BIG EVENT - NO BG VOLLEYBALL FAN SHOULD MISS THIS EVENT!

You are invited to help celebrate an outstanding coaching career! The BGSU Athletics Department will be hosting a reception to honor Coach Denise Van De Walle as she retires after 29 years of head coaching at BGSU. Stroh Center Hall of Fame Lobby Saturday, December 10 5:30-7:30 p.m. This event is open and free to the public, but fans are asked to RSVP for the reception to 419-372-2401 or bgsuathletics@bgsu.edu. · The longest tenured active coach at BGSU · 527 career wins · Four-time MAC Coach of the Year · 13, 20-win campaigns

END OF AN ERA!

This Saturday the 19-9 Falcons take on MAC leader Northern Illinois at 2:00 pm in the Stroh Center. This will be a historic night that you will not want to miss. This is the last regular season match of the 2011. It will be the final home match for seniors Emily Kauth and Madison Nitta. Plus, Coach Van De Walle will Coach her last match on the campus of BGSU after a tremendous 29 year career! Do not miss this match!

PINK OUT!

IN SUPPORT OF BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH OUR MATCH WITH MIAMI ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6TH, 2011 IS OUR ANNUAL PINK OUT NIGHT! FIRST SERVE IS AT 7 PM. COME OUT AND HELP US TAKE DOWN REDHAWKS!

DANIELLE TONYAN - MAC PLAYER-OF-THE-WEEK!

TONYAN HITS THE BALL A TON!

Sorry Danielle - had to say it at least once...Danielle Tonyan opened conference play with a big bang! In six sets she pounded out 25 kills while hitting a sizzling .354. No one in the East Division had more kills, scored more points, or had a higher hitting percentage than Danielle this past weekend. What a way to open MAC play! For her performance this past weekend she was named MAC East Offensive Player-of-the-Week. This is the second time Tonyan has earned Player-of-the-Week honors. Congratulations Danielle!

DINNER IS DELIGHTFUL!
THANK YOU TO THE KAUTH'S FOR HAVING THE TEAM OVER FOR A GREAT PRE-GAME MEAL. IT WAS AWESOME!
*** and I am sad I don't have any pictures =( ***

BOUNCING BACK...14-1!

After suffering our first loss of the year on Friday - we bounced back with two 3-0 wins on the road over Kent State and Wright State. Now it is time to see if we can keep the Stroh Center winning streak going. Friday, September 30th we host Akron at 7 pm and then on Saturday Buffalo comes into the Stroh for a 3 pm contest. Come and be part of the action this weekend and help us go undefeated in the Stroh! It would be awesome to have another 3,000 fans fill up the Stroh and make some NOISE!

STAT HIGHLIGHTS:

Nationally Kari Galen ranks 15 in hitting percentage! As a team the Falcons rank 9th in winning percentage, 12 in hitting percentage, 36th in kills-per-set, 48th in assists-per-set, and 66th in aces-per-set. BGSU ranks well within the MAC as well. Check out the rankings below:
Hitting percentage - Team ranks 1st hitting .275. Individually Kari Galen ranks 1st (.409), Emily Kauth is 4th (.339), and Danielle Tonyan is 9th (.314).
Kills-per-set - Danielle Tonyan ranks 4th (3.65) and Paige Penrod is 7th (3.21).
Points-per-set - Danielle Tonyan ranks 4th (4.20) and Paige Penrod is 7th (3.81).
Aces-per-set - Paige Penrod ranks 3rd (.38) and Laura Avila ranks 6th (.35).
Digs-per-set - Bowling Green native Ashley Dunn ranks 7th (3.58).
Blocks-per-set - Kari Galen is 2nd (1.12).

ROLL ALONG!!!

MAC PLAY STARTS TONIGHT!

After a great BGSU record 12-0 start - we are ready to begin MAC play. We head down to Athens tonight for a match up with Ohio who is pick to win the East Division. Should be a great match! Then Saturday we head up to Kent State for a match with the Golden Flashes. The MAC should be very competitive this year and we are very excited about the start of conference play. Both matches are at 7 pm.

ANOTHER TOURNAMENT...ANOTHER TITLE...

Last weekend we won our 4th tournament of the season at Bucknell with three 3-0 sweeps! It was awesome! Kari Galen and Laura Avila were named to the All-Tournament Team. Congrats!

Laura Avila delivering a gem!

GETTING VOTES!

In the latest AVCA Coaches Poll we earned some votes...enough to rank us 40th in the poll. Looking at the National Stats - BG ranks 8th in Team Hitting Percentage. Kari Galen is leading the charge with her MAC best .454 hitting percentage which is the 3rd best (yes I said 3rd best) hitting percentage in the country right now. Great job Kari!

Kari Galen getting another kill!

COME OUT AND EXPERIENCE THE NEW STROH CENTER! UPCOMING HOME MATCHES: Friday, September 30 at 7:00 pm vs. Akron
Saturday, October 1 at 3:00 pm vs. Buffalo
Thursday, October 6 at 7:00 pm vs. Miami

AND THEN THERE WERE 12...(make that 11)

I will explain the 12 in a bit but first things first. CONGRATULATIONS to Paige Penrod for being selected MAC East Offensive Player-of-the-Week! Paige tore it up over the weekend and joins fellow Falcons Danielle Tonyan and Kari Galen as a MAC Player-of-the-Week selection. Congrats Paige!

Hard work does pay off...Paige training in the sand.

With Iowa State and Stanford losing last night - at 9-0 BGSU Volleyball is one of only 12 Division I programs without a loss heading into the forth weekend of play (make that 11 teams with Miami, FL losing Wednesday night). We are also ranked 11th (out of 322) in team hitting percentage. On the year BG is hitting .286 as a team! In addition we rank 67th in blocks-per-set, 69th in kills-per-set, 78th in assists-per-set, and 102nd in aces-per-set. Individually on the National scene we have several players ranked among the best:
Emily Kauth - 30th in hitting percentage (.397).
Kari Galen - 32nd in blocks-per-set (1.34).
Kari Galen - 52nd in hitting percentage (.375).
Paige Penrod - 115th in aces-per-set (.39)
Danielle Tonyan - 124th in points-per-set (3.55)
Paige Penrod - 157th in points-per-set (3.36)
Danielle Tonyan 209th in hitting percentage (.308).
It's been a pretty impressive start for the 2011 BG Volleyball Team!

Kauth training hard in the sand and Tonyan....

Galen (in the air) working on her hops!

I have to once again thank the fans that came out to our home opener against #28 Michigan State. The crowd was AWESOME!!! The MAC is very tough this year and we would love have you back for our first MAC match in the Stroh on Friday, September 30 at 7 pm with Akron.

UPCOMING HOME MATCHES:
Friday, September 30 at 7 pm with Akron.
Saturday, October 1 at 3 pm with Buffalo.
Thursday, October 6 at 7 pm with Miami.

ROLL ALONG!!!

WIN...WIN...WIN

I am really behind in my blogging! So much has happened since our trip to Annapolis. Even thought this is out of order I must say THANK YOU to everyone who made our opening match at Stroh such a success! The fans (especially the student section!!!) were awesome! Please come back for our MAC opener on September 30th! Thank you to everyone who donated to the Stroh! Thanks to everyone in the athletic department who helped put this event together and then pull it off. Thank you Kerm and Mary Ellen for sitting on the bench with us. And thanks to the BGSU Volleyball Team for beating #28 Michigan State. What an event and what a night! If you were not there...you really missed something special.Okay...now to catch up on lost time with a few of the highlights since my last blog entry. We dodged the storms and went 4-0 to win the South Florida Invitational! Kari Galen was named MVP while Emily Kauth and Ashley Dunn were named the the All Tournament Team!Kari Galen was named MAC East Defensive Player-of-the-Week after blocking 26 balls at the USF Tournament. CONGRATULATIONS KARI!BGSU Volleyball spent a little time at Busch Gardens!!!

Butter seems to like her dinner....



Erica gives two thumbs up to something...

Coach is feeding the animals...is anyone surprised?

After beating #28 Michigan State 3-1 to open the new Stroh Center in front of a record crowd of 3,000 fantastic fans...BGSU went on to beat SIUE and Canisius to win the BGSU Best Western Falcon Plaza Invitational! Emily Kauth and Danielle Tonyan were named to the All Tournament Team. Paige Penrod was named MVP of the tournament. 2011 Best Western Falcon Plaza All-Tournament Team!

What a great couple of weeks for the Falcons! Three tournaments...three championships! BGSU Volleyball is now 9-0 on the year! Awesome job you BG Warriors!

Roll Along!

NOT EVEN A HURRICANE SLOWED DOWN TONYAN!

Okay...the first weekend is in the books and I must say it was an interesting weekend. Hurricane Irene shorten the Navy invitational but not before we knocked off both Air Force and Navy 3-0, 3-0. Danielle Tonyan (McHenry, IL) was named tournament MVP and Emily Kauth (Vandalia, OH) was named to the all tournament team. Tonyan was also named MAC EAST OFFENSIVE PLAYER-OF-THE-WEEK! Congratulations Danielle!

She was a beast this weekend as she hit a blistering .418 with 27 kills in the two sweeps!

We also got to see a little bit of Annapolis over the weekend. Say...aren't we a little close to the water? Libby looks like she is getting ready to dive in...Danielle looks really hungry...maybe we should go eat!

Dinner was awesome! Coach Van De Walle said it was the best Tilapia she has ever had!


It was a good time. BG is now 2-0 and ready to head to Florida for the South Florida Invitational. Should be fun if we can get in and out between hurricanes! Slow down Katia...we want to play both days!

HITTING THE TRAIL!

The morning workout on Saturday was a short trip down the trail on blades or bikes. It was a great way to start the day!

A GOLD MEDAL AND A NEW SEASON!

Today was the first day of the 2011 pre-season. We are in the new Stroh Center getting ready for a great 2011 season. We open the season in Annapolis on August 26th. We open the Stroh Center on September 9 against Michigan State!

Pre-season fun...is Coach Van De Walle playing hide and seek?

Spirits are high on the first day! Leah, Kari, Laura, Kaitlyn, Emily, and Ashley are feeling good about practice...a little blurry but good. :)

I like the way Libby is sealing the net! You never know - Herzberg got a couple of shots in the front row last year.

Madi Nitta brings home the Gold! Check out the story at BGSUFalcons.com. Congrats Madi! What an awesome job!

TOP OF THE CLASS!

How do you judge success? Think about this...Coach Van De Walle has the most wins of any Coach in the MAC and her BGSU teams have more AVCA Team Academic Awards than any other team in the MAC. For the 11th consecutive year the Falcons have earned the AVCA Team Academic Award. Only one Division I school in the country has a current streak of more than 11 consecutive awards from the AVCA. The BG Volleyball program has earned the award 12 times in Coach Van De Walle's career which is more than any other school in the MAC. That is pretty impressive. Congratulations to Coach Van De Walle and the Falcons on another great year in the classroom!


http://www.avca.org/awards/team-academic-award/

SUMMER UPDATE!

Last Friday we finished the last of our summer volleyball camps. We had three successful camps (one skills camps and two team camps). The staff was great and the campers were awesome! It was the first event to use the new Stroh Center. It was fantastic! We can't wait for our home opener against Michigan State on September 9th. Our match with MSU is the first BGSU athletic event in the Stroh! You should come and check it out!

During camp some of our players went to El Zarape (outstanding local Mexican restaurant) to celebrate Leah Shaw's Birthday. Leah is one of our incoming players. In the picture on the left - Madi Nitta, Kari Galen, Lauren Mizgalski, and Kaitlyn Skinner enjoy a night at El Zarape with Leah Shaw on her 20th birthday!








In an earlier blog entry we talked about Madi Nitta competing with the USA Women's National Deaf Team at the USAV Nationals. To the left is a picture of the hardware they took home and below is a team picture. Madi is number 9. Congrats again to Madi and the USA Women's National Deaf Team!

SEASON TICKETS NOW ON SALE!

Just in case you missed it on BGSUFalcons.com, our season tickets just went on sale. You can get two extra tickets for the first BGSU Athletic event in new Stroh Center by buying season tickets. Cost is $35 for the 11 home matches. Be part of history by helping us sell out the Stroh Center on September 9th when we host Michigan State! You can read the story at http://www.bgsufalcons.com/index.aspx?path=wvball&.

Nitta on U.S. Deaf Women's National Team!

Madison Nitta (Senior from Manhattan Beach, CA) is a member of the U.S. Deaf Women's National Team which won the Bronze Bracket at the USA Volleyball Open National Championships in Dallas, Texas. CONGRATULATIONS to Madi and the U.S. Deaf Women's National Team. Next up for the U.S. Deaf Women's National Team is the Friendship Games in Washington D.C. June 31 through August 6, 2011. U.S.A., U.S.A.,U.S.A.,U.S.A....

WELCOME LEAH SHAW!

Leah Shaw has officially joined the Falcon family. Below is the release from our sports communication office. WELCOME TO BG LEAH!

Bowling Green, Ohio – Bowling Green State University volleyball coach Denise Van De Walle has announced that junior college transfer Leah Shaw will play at BGSU beginning in the fall of 2011. Shaw won a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Championship in 2009 at Illinois Central College.

Hailing from Princeton, Ill., Shaw is the daughter of Dan and Jean Shaw. She played three years of varsity volleyball at Princeton High School, leading the team to a 90-27 record from 2006-08. She was honorable mention all-state in 2008 and the Bureau County Republican Volleyball Co-Player of the Year as a senior. She was twice named a unanimous first team All-NCIC recipient as well and was a member of the National Honor Society.

From there, she went on to Illinois Central College, where she was named to the All Tournament Team at the 2009 NJCAA National Championships. During the past year, she was an NJCAA Second Team All-American and an Academic All-American.

“I am thrilled to have Leah join our volleyball family,” Van De Walle said. “From the moment I talked to her on the phone to when I met her on campus, she fit right in. The team loved her instantly. She is a very gifted athlete who will play multiple positions for us. She is an excellent student, a great competitor, hits the ball hard, and is used to winning. Not too many athletes get the honor of playing on a National Championship team, being named an All-American in their sport and in the classroom. Leah has all three to her credit. She is the last volleyball player that I will sign in my career. She’s a special one.”

At Bowling Green, Shaw plans to study earth and environmental science.

Van De Walle has announced that she will retire following the 2011 season which will also be the first year for the program to compete in the new Stroh Center.

AN ERA ENDS AFTER 2011.

Below is the release on Coach Van De Walle's retirement. What a great career at BGSU! Let's make her last season her best ever!

Bowling Green, Ohio – Bowling Green State University volleyball coach Denise Van De Walle has announced that she will retire from coaching following the 2011 season. Van De Walle is the winningest coach in Mid-American Conference history with a mark of 508-366 in 28 seasons at Bowling Green.

“The time is right for this change,” Van De Walle said. “I have been blessed beyond words to have spent my entire 28-year Division I head coaching career at one place. Very few coaches get the opportunity to spend their entire career with one school.”

A four-time MAC Coach of the Year, Van De Walle’s teams have posted 13 20-win seasons and a 30-win campaign in 1992. She was honored as the top coach in the league in 1986, 1987, 1989, and 1992.

Van De Walle was named the head coach of BGSU volleyball on June 30, 1983 and has the longest tenure of any current head coach at the University. She has experience coaching at the high school, college, national, and international levels.

“There have been many, many people who have made my time here so special,” Van De Walle said. “I have so many amazing memories of current and former BG coaches and of course, the current and former players who I’ve had the privilege to coach and continue to keep me involved in their lives. I will always be indebted to my first Athletics Director, Jack Gregory, who took a chance on a young, naïve coach and gave me an incredible opportunity to build a championship program. Also, our Falcon fans have made me and our team feel loved throughout the years. The Lord has truly blessed me here. I am very proud of what we’ve accomplished.”

The program’s most successful stretch came from 1989-93 when the team had five consecutive 20-win seasons, won three MAC regular season crowns and was runner-up once. The 1989 team won the program’s first conference title, snapping Western Michigan’s 98-match league winning streak and seven-year reign as league champions. The squad finished a perfect 8-0 in league play, the only undefeated MAC season in program history.

The 1991 team made the program’s first NCAA appearance and the Falcons finished the year ranked No. 19 in the country. The 1992 team then set a school record for victories in a season by going 30-8 and the Falcons capped a spectacular season with a runner-up finish at the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) – the highest ever finish by a MAC member. The team again advanced to the NIVC in 1993, placing second in the both MAC regular season and tournament.

“It’s hard to imagine BGSU Volleyball without Denise,” Director of Athletics Greg Christopher said. “Her standard of excellence, both on the court and in the classroom, over the course of 28 years is one that everyone should aim for. As we open the Stroh Center this fall, we will take time to celebrate the legacy of Denise’s career at BGSU.”

For all of the team’s on-court achievements, Van De Walle’s squads have perennially been one of the best in the classroom as well. She has had numerous regional Academic All-Americans and Emily Manser was a member of the Academic All-America team in both 2004 and 2005. Linda Popovich received the Walter Byers Award 1990, given annually to the top graduating male and female seniors in the country and requiring a minimum 3.50 cumulative grade point average. She is the only female in conference history to receive first team all-academic national honors twice.

The program has received the AVCA National Academic Award 11 consecutive years, the second-longest streak in the country, and had one season with the highest overall grade point average in the country.

A 1976 graduate of Ball State, Van De Walle led Northside High School in Muncie, Ind. to a record of 54-9 in two seasons. Her 1977 team went 29-1 en route to the state championship. She was named Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Coach of the Year following the 1978 campaign, before moving on to become a graduate assistant at her alma mater in 1979, coaching the junior varsity team.

In 1980, Van De Walle returned to Northside and guided the team to a 25-3 record, while also coaching the Michiana Volleyball Club that participated in the United State Volleyball Association (USVBA) Junior Nationals in California and the Junior Olympics in Illinois. In 1981, she joined the program at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo as an assistant coach and helped the Mustangs to a 41-8 record and a fifth place finish in the NCAA Division I Championships. She went back to Ball State as an assistant coach in 1982 before landing the head coaching job at Bowling Green.

In May of 2001, Van De Walle was named President of the American Volleyball Coaches Association and has been active in the AVCA during her career, serving on the Board of Directors from 1993-2000. She also sat on the Board of Directors for USA Volleyball.

Van De Walle also coached Athletes in Action in 1983 and 1984, leading teams that toured the Far East with stops in Hong Kong, Japan and China. She also led AIA volleyball teams on tours of Bolivia and South Africa in 1995 and 1996. In 1991 and 1993, she coached at the U.S. Olympic Festival, guiding the East to a bronze medal in Los Angeles in 1991. In 1992, Van De Walle ran the USVBA women’s senior elite camp in Colorado Springs.

From 2003-08, Van De Walle served as the assistant coach for the USA National Sitting Team. Along with Mike Hulett, she founded the team in 2003 and the unit earned a bronze medal in the first Sitting Volleyball Paralympics for women in Athens, Greece in 2004. She helped lead the team to a second place finish in the Asia-Oceanic Cup in the summer of 2007 and captured a bronze medal at the first World Organization Volleyball for the Disabled Intercontinental Cup in Egypt in April of 2008. The team then won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.

A loyal supporter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Van De Walle was part of the first-ever international missions trip for FCA in the summer of 1998, conducting clinics and speaking at various youth and church functions in Singapore. She returned to the country in the summer of 2000. Van De Walle was inducted in the Northwest Ohio chapter of the FCA’s Hall of Champions in May of 2010, being honored in the inaugural class.

In all, Van De Walle’s players have earned 51 All-MAC Awards, 65 MAC Player of the Week honors, 12 MAC Commissioner’s Awards, four MAC President’s Awards, eight All-Mideast Region Awards, 104 MAC Academic Honor Roll Awards, 50 Academic All-MAC honors, three Academic All-American Awards, six BGSU Junior Scholar Athlete Awards, a Senior Scholar Athlete Award, and a BGSU Medal of Honor.

“I love Bowling Green,” Van De Walle said. “However, I’ve been thinking about making this move for a while. One of my goals, though, was to coach my team in the Stroh Center so I wanted to coach long enough to do that. Next season will be a special one!”