2008 Woodie Awards
Falcon volleyball heading to Florida to open season
By: Sean Shapiro
Issue date: 8/29/08 Section: Sports
BG will head to Tallahassee this weekend to compete in the Florida State Invitational for the first time in the programs history.
The Falcons begin tournament play today against the Stetson Hatters at 2 p.m.; tomorrow BG will face off against regionally ranked Florida A&M as well as tournament host Florida State.
"Our expectations are high for this weekend; we went into the spring not knowing what to expect and we surprised ourselves. You can't tell we lost five seniors, because we gained six awesome freshmen. We've been raising the bar since the spring and expect to do well this weekend," said senior Kendra Halm.
Stetson, the weakest of the three Florida teams, looks to improve from last years 11-15 record when they open their season against BG. Last season the Hatters struggle offensively while only two players hit over .200 for the season, while their opponents averaged a .211 percentage against them.
"I'm excited to be playing Bowling Green. We have a young team and this will be great experience for them to start our season off playing such a quality team," said Stetson head coach Cheryl Carlson.
Stetson has not qualified for their own conference tournament since 1995 and were picked to finish 8th in the coaches' preseason poll this season.
Florida State presents a much tougher challenge for the Falcons, as they will face off in the Seminoles gym where they went 11-2 last season. Offensively the Seminoles are lead by Findlay native Nikki Baker who averaged over 11 assists a game including a personal best 64-assist performance against Wake Forest last season.
The tournament will also be the Seminole coaching debut for head coach Chris Poole who spent the previous 14 years coaching Arkansas, leading them to nine NCAA tournament births.
The Falcons final test of the weekend is MEAC preseason favorite Florida A&M Lady Rattlers. Florida A&M was recently received 21 out of 22 first place votes in the MEAC preseason poll and is a favorite to win the post season tournament.
The Lady Rattlers return four starters including 2007 MEAC rookie of the year Jovanna Blazeski. Blazeski lead them to a perfect 8-0 conference record and an 18-8 record overall.
Not only is it the opening weekend for the Falcon's but also the first chance for the six new freshmen to make their mark on the program.
"I think all the incoming freshmen and the new players are excited, it's unknown and all knew to us. I think we're just relying on our upperclassmen to lead us and if we do get to see the court, they'll help us out," said freshman Susie Ispohording.
After the Falcon's return from the Florida trip they will start a two week stretch without head coach Denise Van De Walle while she is in Beijing for the Paralympic games.
The Falcons begin tournament play today against the Stetson Hatters at 2 p.m.; tomorrow BG will face off against regionally ranked Florida A&M as well as tournament host Florida State.
"Our expectations are high for this weekend; we went into the spring not knowing what to expect and we surprised ourselves. You can't tell we lost five seniors, because we gained six awesome freshmen. We've been raising the bar since the spring and expect to do well this weekend," said senior Kendra Halm.
Stetson, the weakest of the three Florida teams, looks to improve from last years 11-15 record when they open their season against BG. Last season the Hatters struggle offensively while only two players hit over .200 for the season, while their opponents averaged a .211 percentage against them.
"I'm excited to be playing Bowling Green. We have a young team and this will be great experience for them to start our season off playing such a quality team," said Stetson head coach Cheryl Carlson.
Stetson has not qualified for their own conference tournament since 1995 and were picked to finish 8th in the coaches' preseason poll this season.
Florida State presents a much tougher challenge for the Falcons, as they will face off in the Seminoles gym where they went 11-2 last season. Offensively the Seminoles are lead by Findlay native Nikki Baker who averaged over 11 assists a game including a personal best 64-assist performance against Wake Forest last season.
The tournament will also be the Seminole coaching debut for head coach Chris Poole who spent the previous 14 years coaching Arkansas, leading them to nine NCAA tournament births.
The Falcons final test of the weekend is MEAC preseason favorite Florida A&M Lady Rattlers. Florida A&M was recently received 21 out of 22 first place votes in the MEAC preseason poll and is a favorite to win the post season tournament.
The Lady Rattlers return four starters including 2007 MEAC rookie of the year Jovanna Blazeski. Blazeski lead them to a perfect 8-0 conference record and an 18-8 record overall.
Not only is it the opening weekend for the Falcon's but also the first chance for the six new freshmen to make their mark on the program.
"I think all the incoming freshmen and the new players are excited, it's unknown and all knew to us. I think we're just relying on our upperclassmen to lead us and if we do get to see the court, they'll help us out," said freshman Susie Ispohording.
After the Falcon's return from the Florida trip they will start a two week stretch without head coach Denise Van De Walle while she is in Beijing for the Paralympic games.
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