Penny Dean - Women's Tennis Coach - Bowling Green State University Athletics

Penny Dean

Title:
Head Women's Tennis Coach
Email:
jdean@bgsu.edu
Phone:
419-372-6022

PHOTO GALLERY

The Bowling Green State University tennis program is in the more-than-capable hands of Penny Dean. The 2013-14 academic year marked Dean's 24th season as head coach of the Falcons and her 28th year as a collegiate head coach. She concluded the '13-14 campaign with a record of 276-231 at BGSU, and a career head-coaching mark of 322-275.

After losing four seniors from the school record-setting 2012-13 squad, Dean had just two upperclass players on her seven-woman squad in the '13-14 campaign. Still, she guided the youthful Falcons to a 10-9 overall record and a 4-4 Mid-American Conference mark. The team's two seniors, Nikki Chiricosta and Emily Reuland, led the way for a Falcon roster that also included two sophomores and three freshmen.

Chiricosta became the team's first-ever MAC Player of the Year in 2014, and also was the female recipient of the Falcon Medal of Honor, the highest award given by the department. The award is given to one male and one female student-athlete who embody the essence of the qualities BGSU Athletics holds important for all student-athletes -- scholarship, athletics, leadership and service.

Chiricosta was the third tennis student-athlete to receive the Falcon Medal of Honor in four years.

In May of 2014, the Falcons were recognized with an NCAA Public Recognition Award for the ninth consecutive year. The award is given to teams scoring in the top 10 percent in their sport with their Academic Progress Rate. BGSU has earned the honor in each year since it was instituted, and Dean's Falcons have had a perfect score of 1,000 in every year of the APR's existence. BG is one of just 146 teams among all sports at the NCAA Division-I level to have captured the award in every year.

Through the Spring 2013 semester, all eight of Dean's student-athletes had a cumulative GPA of at least 3.33, with four of the eight sporting GPAs of 3.88 or higher.

In 2012-13, Dean guided the Falcons to what was most likely the finest season in program history. BGSU went 17-5 to set a school single-season record for dual-match victories, and the Brown and Orange posted the best MAC regular-season and tournament finishes in the history of the program.

Dean was named the 2013 MAC Coach of the Year after the Falcons finished in a tie for second in the league regular-season standings. The regular-season finish, as well as the Falcons' number-two seed for the MAC Championships, represented program bests.

BGSU had earned that second seed with a 5-2 win on the road against Western Michigan on the final day of the regular season. That marked the Falcons' first-ever win over the Broncos.

In the league tournament the following weekend, the Falcons defeated Akron in the semifinal round to advance to the championship match for the first time ever. Miami narrowly escaped the Brown and Orange with a 4-3 victory in that title match, but the 2012-13 Falcons had taken their place among the all-time BGSU greats.

At the conclusion of the season, BGSU was ranked seventh in the Midwest Region in the final ITA rankings, the Falcons' first such listing in four years. BG was the highest-ranked MAC team on the list.

Other highlights of the '12-13 season included a school-record 12-match winning streak as well as a brief stint in the national rankings. The Falcons were listed 74th in the country by the ITA in the organization's rankings of Feb. 26. Interestingly, BGSU -- without playing a match -- dropped out of the top-75 the following week.

Additionally, Reuland was ranked 87th in the ITA's singles rankings at the start of the spring schedule in January of 2013.

The 2012-13 team enjoyed a tremendous share of success in the classroom as well as on the courts. For the third-straight year, the tennis Falcons were recognized at the BGSU athletic department's annual Honors Night for having the highest grade-point average of any of BG's women's teams, with a stellar 3.74 GPA. Additionally, senior Maddy Eccleston received the Falcon Medal of Honor.

The Falcons were also named an ITA All-Academic Team for the sixth consecutive year, and BGSU has had at least three individuals earn ITA All-Academic recognition in each of those years. The ITA awards for 2014 have not yet been announced.

The tennis team, obviously, had also earned the highest GPA award for women's teams in both 2011 and '12. Believe it or not, the 2011-12 team's GPA of 3.69 was actually slightly down from the previous year (3.75). At the 2011 banquet, the team was also recognized for having the largest improvement from the prior year (increasing from 2.98).

On the court, Dean and the Falcons finished with a 10-10 overall record in 2011-12, and BGSU posted a 4-0 win over Eastern Michigan in the quarterfinal round of the MAC Championships to advance to the semifinals for the second-straight season.

In 2010-11, Dean led the Brown and Orange to a dual-match record of 15-8, just one win shy of tying the school's then single-season record. The Falcons, picked to finish seventh in the MAC standings in the preseason coaches poll, went 5-3 in league regular-season play to finish fourth in the nine-team league. BG downed Toledo, 4-0, in the league tourney quarterfinals.

The lone senior on the '10-11 team, Christine Chiricosta, won the Falcon Medal of Honor. Chiricosta, after becoming the first player in program history to be named to the Academic All-America Team as a sophomore, earned that honor in each of the next two years as well. She was selected to the third team as a soph, made the second team as a junior, and became (obviously) the first student-athlete to earn first-team honors as a senior, being selected to the 2011 Capital One Academic All-America Women's At-Large Team.

Dean guided the 2009-10 team to a 12-10 overall mark on the court, and a veritable plethora of academic honors in the classroom. As mentioned, Christine Chiricosta earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors, being named to the second team.

In the 2008-09 campaign, the Brown and Orange finished with an overall record of 12-7, and a Mid-American Conference mark of 5-3. The latter record was the program’s first winning ledger in MAC play since the 2002-03 season. BGSU finished fourth in the regular-season standings.

Dean and the Falcons posted a 16-5 overall record in the 2007-08 season, in the process tying the school single-season record for wins. Dean’s 1998-99 team originally set that mark.

That ’07-08 team ended the season with the school’s highest winning percentage in three decades. The program’s .762 win rate that year was the highest since the 1977-78 team finished 8-2 (.800) in dual matches.

The Falcons won the first 11 matches of the season before finally losing a dual match in late March. BGSU’s streak was the best start to a season in school history, and tied the program record for longest winning streak (regardless of time of year - since broken).

Also in ’07-08, for the first time in program history, the Falcons were listed among the national rankings. BGSU debuted at No. 60 in the March 4 ITA poll, before moving up to 54th in the March 11 rankings. The following week, the Falcons were ranked 56th in the nation, before finally losing a match and dropping out of the polls.

That loss came at the hands of Eastern Michigan, but the Falcons avenged that setback with a win over the Eagles in the quarterfinal round of the MAC Championships. That win was Dean’s 200th victory at BGSU. Additionally, it helped her ’07-08 senior class, Jenna Nussbaum and Andrea Volle, conclude their careers as the winningest class in program history. BGSU won 55 matches during their four seasons, the most victories in a four-year span in program annals.

Dean’s ’08-09 senior class of Jakupcin, Menoff and Libby Harrison furthered that tradition, matching Nussbaum and Volle by recording a total of 55 dual-match wins during their four years with the program. And, the 2010-11 one-woman class of Christine Chiricosta also had 55 wins during her BG tenure.

The Falcons posted a 13-9 overall record in 2006-07, tying for fourth place in the MAC with a 4-4 league mark. The Falcons, the fourth seed for the MAC Championships, battled back from a 3-0 deficit in the quarterfinal-round match to post a 4-3 win over Miami.

Dean led the Brown and Orange to double-digit win totals in 20 of her 24 seasons, including in each of her final 12 campaigns. BGSU has posted double-digit win totals in 12 consecutive years for the first time in school history. Prior to the current streak, BG had had four-straight seasons of 10 wins or more on two prior occasions (1988-89 to 1991-92 and 1996-97 through 1999-2000), with Dean at the Falcon helm for half of the first streak and all of the second.

The 2005-06 Falcon squad reeled off a school-record 11-match winning streak (since broken) en route to a 14-10 ledger. That came on the heels of a 12-10 overall mark the season prior, after the Falcons had recorded a total of 10 victories in 2003-04.

In 2002-03, Dean’s Falcons were picked to finish seventh in the MAC’s preseason poll, but placed fifth with a 5-4 league record. That ’02-03 squad posted a four-match winning streak, the team’s longest in over two years, to end the regular season. All four wins came in MAC play, marking the team’s longest conference regular-season winning streak in nearly two decades.

Dean and the Falcons amassed a then school-record 16 victories in 1998-99. Both that `98-99 team and the 1999-2000 squad tied the BGSU record for MAC wins in a season, each going 6-3 in league play.

Prior to joining the Falcons, Dean spent eight years as the tennis director at the Toledo Country Club, while also serving as tennis professional at Shadow Valley Tennis Club in Maumee.

Dean had a four-year stint (1985-88) as head coach at The University of Toledo, leading the Rockets to fourth-place MAC finishes each year. Dean had a 46-44 dual-match record at UT.

Dean has experienced a great deal of success on both sides of the BGSU-UT rivalry, with her teams winning 23-of-31 matches. Dean had a perfect 5-0 record vs. BGSU during her four years with the Rockets. Since her arrival at BG, Dean has guided the Brown and Orange to an 18-8 record against UT.

Her coaching background also includes stints with the Northwest Ohio Junior Wightman Cup (1977-81, 1983-85) and Midwest Federation Cup teams (2000-01).

Dean was appointed by the governor to the Ohio Physical Fitness & Sports Advisory Board, serving a three-year tour. She also served as a tennis pro at the Toledo Racquet Club, holding that position from 1976-84.

Dean has worked with the Ethel Parker multicultural tennis program for inner-city youth in Toledo for the past five summers. She is a 14-time winner of the Toledo City Championships, having collected five singles titles and nine doubles crowns. In October, 1998, her league team, competing at the 4.5 level, won the state and Midwest District playoffs and advanced to national play in Tucson, Ariz.

Dean attended Ottawa Hills High School in Toledo, where she played field hockey, volleyball and basketball in addition to tennis. A 1967 graduate of the University of Michigan with a degree in business administration, Dean played four years (1963-67) of tennis, and also played field hockey for four years for the Wolverines.

In November of 2013, Dean was named the President's award winner by the USTA/Northwest Ohio Tennis Association. The award is based on outstanding service and dedication to the growth of tennis in Northwest Ohio.

Dean and her husband, Bill, reside in Toledo. The couple has two children: Debby and Michael, a BGSU graduate.