Colleen Bury started spreading flyers and soon had received over 50 calls from women interested after former women’s varsity coach Mark Hardaway encouraged her to form a club.
The club held tryouts led by members of the men’s club last year with Brett Hardtle as one of the main coaches of the team. After the club was formed, they held practices four nights a week. Despite a change in location and leadership, the team didn’t let that stop them from working hard. They were able to continue to better the team with the help from the University Bookstore and the Falcon House Sporting Goods.
On October 29, 1993, the club played as a team for the first time with Coach Ron Kalal and Lisa Gerrasch as co-captain. The team sent 13 players to Ohio University for a tournament where they managed a 2-4 record. They also traveled to Indiana University to compete in a seven-school tournament with co-captain Cathy Buynacek. Due to the many injuries in the fall, the team was only able to win seven in 23 games, but the team was beginning to look it had a bright future ahead of them. In the spring, the team had traveled to Miami University in Ohio to compete against Miami, Michigan and Ohio State University, where they managed a 3-5 record.
The following fall in 1994, the club has five returning but did see 22 new faces on the roster. The team had a successful year, with their only downfall being that they struggled to finish off teams when they’re in the lead, although they never lose by too many points. The next year the team was searching for a new head coach, but still had a bright future ahead of them.
In 2006, the Women’s Club Volleyball team shared equipment with the men’s club team while also paying $150 a year to help pay for the season. The team practiced in the Eppler building twice a week. Similar to other clubs, the team recruited women during Campus Fest, used flyers and other forms of communication, as well as attended intramural games to get the word out.
The national tournament was held in April at Salt Lake City in 2006, where Bowling Green came in ninth out of 60 teams, led by President Trish Young. Due to their success, the team was beginning to get more noticed. Joining the club volleyball team had allowed students to get more involved, from traveling for competitions to making friendships.
Volleyball was considered a strong choice for female athletes to participate in while in high school. The sport tends to be ranked only behind basketball and track and field with how many schools had these sports. So when these athletes started college, they were hoping to find something similar to participate in. This is where club volleyball came into play; it gave students an opportunity to join a volleyball team and compete while also being able to focus on school.
According to the team’s official page on OrgSync in 2017, the club president is Alex Sharkey and the club is geared towards undergraduate and graduate students. They compete in tournaments in the fall and spring with up to 12 members with typically two teams.
For more Recreation and Wellness History visit https://www.bgsu.edu/recwell/telling-our-story/history.html.
Reference:
Wierschem, J. (5 November, 2013). A Spike In Popularity. Retrieved from http://www.sportsdestinations.com/sports/volleyball/spike-popularity-6877
[Women’s Club Volleyball]. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://orgsync.com/10223/chapter
BG club volleyball dream comes true for a local woman. (1993, October 21). [Newspaper article]. The B-G News. BGSU Student Newspaper. Bowling Green State University. (Book 5594). P. 7. http://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bg-news/5594/
Women’s club volleyball competes without coach. (1993. November 18). [Newspaper article]. The B-G News. BGSU Student Newspaper. Bowling Green State University. (Book 5614). P. 7. http://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bg-news/5614
Club volleyball opens play. (1993, November 4). [Newspaper article]. The B-G News. BGSU Student Newspaper. Bowling Green State University. (Book 5604). P. 7. http://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bg-news/5604
Club volleyball anxious to start. (1994, December 1). [Newspaper article]. The B-G News. BGSU Student Newspaper. Bowling Green State University. (Book 5778). P. 7. http://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bg-news/5778
Women’s club volleyball digs in. (1994, January 12). [Newspaper article]. The B-G News. BGSU Student Newspaper. Bowling Green State University. (Book 5629). P. 9. http://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bg-news/5629
Club volleyball plays in tourney. (1994, January 27). [Newspaper article]. The B-G News. BGSU Student Newspaper. Bowling Green State University. (Book 5639). P. 11. http://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bg-news/5639
Classifieds. (1995, October 13). [Newspaper article]. The B-G News. BGSU Student Newspaper. Bowling Green State University. (Book 5902). P. 10. http://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bg-news/5902
Club volleyball keeps competition alive. (2006, October 20). [Newspaper article]. The B-G News. BGSU Student Newspaper. Bowling Green State University. (Book 7661). P. 6-7. http://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bg-news/7661
