Tonight BG looks to improve their Mid-American Conference record and continue their undefeated streak at home as they welcome two MAC West teams into Anderson Arena this weekend.
Starting tonight at 7 the Falcons face off against Central Michigan who are tied for second in the MAC West with tomorrow’s Falcons’ opponent Eastern Michigan. Both teams come in to the weekend with 3-3 MAC records only trailing Western Michigan for the division lead.
Central Michigan is coming off of a 1-2 week where they fell to Eastern Michigan and Kent State and defeated North Dakota State. CMU currently has an overall record of 13-6. The Chippewas are a young team with only a single senior, setter Courtney Kersten.
“Central Michigan has a senior setter that I really like, she does a great job. And they have two very effective middles, It’s going to be an intense battle in the gym here,” said BG coach Denise Van De Walle.
Kersten is the team’s leader, a four-year captain, who leads the team with over 12 assists per game. Kersten is the catalyst for an aggressive front line in which three players average over three kills a game.
BG’s second match of the weekend takes place tomorrow at 3 p.m. against Eastern Michigan. EMU comes in with a 13-8 record, 3-3 in the MAC.
The Eagles are coming off a week in which they beat CMU in five games and fell to power-house Ohio University in three straight. BG leads the all time series 26-21 including last season when BG swept the Eagles in Ypsilanti.
“I look at Central and Eastern as two of the top teams in the conference as well. See I don’t look at record, I look at personnel on the floor, and I think both Central and Eastern have great players,” Van De Walle said.
Following last weekend in which Senior Stephanie Swiger became the 13th Falcon to record 1,000 kills in a career another Senior, Maggie Karges, has set herself up to reach a career milestone this weekend, 100 service aces in her career. With four service aces this weekend Karges would become the ninth player in BG history to reach the century mark.
The Falcons currently are 13-7 overall with a 4-2 record in the MAC. Most impressive though is their current 8-0 record at home.
