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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Ashley Jakupcin Named to MAC All-Tournament Team
April 29, 2007 | Women's Tennis
April 29, 2007
TOLEDO, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - Bowling Green State University senior Ashley Jakupcin has been named to the Mid-American Conference Women's Tennis All-Tournament Team. The announcement was made Sunday afternoon (April 29) following the championship match of the conference tournament at Varsity Courts on the University of Toledo campus.
Jakupcin earned the honor after helping the Falcons advance to the semifinal round of the MAC Championships for the first time in seven years. On Friday (April 27), Jakupcin lost her opening set against Miami's Katrina Lomidze at the top flight, but rallied back for a victory.
That match was the final singles contest on the courts at Laurel Hill, as BGSU had lost the doubles point and the first two singles matches before capturing the next three singles matches to knot the overall score at 3-3.
Jakupcin had struggled in her opening set, falling behind by a 5-0 count en route to a 6-2 loss. But, the senior then posted a 6-2 win of her own over Lomidze in the second set, and Jakupcin took a 5-3 lead in the third set.
With a trip to the semifinals hanging in the balance, Lomidze won the next two games. The two seniors were tied, 5-5, in what was potentially the final set of their collegiate careers.
Lomidze won the next game to take a 6-5 lead, but Jakupcin fought back to knot the contest at 6-6 and force a tiebreaker. The Falcon senior took leads of 2-1 and 3-2 in that tiebreaker before reeling off the final four points to give her team the win, 4-3.
On Saturday (April 28), Jakupcin suffered a loss to Western Michigan's Carrie Jeanmaire, the eventual tournament MVP, at the top singles flight. The Broncos posted a 4-0 win over the Falcons in the semifinal round, then earned the title with a 4-1 victory against Buffalo Sunday afternoon.
Both of Jakupcin's league tournament third-flight doubles matches were abandoned, as she and freshman Samantha Kintzel were embroiled in tight contests when the doubles point was decided each day. In the Miami match, that duo trailed their RedHawk foes, 7-6, when play was halted. Against Western Michigan, the Jakupcin/Kintzel team was ahead of Jeanmaire and Emily Dudzik by a 6-5 count when the other two doubles matches completed.
Jakupcin's dramatic Friday win was the 77th singles win of her BGSU career. She ends her tenure in sole possession of third place on that BG career list, just two wins shy of the school record.
Jakupcin ended her Falcon career with a total of 131 overall career victories, ranking her eighth in BG history in that category.
Jeanmaire, as mentioned, was named the MAC Tournament MVP. In addition to Jakupcin, WMU's Norika Saruta and Priyanka Parekh, Buffalo's Natalie Dean and Katrin Fischer and Toledo's Maha Guirguis rounded out the all-tourney squad.
2007 MAC WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
First Round - Thursday, April 26
#8 Northern Illinois 4, #9 Akron 0
Quarterfinals - Friday, April 27
#1 Western Michigan 4, #8 Northern Illinois 0
#4 Bowling Green 4, #5 Miami 3
#3 Toledo 4, #6 Eastern Michigan 2
#2 Buffalo 4, #7 Ball State 0
Semifinals - Saturday, April 28
#1 Western Michigan 4, #4 Bowling Green 0
#2 Buffalo 4, #3 Toledo 1
Championship - Sunday, April 29
#1 Western Michigan 4, #2 Buffalo 1
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Ashley Jakupcin, Bowling Green
Maha Guirguis, Toledo
Natalie Dean, Buffalo
Katrin Fischer, Buffalo
Norika Saruta, Western Michigan
Priyanka Parekh, Western Michigan
MAC TOURNAMENT MVP
Carrie Jeanmaire, Western Michigan
