While BG students spent the past weekend relaxing and enjoying their fall break, the BG volleyball team was hard at work, defending their home court against Akron and Buffalo. The Falcons swept both teams.
The first game of the weekend was against Akron, who came in with only one Mid-American Conference win this season. The Zips put forth their best effort in game one as they battled the Falcons to a tie at 29.
BG was able to close out the match with a service ace by freshman setter Sam Fish.
Game two would prove the Falcons’ dominance as they held several large leads. The largest was 13 late in the game. They eventually closed out the game with Stephanie Swiger’s 999th kill.
In game three, Swiger came out right away recording her 1,000th kill within the game’s first three points. Swiger became the 13th player in BG history to record 1,000 kills.
“It’s a huge accomplishment, that’s for sure. Not too many players reach this milestone. It was nice she got it here in front of her family and friends,” said BG coach Denise Van De Walle in a press release from the athletic department.
Following Swiger’s 1,000th kill, BG went on to win the game and the match. For the match, BG was led by Kendra Halm and Meghan Mohr, who both recorded 11 kills each.
Swiger finished the match with eight kills, pushing her career total to 1,001.
BG’s second match of the weekend also proved to be record-setting as the Falcons’ three-game win was the quickest match in BG history at one hour and eight minutes.
Game one started with the Falcons pushing to a 7-0 lead, and they would never look back as they won 30-11 on a service ace by senior Elizabeth Simon. The Falcons continued to dominate in games two and three, as the Bulls did not hold a lead in the match.
“I thought today was special. It was by far the best serving I have seen from a BG team in years. Nineteen aces is incredible. We have been stressing being more aggressive from the service line and it paid off today,” Van De Walle said in the release.
Among the 19 aces, which is also a school record, Fish recorded eight coming close to tying the school record for individual aces in a match.
As a team, the Falcons hit .553, only committing five errors, a three-game match record as well. Along with Fish’s eight aces, the Falcons were also lead by Halm, who recorded 13 kills in 16 attempts for a career-high .812 hitting percentage.
“Kendra has been unbelievable this whole week. Today was the best performance of her career offensively. She was unstoppable,” Van De Walle said.
The Falcons look to continue their eight game winning streak at home this coming weekend as they take on Central Michigan Friday at 7 p.m. and Eastern Michigan Saturday at 3 p.m.
