The Bowling Green volleyball program celebrated the start of the 2024 season by holding its third annual Dream BiG Fundraiser on Saturday.
Alumni, donors, parents, athletic staff members and fans attended the event, which included player-led tours of the volleyball locker room, an on-court Q&A with current Falcon players and head coach Danijela Tomic, a dinner and speeches at the Schmidthorst Heritage Hall and an auction hosted by Van Wright.
Major talking points throughout the night included the success and community support of the program, the new Taraflex court and new college volleyball rules for this upcoming season.
“Tonight was just so humbling for us to see so many people in this beautiful building in this Heritage Hall,” Tomic said. “Everybody that came to support our amazing student-athletes and help us continue building what we already have and develop amazing women, amazing citizens, we are truly grateful.”
Steve Iwanek, the 2023 radio voice of BGSU volleyball and Bowling Green graduate, emceed the event, while former BG volleyball player Hannah Best gave special remarks as the keynote speaker.
“When [coach Tomic] asked if I would be the keynote speaker, it was the easiest yes, and it didn’t take very long to figure out what I wanted to say because when it comes to talking about this program and what it means to me that’s pretty clear and pretty easy to talk about,” Best said. “This program is a first-class program in everything that they do; they focus on the details of the experience of everybody that is participating.”
In addition to Tomic, Iwanek and Best, Director of Athletics Derek van der Merwe also spoke.
“Everything that it does is make sure that the village, the people around this program, feel that they are part of something special,” van der Merwe said.
Notable attendees included university president Rodney Rogers, former volleyball head coach Pat Peterson, current baseball head coach Kyle Hallock, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Ellen Schendel and dean of Allen W. and Carol M. Schmidthorst College of Business, Dr. Jennifer Percival.
The Falcons will continue their 2024 season with a trip to Dayton this weekend, participating in the Tru by Hilton Dayton Beavercreek Invitational. Playing matches against UMBC, Dayton and Wright State, starting on Friday, Sept. 6.
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