While all the attention is focused on the football team, the volleyball team quietly practices in Anderson Arena. Like the football team, the volleyball team is off to its best start since 1997.
Coming off a 2-1 finish in the Coca-Cola Spartan Invitational last weekend the Falcons improved their record to 5-1 overall. The Falcons opened the tournament Friday with a 3-0 win against Idaho.
“We played very well in the opening match against Idaho,” said head coach Denise Van De Walle. “We heard that they were going to be a really good opponent for us. They had one good middle and a couple of strong outsides. We didn’t have much trouble with them. We played very well.”
Senior Caty Rommeck led the team with 15 kills and 10 digs, while senior Natalie Becker led the team with 31 assists and 10 digs.
After defeating Idaho the Falcons then defeated Winthrop – doing it in three games, making BGSU’s record 5-0 for the first time since 1997.
“We put a lot of pressure on them [Idaho and Winthrop] at the net,” Van De Walle said. “We beat Idaho and Winthrop 3-0. When you can beat somebody 30 -19 (30-21, 30-23) like we did Idaho, those are impressive scores.”
Rommeck had 13 kills, 11 digs, and three service aces against Winthrop. Senior Amber Vorst had eight kills and a team-high 11 digs, while junior Kristin Gamby had 11 kills and three digs throughout the three games.
“We were pretty excited about our two wins against Idaho and Winthrop,” said senior Amber Vorst. “We flowed really well. The team chemistry was great. We could have played better against Michigan State.”
Saturday the Falcons took on Michigan State suffering their first loss of the season in three close games.
“We knew going in it was going to be a tough match,” Van De Walle said.
The last time the Falcons beat the Spartans was 1986. The best start in school history was in 1990 when BG went 10-0, losing its 11th game to the Spartans.
“When we took the floor I felt that we were always playing catch up against Michigan State. Even in the third game when we had a four point lead at one point I still felt that we were never really in control of the game.”
Rommeck and Gamby were named to the All-Tournament Team. Rommeck had nine kills, nine digs and two blocks, while Gamby had a tournament-high 12 kills along with two blocks against the Spartans. This was the first time Gamby had received this honor.
“I felt our middles had a great tournament,” Van De Walle said. “Both Caty Rommeck and Kristin Gamby had a great tournament. I also thought that Susie Norris came on strong in the last two matches against Winthrop and Michigan State.”
TODAY: The Falcons will take on the University of Dayton at 7 p.m. in Anderson Arena.
“I think Dayton is a very good team,” Van De Walle said. “We know that we are going to have to play well to win.”
Dayton has a 5-2 record with one of its losses also coming to the Spartans and the other one to Western Michigan. After losing their first two games the Flyers won five in a row.
The Falcons will try to snap the Flyers’ winning streak tonight. “It’s going to be a tough match,” Van De Walle said. “Right now, this early in the season, everybody is still trying to work out the kinks in their line up.”
The Falcons have a strong middle in Rommeck and Gamby. “All season long we are going to need big games out of our middles,” Van De Walle said. “Both of their left side players are very solid. They don’t make a lot of mistakes.”
That means the Falcons will have to step up their own game. “We’re confident and excited for the games,” Vorst said. “We’ve been working on ball control and our overall game. We are all really prepared.”
Van De Walle said, “We really hope that the students will come out and back us this first match at home. I think they’ll find the rally score very exciting.”
