Leah Shaw and the Bowling Green State University Falcons made school history by winning their first match in the NCAA Tournament Friday over Yale.
In posting a 16-25, 25-15, 25-21, 13-25, 15-11 victory in the tournament opener, the Falcons won the program's very first set in tournament play. In its only other NCAA appearance, BGSU fell 3-0 to Wisconsin in 1991.
Shaw, aka Big Red, came up big for the Falcons in the Big Dance. The 6-1 senior middle hitter from Princeton had a kill and a solo block to put the Falcons up for good in the fifth and final set, and was noted by the commentators as being a player of the game. She recorded a team-high eight blocks and contributed 19 kills in the Falcons' victory.
The Falcons (22-11) saw the curtain drawn on their season with a 25-15, 25-12, 25-15 loss to No.1 ranked Penn State on the Nittany Lions' home court.
Shaw said the overall experience was awesome at Penn State, one she will never forget.
"Rec Hall is such a cool facility with so much legacy," she said. "We had fun on and off the court all weekend, and getting that first NCAA win was really special. Playing Penn State was unreal. They're a great team and we wanted to push them and make their job difficult. We hung with them for a while in the beginning of the sets, but they have so many weapons and it's hard to stay with a team like that."