The disappointment of 2002 that gave way to the frustration in 2003 which became pure agony in 2004 finally manifested itself into redemption for the Bowling Green volleyball team last night at Anderson Arena.
And the highlights came in bunches for the Falcons, ending a three-game losing streak to Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne with a convincing 3-0 sweep.
“Maybe this is the year to get all the monkey’s off my back,” BG coach Denise Van De Walle said after the match. “Ball State was a huge win and now this … It’s a great win.
“We really did play well tonight,” she added. “It was a total team effort.”
BG hit a season-high .430 and the offensive assault was led by senior Ashlei Nofzinger, who had a game-high 20 kills along with a .655 hitting percentage.
Chrissy Gothke poured in 14 kills and 29 assists, while splitting time at setter and right-side hitter. Meghan Mohr chipped in with eight kills.
The Mastodons (14-3) only produced 41 kills compared to 62, and were held to a .161 hitting percentage. Fabiana Souza led the team with 16 kills and 11 digs.
IPFW coach Kelley Hartley Hutton said her team didn’t respond to the intensity displayed by the Falcons.
“BG played awesome and you could tell … They started to win that match in warm-ups,” she said. “They were fired up and wanted us.”
Over and over, IPFW had the Falcons on the ropes in game one and over and over, the powerful arm of Nofzinger kept BG alive.
After the Falcons climbed back from a 19-14 deficit to pull even at 22, IPFW surged ahead by two, 25-23. But Nofzinger lifted the team with three of her seven kills in the game, as BG outscored the Mastodons 7-3 to provide the final margin.
The Falcons took an early 5-0 lead in game two, and IPFW never recovered. BG hit .500 and held the Mastodons to .054 to capture a 30-18 victory.
IPFW and BG went back and forth in game three, playing to a 9-9 tie. However, the Falcons used a 5-0 run to take a 14-9 advantage and went on to outscore the Mastodons 16-15 to end the match.
BG moved to 10-8 overall and swept a team that put up 3-0 victories against Mid-American Conference opponents Miami and Eastern Michigan earlier this season.
“IPFW has beat up on some pretty big teams in the MAC,” said senior Emily Manser, who contributed six assists and 14 digs. “This was a huge win for us.”
BG’s Stephanie Swiger said the team had added incentive to play well for the home crowd.
“It was an exciting match and our crowd was engaged,” she said. ” We had so many people here tonight. We were just glad we could put on a good show.”
Van De Walle said the team’s confidence grew after game one.
“It was a battle till the mid 20’s and that’s normally where we fall off,” she said. Tonight, that’s where we made a huge push. When we got game one … We felt like we could battle this team.
“IPFW didn’t come into the match 14-2 for nothing, they are a very good team,” she added. “Big night for us, total team effort. I think it sets the stage for us to go into this weekend against Central {Michigan} and Eastern {Michigan}.”
