Never mind the Bowling Green Falcons’ two-game losing streak. Disregard the sweep Miami handed them in Anderson Arena earlier this season.
When BG faces the Redhawks in Oxford tonight at 7 p.m., seeding for the Mid-American Conference Tournament later this month will be the only incentive to play well.
“The freshest thing in our minds are the two losses we had last weekend,” said Ashlei Nofzinger, who leads the Falcons, averaging 2.94 kills per game. “An even bigger motivation … is we want to host for the first-round of the MAC Tournament. Right now, that’s what’s driving us to win.”
Not to be lost in the Falcons’ single-minded pursuit, however, is the sub-par performance displayed against Kent State on Saturday.
The loss, which dropped the Falcons to 6-6 in the MAC and 14-11 overall, was described by BG coach Denise Van De Walle as their “worst defensive performance in weeks.”
“We feel that our last match against Kent was inferior in the blocking and floor defense department,” she said. “We just were not as good as I know we can be and so, we’ve been talking about defense since we got back.”
In addition to defense, Van De Walle said serving – which has been BG’s best friend in wins and their Achilles heel in losses – will play a key role in how the Falcons perform tonight.
Despite whatever shortcomings BG has suffered lately, Miami coach Carolyn Condit isn’t taking the match for granted, even with the way they played during the first meeting.
The Redhawks, 8-4 in the MAC and 15-8 overall, are approaching the Falcons as if they were facing nationally -ranked Ohio – a team which they took to five games last weekend – according to Van De Walle.
“We know Bowling Green is going to come in here and give us a well of a war,” she said. “We’re kind of young, so we really don’t take anything for granted.
“One of the goals that we had from August on is that we need to respect every opponent, because you never know when they’re going to play their best match.”
BG’s Emily Manser said the fact that the Falcons are being held in the same regard as OU shows that they’re a great team as well.
“That’s big … It shows that they respect us and that other teams in the MAC are recognizing us,” she said. “But it also means that we’re going to have to work as hard as we can. They’re definitely not going to back down.”
BG assistant coach Mark Hardaway, who coached the team during last season’s trip to Oxford in Van De Walle’s absence, said the Falcons have continued to get better throughout the season.
That said, Van De Walle said she expects BG to play hard and start “peaking” as the regular season winds down.
“At this point in the season I’d like to think that we’re getting ready to turn the corner … in the next week or so,” she said. “If it comes any later than that it’s not going to do us any good.
“When we played them [Miami] the first time it looked like we were out of system too much, and we were not as strong offensively as I know we can be,” she said. “So … we have to say, ‘Hey, we’re better than we were the first time’.”
