The BG volleyball team started off strong, winning its first set against Northwestern, but couldn’t hang on to win the match at the Marquette Challenge on Saturday.
The first set against Northwestern was what the Falcons hoped the start of the season would look like — BG held the Huskies to a zero attack percentage in the first set.
Right side hitter Danielle Tonyan had five of her 19 kills in that set and Lindsey Butterfield followed behind her with a .500 attack percentage.
Northwestern rallied back and defeated the Falcons in the remaining sets to earn the 3-1 win.
The winning Huskies roster is complete with a two-time Preseason All-Big Ten selectee, junior outside hitter Stephanie Holthus, who contributed to their win on Saturday.
With the Marquette Challenge being the team’s first competition this season, it was the first time the players got to see where they were as a team, left side hitter Paige Penrod said.
“I think the outcome will be dictated by how we play and who works the hardest,” Tonyan said. “We will see the flaws and strengths we have and find out what we need to work on.”
It is important to have these types of games early on in the season, Penrod said.
“I feel like having these kind of games will show us where we need to improve in order to beat the teams that actually mean something to us.”
The Falcons were picked to finished third in the Mid-American Conference preseason poll, behind Miami University and Ohio University.
“It’s good to see that we moved up two spots from last year’s preseason poll,” head coach Danijela Tomic said. “However, we know that what really matters is where we finish. Our focus continues to be on the process and in getting better individually and as a team every day.”
The Falcons are focusing on working as a team and making small changes that can avoid game confusion.
“We know each other’s positions, if anything needs to change it is all on us to make that happen,” Penrod said.
BG’s next chance for a win this season is at the Indiana Invitational that starts Aug. 31 in Bloomington, Ind.
The Falcons will take on Georgia Tech, Indiana University and Cleveland State.