Bowling Green State University Athletics
Women's Tennis Hosts BGSU Invitational This Weekend
September 22, 2000 | Women's Tennis
Sept. 22, 2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's tennis team is set to open the 2000-2001 season. The Falcons will get their first taste of competition this weekend, hosting the BGSU Invitational Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 23-24) at Keefe Courts. The tourney will feature Detroit, Illinois at Chicago, arch-rival Toledo and Xavier, in addition to the Brown and Orange. Play will begin at 9:00 a.m. each day.
This weekend's action marks the first of four fall tournaments for the Falcons of 11th-year head coach Penny Dean.
HEAD COACH PENNY DEAN BGSU head coach Penny Dean (Michigan, '67) enters her 11th season at the Falcon helm and has a dual-match record of 112-91. Dean is 158-135 overall, as she begins her 15th season as a collegiate head coach.
LAST YEAR The Falcons finished the 1999-2000 season with an overall dual-match record of 12-9, and BGSU went 6-3 in MAC play and earned the third seed for the MAC Championships. In the league tourney, the Brown and Orange advanced to the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Western Michigan.
FOUR SENIORS LOOK TO LEAD WAY Dean welcomes back five letterwinners, including four seniors, to the 2000-2001 squad, having lost three players from last year's team. The losses include Deidee Bissinger, who completed her career as the winningest player in school history..
The returnees include seniors Abby Bratton, Tracy Howitt, Meghan Rhodes and Erika Wasilkewski as well as junior Devon Bissinger. All five players have spent time in the starting lineup basically from their arrival on campus.
Bratton will look to earn All-MAC honors for a fourth consecutive year, having earned all-league second-team laurels in each of the last three springs. Bratton played almost exclusively at the #1 singles and #1 doubles flights.
Wasilewski was a co-winner of the MAC's Leann Grimes-Davidge Sportsmanship Award last year. She competed at each of the top-three flights last year, primarily at the second level.
Rhodes, who has earned all-league honors twice in her career, saw time primarily at the second and third singles flights last season.
All three players are ranked among the BGSU top-10 list for career victories.
Howitt, playing primarily at the sixth singles flight, led the team with 22 singles wins a year ago. Bissinger, normally playing at the fifth level, was second onthe Falconswith 18 victories.
THREE NEWCOMERS For the first time in two years, Dean's squad features some freshmen. Three frosh - Gaby Coello, Jessica Johnson and Lisa Maloney - will make their respective debuts this weekend.
QUOTING COACH DEAN
"I am looking forward for this weekend for several reasons. We are ready to get started, and I am looking forward to seeing how the freshmen fare in their first weekend.
"We have a lot of new doubles combinations. Rhodes and Wasilewski are playing together for the first time since their freshman year, and each of the other three doubles teams contains a freshman, so we will see how they all do.
"This definitely should be a good year for us, with the four seniors as well as Devon back. With all that experience and all those wins, they are still motivated to make themselves better and make this their best season.
"I think the seniors are looking to `leave it all on the court,' as the saying goes. They want to give it their best shot. Also, in addition to their experience, they have great leadership skills to pass their knowledge and experience on to the freshmen."
