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....