Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Preparing for MAC Championships This Weekend
April 25, 2007 | Women's Tennis
April 25, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University tennis team will make the short trip north for this weekend's Mid-American Conference Championships. The Falcons of head coach Penny Dean, the fourth seed for the nine-team tournament, will face fifth-seeded Miami University in quarterfinal-round action Friday morning (April 27) in Toledo. The match is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. at Ottawa Park in the Glass City.
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IF YOU GO...
The 2007 MAC Championships will be hosted by the University of Toledo. Matches will be held at both Varsity Courts on the UT campus, and at Ottawa Park in Toledo. Ottawa Park is approx. one mile east of the UT campus. In the event of inclement weather, matches will be played at Laurel Hill Swim & Tennis Club, also in Toledo.
As always, the following directions are a guide, but probably should not be used as a be-all and end-all. To be safe, it is recommended that you check directions using your favorite internet search engine.
DIRECTIONS TO OTTAWA PARK
(from BGSU)
* Take Interstate 75 North for approx. 22 miles
* Exit at Bancroft Street (Exit #203A)
* Turn right (heading West) onto Bancroft
* Turn right on Ottawa Parkway (into Ottawa Park)
* Turn right on Robin Lane
* Robin Lane merges with Parkside Dr. - veer right
* Courts will be ahead on left
(Note: as you enter Ottawa Park on Ottawa Pkwy., there may be signs or alternate directions to courts)
DIRECTIONS FROM UT CAMPUS TO OTTAWA PARK
* Bancroft Street east to Ottawa Parkway
* Turn left on Ottawa Pkwy. (into Ottawa Park)
DIRECTIONS TO LAUREL HILL
(from BGSU)
* Take Interstate 75 North for approx. 11 miles
* Exit Left onto I-475 North (Exit #192)
* Take exit #4 (US-24) onto Anthony Wayne Trail toward Maumee
* Go approximately 2.2 miles - turn left onto Gibbs St.
* Continue on Cass Road - approx. 2 miles
* Arrive at Laurel Hill (2222 Cass Road) - turn left
THREE NOTES THAT NO SELF-RESPECTING MEDIA MEMBER OR BG TENNIS ENTHUSIAST SHOULD BE WITHOUT
• The Falcons, as mentioned, are the fourth seed for the nine-team MAC Championships ... BGSU finished in a three-way tie with Miami and Eastern Michigan for fourth place in the final regular-season standings, as all three teams had identical 4-4 league records ... but, the Falcons received the fourth seed after a draw conducted by the MAC office.
• Sophomore Stefanie Menoff finished MAC regular-season play with a perfect 7-0 record in singles, the best record in school history ... Menoff missed the Falcons' final match, Saturday's (April 21) home contest vs. Toledo, due to illness ... she is the first-ever BGSU player to finish the conference regular season with an undefeated record (minimum two decisions) ... her total of seven MAC singles wins ties the school single-season mark (Meghan Rhodes was 7-1 in 1997-98, while three players [Abby Bratton in 1998-99, Tracy Howitt and Rhodes in 1999-2000] were 7-2 in league singles play).
• The Falcons' doubles team of senior Ashley Jakupcin and freshman Samantha Kintzel went 5-1 in MAC action ... that total of five wins is the highest in a season by a duo since the Howitt/Rhodes team went 5-3 in 2000-01 ... the Jakupcin/Kintzel team's winning percentage (.833) is the highest since the 1981-82 season (when Cindy Scheper and Chris Bischoff went 6-1 and the Keri Fischer/Joni Lindquist duo went 5-1).
MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS BEGIN THIS WEEKEND
The MAC Championships run from Thursday through Sunday (April 26-29) in Toledo ... matches will be held at both Varsity Courts on the UT campus as well as at Ottawa Park in the Glass City ... in the event of inclement weather, matches would move indoors to the Laurel Hill Swim & Tennis Club, also in Toledo ... the complete MAC Championships schedule ...
First Round - Thursday, April 26
#8 Northern Illinois vs. #9 Akron, Noon (VC)
Quarterfinals - Friday, April 27
#1 Western Michigan vs. NIU/Akron winner, 10:00 a.m. (VC)
#4 Bowling Green vs. #5 Miami, 10:00 a.m. (OP)
#3 Toledo vs. #6 Eastern Michigan, 2:00 p.m. (OP)
#2 Buffalo vs. #7 Ball State, 2:00 p.m. (VC)
Semifinals - Saturday, April 28
WMU/NIU/UA winner vs. BGSU/Miami winner, 10:00 a.m. (VC)
UT/EMU winner vs. BSU/UB winner, 2:00 p.m. (VC)
Championship - Sunday, April 29
Semifinal winners, 1:00 p.m. (VC)
(OP) - Ottawa Park
(VC) - Varsity Courts
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons enter the MAC Championships with an overall dual-match record of 12-8, and BG finished with a 4-4 record in MAC action, good for a tie for fourth place in the nine-team race. The Brown and Orange suffered a pair of home losses to end the regular season, falling to Eastern Michigan, 4-3, on Friday (April 20) and Toledo by a 6-1 count Saturday (April 21).
The Falcons have posted double-digit win totals in five consecutive seasons for the first time in school history. BG had had four-straight 10-win seasons twice before (1988-89 to 1991-92 and 1996-97 through 1999-2000).
Individually, eight of the nine Falcon players have amassed at least 10 singles wins this year to date. Sophomore Stefanie Menoff leads the pack with a stellar 23-2 mark, while freshman Samantha Kintzel is now 18-11. Senior Ashley Jakupcin has 16 singles wins, while her sister, sophomore Kelsey Jakupcin, has 15. Junior Jenna Nussbaum has amassed 13 singles wins, while a trio of teammates - junior Andrea Volle, sophomore Libby Harrison and freshman Katia Babina - each have 12, and senior Erica Wolfe has a 3-3 singles record.
In doubles action, Kelsey Jakupcin and Nussbaum have posted an overall record of 15-15, including a 10-10 mark at the number-one flight in dual-match action (4-4 in MAC matches). That duo has played together for the entire season. Babina and Volle have a 5-5 ledger, with all 10 matches coming in flight-two competition during the spring.
The Kintzel/Menoff duo is 13-8 this season, including a record of 8-4 in duals at the number-three flight this year to date. In four of the last five matches, Menoff has teamed with Volle at the second flight (other than the UT match, which Menoff missed due to illness). Kintzel and Ashley Jakupcin have comprised the flight-three tandem for each of the last six matches.
THE OPPONENT
Miami, BGSU's quarterfinal-round opponent, enters the MAC Championships with an overall record of 10-12, and the RedHawks finished with a record of 4-4 in MAC duals. Last weekend, MU downed Ball State by a 4-3 count to finish in a fourth-place tie with the Falcons and Eastern Michigan in the final standings.
BGSU trails Miami, 29-4, in the all-time series between the teams, but one of those four Falcon wins came earlier this month, as the Brown and Orange posted a 5-2 victory at Shadow Valley Tennis Club in Toledo (April 6). That snapped a three-match series winning streak for the RedHawks.
FALCONS IN THE MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Falcons have a record of 7-12 since the MAC Championships went to the current format (teams advance rather than individuals) prior to the 1996-97 season ... BGSU is looking to advance to the semifinal round for the first time since the 2000 season ... the Falcons have met Miami just once in the conference tourney in that time, with the RedHawks posting a 4-0 win in the quarters of the 2001 tournament in Huntington, W.Va.
JAKUPCIN KEEPS CLIMBING THE LADDER
Senior Ashley Jakupcin went 2-0 on 'Senior Day' at Keefe Courts, winning at both singles and doubles vs. Toledo on Saturday (April 21) ... Jakupcin enters the MAC Championships with a career total of 76 singles wins ... that total ties her for third place on the BGSU career list, just three shy of the school record ... Julie Weisblatt (1994-97) and Deidee Bissinger (1997-2000) share the BG record with 79 career singles wins ... Jakupcin now has a total of 54 career doubles wins, tying her for 12th place on that BGSU list ... with 130 overall career victories, she is ranked eighth in BG history.
ONLY ILLNESS CAN SLOW MENOFF
Sophomore Stefanie Menoff continued her red-hot singles play with a sixth-flight win over Eastern Michigan's Joanna Woo on Friday (April 20) ... she missed Saturday's UT match due to illness ... Menoff is now a stellar 23-2 in singles play this season, and has a career singles record of 41-10 ... she was a perfect 7-0 in MAC singles matches during the regular season.
A FEW MORE FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
• Sophomore Stefanie Menoff has won nine consecutive singles matches, and 13 of her last 14 ... she has a 16-2 singles record in dual-match play this spring.
• BGSU, as mentioned, tied for fourth place in the final MAC regular-season standings ... that marks the Falcons' highest finish in seven years ... the Brown and Orange tied for third place in the MAC in the 1999-2000 campaign ... that '99-2000 season marks the last time a BG team advanced as far as the semifinals of the conference tournament.
• The Falcons tied Eastern Michigan and Miami for fourth place ... in the event of a three-way tie, the first tiebreaker (for tournament seeding purposes) is head-to-head record of all teams involved in the tie ... in this case, each team went 1-1, as BGSU had beaten Miami but lost to EMU in the regular season, while MU had defeated Eastern.
• The second tiebreaker is winning percentage vs. other conference teams, beginning at the top of the standings and working down the list until the tie is broken ... however, all three teams lost to number-one seed Western Michigan, #2 Buffalo and #3 Toledo, and all three squads defeated #7 Ball State, #8 Northern Illinois and #9 Akron.
• The third tiebreaker is a draw, so the names were pulled out of a hat by a league office representative via teleconference on Monday morning (April 23) ... as a result of the draw, BGSU is the fourth seed, Miami fifth and EMU the sixth seed.
• Menoff and junior Andrea Volle played as a doubles team for the first time in their respective Falcon careers in Friday's EMU match, picking up an 8-3 win at the second flight ... the following day, Volle and sophomore Libby Harrison teamed up for the first time in dual-match play this season ... the Volle/Harrison duo is now 1-2 overall on the year.
UP NEXT
The BGSU/Miami winner will advance to the semifinal round of the MAC Championships, which will be held on Saturday (April 28) ... the Falcons or RedHawks would face either Western Michigan, Akron or Northern Illinois in a match that will begin at 10:00 a.m. at Varsitiy Courts on the Toledo campus ... the championship match is scheduled for Sunday (April 29) at 1:00 p.m. at Varsity Courts.
