SYLVANIA — Behind 24 kills and four aces by junior outside hitter Madison Cowan, Bowling Green volleyball opened the season 2-0, sweeping both Archbold and Maumee in three sets.
In the two games, senior right setter Brooke Lavey had nine blocks, junior libero Hanna Heinze had 40 digs, and senior hitter Katelyn Barnhart had 33 assists.
The Bobcats took down the Blue Streaks 25-14, 25-18, 25-16 on the road in their season opener on August 19, and they won 25-19, 25-10, 25-15 against the visiting Panthers on Tuesday.
On Thursday, BG opened Northern Lakes League play on Jerry Sigler Court at Sylvania Northview (2-1 overall, 2-0 NLL), and the Bobcats suffered their first loss, also in straight sets, 25-19, 25-13, 25-23.
In a revamped NLL, BG is now in the conference’s small-school Cardinal Division, playing the larger Buckeye Division teams once and teams in their own division twice.
“We have a lot of potential and talent,” said BG coach Deb Mathias. “I think we will be very competitive in the small division of the NLL and will also give a number of teams in the big division a run for their money.
“The NLL, in my opinion, is one of the toughest leagues in the area and state. There’s always good competition in the league and now that we have expanded it, there’s even more competition,” Mathias continued.
Northview is a Buckeye Division member, so this was the only time the two teams will meet. Any win over a Buckeye Division member is key to giving your team a shot at the league title, and BG had a chance in the third set to make something happen.
Hoping to close to within a set down, BG senior hitter Kate Suter and Cowan combined on a block, and Cowan scored on an ace, putting the Bobcats up, 22-20.
After Northview senior Hannah Davis scored on a kill, BG freshman outside hitter Lucy Bowers scored on a kill to put the Bobcats back up, 23-21, and BG was two points away from earning the set.
However, Davis served up the final four points to give her team the win, including an ace. The Wildcats’ final two points were the result of BG kill shots that went long.
Natalie Kerchevall, a 5-foot-11 senior outside hitter, led the Wildcats with 11 kills, nine aces and a block assist.
Cowan had six kills, four aces, and eight digs, junior setter Molly Ruthenberg had nine assists and a dig, and Suter had an ace, a kill, three digs, and two solo blocks..
Mathias, in her 12th season covering two non-consecutive stints, is 165-73 all-time at BG, with experience as a varsity assistant at Toledo Bowsher before coming here.
At BG, Mathias’ teams won seven league championships, multiple sectional titles and reached the regional tournament in 2007-08.
Mathias was the Division II Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2006 and coached the Division I All-Star Game every season between 2007-10. Her BG squad last year went 14-10 overall and 7-7 in the NLL and returns a strong nucleus.
“We have a lot of girls who can hit the ball and who are going to make teams work on defense,” Mathias said.
“I also think we are tough on serve reception, defense and have good ball control. I believe we have a very competitive group this year and they seem to really get along well with each other.
“Sometimes we can be inconsistent in our level of play, but we are working on continually improving, playing with a sense of urgency and bringing the intensity and energy level to where it should be on a consistent basis.
“We are excited for the season and looking forward to having a great year,” Mathias added.
Cowan halfway to 1,000 kills
Cowan returns for her third varsity year, playing both offense and defense, Lavey returns for her second year, and senior Macyn Dean-Scheele returns for her third varsity season.
Cowan was a second team All-NLL and honorable mention District 7 selection a year ago after garnering 511 kills and 390 digs over the past two years.
Mathias says she is “on pace to hopefully achieve 1,000 kills” by her senior year, and the BG coach expects Cowan to get an opportunity to play collegiately, but she has not committed to anywhere yet..
Lavey had 62 kills last year and Dean-Scheele has 272 kills over the last two seasons. Mathias says Lavey and Dean-Scheele shared a position last year “because we ran a 5-1 and now they have their own spots and they are looking great.”
Heinze, also a third-year starter, was a defensive specialist last year but takes over at libero this season. She has had 300 digs over the last two seasons and Mathias is hoping she can reach 1,000 by her senior year.
Mathias says Heinze and Cowan, her two best defenders, are the team’s quickest players and “read (opponents) well.” They are also the team’s “most experienced, best placement servers.”
Junior Tara Hastings, in her second year, moves into the middle hitter position after getting some unexpected time on the court last year. She had 109 kills last year.
“She took over for Kate Suter last year when she went down with an ACL injury — she did an awesome job and got some good experience under her belt from last season,” Mathias said.
Mathias says Lavey, Hastings, and Dean-Scheele are her two most improved players “and will contribute as offensive weapons this year.”
Suter, a third-year varsity player, returns recovered from injury “hoping to have a good senior year this year,” Mathias said. She had 85 kills at middle hitter her sophomore year.
Barnhart, a second-year varsity player was a back-up setter last year, but Mathias says now she will run the offense with the other setter, Ruthenberg.
Newcomers include Sophie Shepherd and Ruby Suter, who both dressed varsity last year, and Kendall Heinze, Ruthenberg, Julia Strum, Bowers, Hannah Yarger, Marley Camera, Anne Konecny.
Ruby Suter, a sophomore year, and Bowers will contribute as outside hitters. Mathias says “both players will be a major part of our offense.”
