOCK PARTY
Kelsey Bates and Alyssa Maloney have anchored a strong defensive unit at the net this year. Bates ranks third in the MAC with 1.11 blocks per set and Alyssa Maloney is averaging 0.96 blocks per set. In total, six Falcons have at least 18 blocks on the season and BGSU ranks second in the MAC as a team with 2.32 blocks per set. The Falcons have outblocked each of their last five opponents and have posted at least 10.0 team blocks in a match five times this year.

FIVE-SETTERS
Bowling Green is 3-2 in five-set matches this year and has gone 16-7 in three years under head coach Danijela Tomic in matches that have gone the distance. In fact, the Falcons have traditionally played well in five setters, posted a record of .500 or better in all but one season since 2005 with a winning percentage of .682 (45-21) since that time. Both the 2008 and 2012 teams went 9-1 in five-setters on the season.

AGE IS JUST A NUMBER
In just one year, the Bowling Green volleyball team went from being one of the most experienced programs in the country to one of the least. Eleven of the team's 13 players are either freshmen or sophomores and seniors Erica Fullenkamp and Kelsey Bates are the only remnants from a squad that won the MAC Championship just two years ago.

SLIMKO HITS THE MAGIC NUMBER
Freshman outside hitter Nicole Slimko posted 31 kills in the team's five set victory over Wright State on Sept. 6, the most for a BGSU player since Oct. 8, 1999. Slimko recorded 10 kills in the first set to set the tone for the match and added eight more in the second. Her 31 kills are the most for a player in the MAC this year. There have been just 11 30-kill matches this year, with Oral Roberts' Laura Milos leading the way with a 38-kill performance.

MARATHON MATCH
Bowling Green and Wichita State combined to set a pair of NCAA records in their match at the Bluejay Invitational. Wichita State's 127 points were the most ever for a match in the 25-point era (since 2008) and Bowling Green's 124 points were the most for a losing team in the 25-point era. In fact, BGSU's 35-33 fourth-set win was the program's highest scoring set in the same 25-point era.

GETTING TO .200
Bowling Green is 3-0 this year when hitting at least .200 and 0-11 when attacking below that number.

THE TOMIC FILE
BGSU volleyball coach Danijela Tomic is one of the winningest coaches in NCAA Division I, posting a career winning percentage of .666. At 197-99 overall, she is just three wins shy of 200 for her career. Tomic helped the Falcons to a 22-11 mark in her initial season at Bowling Green in 2012 and has guided BGSU to a 23-11 record in the Mid-American Conference over the past two-plus seasons.

CHAMPIONS IN THE CLASSROOM
BGSU Volleyball has been recognized by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) for 14 consecutive years for posting a team cumulative grade point average of 3.30 or higher. The string is the second-longest in the country among NCAA Division I institutions.

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Delaney Arkeilpane

Kelsey Bates

Erica Fullenkamp

Alyssa Maloney

Nicole Slimko

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