PARENTS NIGHT A SMASH!

The last parent's night for volleyball in Anderson Arena and BG takes down Buffalo 25-19, 25-9, 20-25, 25-21. The freshman class came up big tonight. Laura Avila had a double-double dishing out 48 assists and picking up 12 digs. Paige Penrod crushed a career high 25 kills while Danille Tonyan boomed 16 kills. Ashley Dunn led all defenders with 14 digs. Check out the story and the sweet photo gallery at BGSUFalcons.com!

Saturday the Falcons take on Akron at 3:00 pm in the last volleyball match to be held at Anderson Arena. It will also be senior day for Sam Fish (North Branch, Michigan) and Noelle Spitler (Toledo, Ohio).

THE END IS NEAR :(

This weekend is a historic weekend in Anderson Arena. Friday’s 7 pm match with Buffalo and Saturday’s 3 pm match with Akron will not only be the final home volleyball matches of the season but also the final Falcon Volleyball matches ever in Anderson Arena. With the opening of the Stroh Center next fall, we will be closing the doors on the house that roars this weekend. Coach Van De Walle has coached over 300 matches in Anderson Arena during her 28 year career at BG. It is always exciting to look forward to being in the Stroh Center next fall but there will be some tears this weekend as we close the doors on some great memories. The tremendous tradition of success for BG Volleyball was built in Anderson through the hard work of so many people. It will be sad to walk off that floor after the final match. It will be sad for the players, alumni, and staff. Below are some of the milestones and accomplishments of BG volleyball and Coach Van De Walle in Anderson Area.

Coach Van De Walle in Anderson Arena:

Has won over 200 matches (63% winning percentage in Anderson).

1983 - 1^st win in Anderson was a 3-1 victory over Clarion State in 1983.

1989 - Clinched BG’s first MAC title with a win over Western Michigan snapping their 98 conference match winning streak and 7 straight MAC Title streak.

1991 - 150^th career win over West Virginia.

1992 - 200^th career win over Ohio.

1995 - 250^th career win over Dayton.

2001 - 350^th career win over Marshall.

2005 - 400^th career win over Chicago State.

The Falcons have hosted teams from the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12, Big East, and PAC 10 in Anderson and beat them. While Ohio State, Washington, and Tennessee all escaped Anderson with narrow 5 set wins - Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Iowa State, Dayton, Auburn, Syracuse, Louisville, Cincinnati, and West Virginia have all tasted defeat in the house that roars.

Youth putting up the numbers!

It is hard to write in the blog after a loss. Our 24-26, 29-31, 25-27 loss to Western Michigan was tough to take. We were so close... On the bright side, this team is exciting to watch, getting better every day, and our freshmen class continues to improve. For the third week in a row we had a BG Freshman honored by the MAC. This week it was Danielle Tonyan (#5) who was named MAC East Offensive Player-of-the-Week. Check out her numbers and the numbers for some of her teammates below.

Our freshman contributed 90 of our 118 kills, 95 of our 114 assists, and 77 of our 111 digs this past week. Check out the highlights:

Tonyan – 40 kills, averaged 5.71 kills-per-set, and hit .443.

Penrod – 40 kills, averaged 5.71 kills-per-set, and hit .333.

Avila – 87 assists (set a BGSU record of 54 assists in a 3 set match – best numbers since rally score era started).

Dunn – 39 digs 5.57 digs-per-set.

We are home again this weekend with Ohio on Friday at 7 and Kent State at 3 on Saturday.