Bowling Green State University Athletics
Men's Tennis Has A Shot At MAC Crown
April 17, 2000 | Men's Tennis
April 17, 2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green men's tennis team, after a big win over the defending Mid-American Conference champion Saturday, enters the final week fo the regular season with a chance for a MAC regular-season co-championship. The Falcons of coach Jay Harris, now 13-7 in dual-match play, will take a 3-1 MAC record into this weekend's two road matches, a Friday (April 21) dual at Eastern Michigan and a Saturday (April 22) match vs. arch-rival Toledo. The MAC Championships are set for the next weekend (April 27-29) in Toledo.
BGSU AND THE MAC RACE: The Falcons enter the final weekend with a shot at a league regular-season co-championship. BGSU (3-1 in MAC action) and Western Michigan (4-1) are chasing first-place Ball State (5-0). The Cardinals and Broncos meet in Kalamazoo Saturday (April 22). If Western Michigan knocks off BSU, the Falcons could create a three-way tie at the top by defeating both EMU and Toledo.
LUCKY 13: BGSU's win over WMU gave the Falcons one more win than in all of last season. The 1998-99 edition of the Falcons went 12-13 overall, and recorded a 4-3 MAC record.
LAST WEEK: The Falcons played the teams picked to finish first (Ball State) and second (Western Michigan) in the MAC in the league's preseason coaches' poll. BGSU split the two home matches, downing WMU after falling to BSU.
On Thursday (April 13), Ball State won five singles matches en route to a 6-1 victory. The Cardinals, ranked 52nd in the nation in the latest WingspanBank.com Collegiate Tennis Rankings, earned wins at the top five singles flights. The lone winner for the Falcons was junior Brandon Gabel, who defeated BSU's Eric Butorac in three sets.
In doubles action, the Falcons' second-flight team of freshman Geoff Hiscox and sophomore Ed Kuresman was the lone winning duo for the Brown and Orange.
Saturday (April 15), the Falcons rallied from a deficit to record a 4-3 victory over defending MAC champion WMU. The visiting Broncos, coached by former BGSU mentor Dave Morin, captured the doubles point by winning at all three flights. In singles play, however, the Brown and Orange won at each of the top four flights. Freshman Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo topped Pillon at the top flight, while sophomore Vitek Wild bested Fernando Garcia at the second level. Hiscox beat Christian Brattstrom at the third level, and sophomore Mike Kossoff posted a win over Tomlinson at the #4 flight. All four of those victories came in straight sets.
Wild's singles loss to Ball State was his first-ever setback in MAC regular-season action. He is now 9-1 all-time.
FALCON QUICK FACTS
1999-2000 RECORDS Overall: 13-7 Mid-American Conference: 3-1NEXT ACTION BGSU at Eastern Michigan Friday, April 21 * 2:00 p.m. Ypsilanti, Michigan
BGSU at Toledo Saturday, April 22 * 1:00 p.m. Toledo, Ohio
FINAL 1998-99 RECORDS Overall: 12-13 Mid-American Conference: 4-3 (Fourth) MAC Championships Finish: Fourth of 8
HEAD COACH - Jay Harris Alma Mater: Cincinnati, 1993 Year at BGSU: Fourth Record at BGSU: 49-40 Year as a head coach: Fourth Overall Career Record: 49-40
VOLUNTEER ASSISTANT - Radu Bartan (first year)
BGSU RESULTS LINE 419/372-7076, choose option 4 (same-day scores and brief summaries from all Falcon athletic teams)
