TOLEDO ‘- If it didn’t happen last night, it wouldn’t have happened until 2010.

In a win-or-go home situation in the first round of the Mid-American Conference tournament, coach Denise Van De Walle, in her 27th season, won her 500th career match as a coach – making her the first BG coach to accomplish this feat.

The coach said she felt like crying.

‘It feels great,’ she said. ‘I woke up this morning and forgot all about it. I came into work today and coach Miller said to me, ‘Hey, good luck tonight. Get that 500th,’ and all of a sudden I felt sick to my stomach.

‘And when the match started, it didn’t even cross my mind. The only thing that was on my mind was the SeaGate Center.’

And that’s exactly where the Falcons will be heading.

After beating sixth seed Toledo in five thrilling sets, the 11th seed Falcons will play Miami Friday at 1:30 at the SeaGate Center.

Van De Walle wasn’t the only one with the record-breaking night though.

Corey Domek ,senior, did something no player in BG volleyball program history has done.

Needing six more kills to reach the 300-mark for the season, Domek wasted no time and got them in the first set, making her the first player to do that four times in a career.

Domek, who had 20 kills on the night, was thrilled.

‘It’s awesome,’ she said. ‘It feels really cool to leave a legacy behind, and to say I have a record is a pretty cool to say.’

She was also thrilled to be a part of Van De Walle’s 500th career win.

‘It couldn’t have happened at a better time,’ she said. ‘I know we were hoping it happened earlier in the season. What an exciting night – to go to the MAC tournament, beat Toledo and have her get her 500th win.’

The Falcons looked somewhat nervous at the beginning of the first set, as they trailed 7-1 at one point. However, after getting within reach several times in the set, they were able to cut the deficit to within just two.

BG tied the score at 20 and then took their first lead of the night at 21-20. It went back and forth for the next few points, and then a Domek kill ended the set, 26-24, in favor of the Falcons.

After the first set win, the Falcons came out in the second set ready to go. With five tied scores and two lead changes in the set, BG finished off strong, winning 25-22.

The Falcons hit just .174 in the set, while the Rockets hit .170.

After the break, the Falcons came out of the locker room smiling ear to ear. Some of them were even dancing around to the music.

But Toledo broke up their little celebration, winning the third set, 26-24. The Rockets hit .191 in the set, lead by Sondra Parys and Katie Westerfeld.

Van De Walle thought being up 2-0 may have gotten to the teams’ head a bit.

‘We relaxed a little bit and it showed in our play,’ she said. ‘We weren’t as aggressive on balls like we were early on. We made more service errors. We made more defensive errors. Nothing was as crisp as it was.’

In the fourth set, the Falcons looked lost out on the floor. They were not in sync at all and, at times, ran into each other. BG hit .196, while UT hit .224.

Close doesn’t even begin to explain the majority of the deciding fifth set.

The set was tied seven times and there were two lead changes. A gutsy kill attempt by Domek worked in the Falcons’ favor, as they won 15-12.

She was scared.

‘I probably should have done what I did,’ Domek said. ‘Mark [Hardaway] said if I would have hit that out, he would have killed me. It was a lucky shot.’

Domek and Van De Walle were not the only two with big nights.

Seniors Shari Luther and Kaitlin Jackson posted 11 kills, respectively, while Emily Kauth had 11 as well.

Alex Zlabis had 31 digs on the night and Allison Kearney posted 46 assists.