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Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Battles Butler Bulldogs; MAC Preseason Poll Released
January 17, 2008 | Women's Tennis
Jan. 17, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University tennis team opens the dual-match portion of the 2007-08 season this weekend. Head coach Penny Dean's Falcons head to Indianapolis, Ind., to face Butler University in Sunday action (Jan. 20). The match begins at noon.
The Butler match became the dual-match season opener earlier this week, when the Falcons' match vs. Wright State University was moved from Saturday (Jan. 19) to next weekend. BGSU will now meet the Raiders on Sunday, Jan. 27, at 10:00 a.m. at the Shadow Valley Tennis Club in Toledo.
The schedule change also means that, after the Butler match, the Falcons will play six consecutive duals at Shadow Valley, beginning with a Jan. 26 match vs. Youngstown State University. After playing at Butler, the Brown and Orange will not leave Northwest Ohio again until Feb. 23.
The Falcons are heading to the state of Indiana for the second consecutive weekend, having competed at the Indiana Doubles Invitational last weekend. BGSU doubles teams posted a 12-8 record, second only to host IU. Dean utilized no fewer than 13 different doubles lineups, including 11 on Saturday (Jan. 12) alone.
Seven of the eight Falcons already have reached double-digit win totals this season. Sophomore Samantha Kintzel leads the team with a 17-6 overall record, including a 10-3 doubles mark, while freshman Christine Chiricosta is 16-4 on the year.
Junior Stefanie Menoff has a 15-6 record to date, while sophomore Katia Babina went 5-0 at IU to increase her season ledger to 14-6, including 10-2 in doubles play.
Three Falcons - Chiricosta, Kintzel and Menoff - have seven singles wins apiece to tie for the team lead. The team's two sophs, Babina and Kintzel, each have 10 doubles victories to date.
Butler, like BGSU, begins the dual-match portion of the season this weekend. The Bulldogs travel to DePaul on Saturday (Jan. 19) before hosting the Falcons the following day.
Butler finished with a 13-14 overall record in 2006-07, and the Bulldogs went 6-1 in Horizon League regular-season play and advanced to the championship match of the conference tournament.
In a series that began in 1991-92, the Falcons are a perfect 11-0 in dual matches against Butler. The teams are meeting for the sixth consecutive season and the 10th time in the past 11 years. Last season (Feb. 25, 2007), the Brown and Orange downed BU, 5-2, at Shadow Valley.
In other news, the Mid-American Conference office has released the preseason coaches poll, and the Falcons were picked to finish sixth among the nine teams. The poll is the result of voting by the league's head coaches.
Buffalo was picked to win the conference, with Western Michigan chosen for second. WMU downed UB in last year's MAC Tournament Championship match.
Miami was picked to place third, while Eastern Michigan and Toledo rounded out the top five. BGSU was tabbed for sixth, followed by Ball State, Northern Illinois and Akron.
The Falcons finished with an overall dual-match record of 13-9 last season. BGSU tied for fourth place in the MAC's regular-season standings with a 4-4 league mark, then posted a come-from-behind win over Miami in the tourney's quarterfinal round. The season came to an end with a loss to eventual champion WMU.
BGSU's first MAC match of the 2007-08 season is March 21, when the Falcons head to Eastern Michigan. The conference home opener is the following weekend, as BG hosts Northern Illinois on March 29.
2008 MAC Women's Tennis Preseason Poll
based on voting by the league's head coaches
1. Buffalo (3)
2. Western Michigan (2)
3. Miami
4. Eastern Michigan (1)
5. Toledo
6. Bowling Green
7. Ball State
8. Northern Illinois
9. Akron
First-place votes in parentheses
