Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Finish At 16-8
May 01, 2000 | Men's Tennis
May. 1, 2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green men's tennis team, after splitting a pair of matches at last weekend's Mid-American Conference Championships, has completed the 1999-2000 season. The Falcons of coach Jay Harris, after earning a MAC regular-season co-championship, lost to eventual league tournament champion Ball State in the semifinals. The Falcons finish the season at 16-8 in overall dual-match play, and BGSU went 5-1 in the MAC.
NICOLAS LOPEZ-ACEVEDO IS MAC NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: BGSU freshman Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo was named the Mid-American Conference Newcomer of the Year, the league office announced Saturday (April 29). Acevedo, who hails from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, compiled an overall record of 22-13 in singles in his inaugural season, splitting time between the first and second flights. He posted a 5-1 record in MAC action, and went 1-0 in league tournament play. In doubles action, Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo went 23-9, competing with no fewer than seven different teammates. He went 8-2 overall with Mike Kossoff, including 1-1 in MAC play, and also was 1-1 in league action when competing with his twin brother, Micael Lopez-Acevedo. Down the stretch, he played at the third flight with freshman Peter Gardonyi, and that duo went 5-1 overall.
Ball State senior Ryan Baxter was named the MAC's Player of the Year, while Western Michigan's Kyle Gernhofer won the Sportsmanship Award. WMU's Dave Morin and Eastern Michigan's Tony Martin shared Coach-of-the-Year honors.
The All-MAC Team will be announced later this week.
THE ROAD TO THE REGULAR-SEASON TITLE: BGSU entered the final weekend of the regular season needing to defeat both Eastern Michigan and Toledo, and needing a Western Michigan win over Ball State to create a three-way tie for the MAC title. The Falcons won both of their matches, and WMU recorded a 4-3 victory over BSU. Those results left the Falcons, Broncos and Cardinals with identical 5-1 records in league play.
According to the MAC office, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head play, and all three teams went 1-1 against the other two teams. The next tiebreaker is results against the other MAC teams, in order, from top to bottom. All three teams went 1-0 against each of the teams ranked fourth through seventh. So, the seedings for the MAC Championships were determined via conference call, and the Falcons came away with the second seed.
FIRST TITLE SINCE 1964: The Falcons' MAC regular-season title is the first of any kind by the men's tennis program since the 1964 team tied with Miami for the league title. That Falcon squad, coached by Bob Keefe, went 15-0 in dual-match play.
VITEK WILD NAMED MAC P-O-W: Sophomore Vitek Wild was named the Mid-American Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Week, the conference office announced Wednesday (April 26). Wild earned the league honor for the second time in his Falcon career.
Wild got the award after going 2-0 at both singles and doubles the previous week, as the Brown and Orange defeated both Eastern Michigan and Toledo on the road. In the process, the Falcons finished the regular season in a tie for first place in the MAC standings. Wild, who hails from Prague, Czech Republic, lost just three games on the way to a win over EMU's Jake Stricker at the second singles flight (April 21). The next day, he lost a total of only four games in a win over UT's Jorge Morales at the #1 flight. Wild teamed with junior Brandon Gabel for a pair of doubles wins at the top flight.
LAST WEEK: The Falcons successfully opened MAC Championship play with a 4-0 victory over Buffalo Thursday morning (April 27). The quarterfinal-round match was held at the University of Toledo Tennis Courts.
The second-seeded Falcons won, or were leading, at every level against the #7 Bulls when the match was halted. In the MAC Championships, a dual match is ended as soon as one team reaches four points.
The Falcons won the doubles point, with the top-flight team of junior Brandon Gabel and sophomore Vitek Wild winning by an 8-4 score. Freshmen Peter Gardonyi and Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo did not allow their third-flight opponents to win a game. At the second doubles flight, freshman Geoff Hiscox and sophomore Ed Kuresman were just a game away from victory, leading by a 7-4 margin when the match was halted.
In singles action, the Falcons got wins from Gabel and the Lopez-Acevedo twins. Gabel, a Toledo native, lost just one game en route to the victory in his hometown. He beat UB's Tim Powell by a 6-0, 6-1 result.
Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo was a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Fery Kasiman at the second flight, while brother Micael Lopez-Acevedo stopped Sean Kelley, 6-1, 6-0, at the sixth flight.
Wild won the first set of his #1 singles match, while classmates Mike Kossoff and Kuresman each had won their first set and were leading in the second. Kossoff was just two games away from victory at the fourth flight, while Kuresman held a 5-1 lead in the second set at the #5 level.
On Friday (April 28), Ball State recorded a convincing win over the Falcons in the semifinal round. The Cardinals won, 4-0, at the University of Toledo Tennis Courts.
The second-seeded Falcons ended the season with the loss, while third-seeded Ball Stat advanced to Saturday's championship match and defeated #1 seed Western Michigan, 4-2.
The Cards won at the second and third flights in doubles play to capture the doubles point.
In singles action, BSU's Ryan Baxter, the MAC's Player of the Year, downed Wild at the top flight, while Kuresman suffered a loss to the Cards' Edgardo Rivera at the fifth level. At #6, Ball State's Eric Butorac downed Gabel.
The Falcons have just one senior on the 1999-2000 squad. BGSU's singles lineup vs. Ball State included two freshmen, three sophomores and a junior, while the doubles lineup featured three frosh, two sophs and one junior.
FALCON QUICK FACTS
UP NEXT Season CompleteFINAL 1999-2000 RECORDS Overall: 16-8 Mid-American Conference: 5-1 (T-FIRST) MAC Championships Finish: T-3rd of 7
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 Years at BGSU: Four Record at BGSU: 52-41 Years as a head coach: Four Overall Career Record: 52-41
VOLUNTEER ASSISTANT Radu Bartan - first year
1999-2000 ROSTER Brandon Gabel (Jr., 5-8, Co-Captain) Toledo, Ohio (St. Francis de Sales) Peter Gardonyi (Fr., 6-1) Maple, Ontario (Humberview Secondary) Geoff Hiscox (Fr., 6-4) London, Ontario (South Secondary) Sonny Huynh (Sr., 5-11, Co-Captain) Canberra, Australia Mike Kossoff (So., 5-6) Syosset, N.Y. Ed Kuresman (So., 5-11) Cincinnati, Ohio (Sycamore) Micael Lopez-Acevedo (Fr., 5-10) Guaynabo, Puerto Rico (Colegio Marista) Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo (Fr., 5-10) Guaynabo, Puerto Rico (Colegio Marista) Vitek Wild (So., 5-11) Prague, Czech Republic
BGSU VICTORIES LISTS
SINGLE SEASON
Singles Wins
1. Vitek Wild (1999) 32 2. Milan Ptak (1995) 29 3. Mike Kossoff (1999) 25 4. Radu Bartan (1999) 24 Steve Mudre (1989) 24 Ryan Gabel (1996) 24 T10.M. Lopez-Acevedo (2000) 22 N. Lopez-Acevedo (2000) 22Doubles Wins
1. Milan Ptak (1996) 28 2. Mark Ciochetto (1996) 27 Adam Tropp (1996) 27 4. Mark Ciochetto (1994) 24 Jeff Westmeyer (1994) 24 T6. N. Lopez-Acevedo (2000) 23 Mike Kossoff (1999) 23 Vitek Wild (1999) 23Combined Wins
1. Vitek Wild (1999) 55 2. Milan Ptak (1995) 52 3. Mike Kossoff (1999) 48 4. N. Lopez-Acevedo (2000) 45 Radu Bartan (1999) 45 8. Geoff Hiscox (2000) 42 9. Vitek Wild (2000) 41 T12.Brandon Gabel (2000) 39CAREER
Singles Wins
1. Ryan Gabel (1995-98) 88 2. Joel Terman (1994-97) 81 3. Radu Bartan (1996-99) 79 4. Dave Anderton (1995-98) 69 5. Steve Beier (1982-85) 65 TA Vitek Wild (1999- ) 53Doubles Wins
1. Dave Anderton (1995-98) 72 2. Mark Ciochetto (1992-96) 69 3. Milan Ptak (1995-98) 68 Jim Demos (1982-85) 68 5. Steve Beier (1982-85) 67 TA Brandon Gabel (1998- ) 45Combined Wins
1. Radu Bartan (1996-99) 142 2. Dave Anderton (1995-98) 141 3. Joel Terman (1994-97) 138 4. Milan Ptak (1995-98) 133 5. Ryan Gabel (1995-98) 132 Steve Beier (1982-85) 132 TA Vitek Wild (1999- ) 96TA - top active player
