Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Heads to Miami, Ball State this Weekend
April 09, 2008 | Women's Tennis
April 9, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University tennis team, riding a three-match winning streak, hits the road for a pair of Mid-American Conference matches this weekend ... the Falcons of head coach Penny Dean will take on one of the league's co-leaders, Miami, in Friday action (April 11), before closing the road portion of the regular season with a Saturday (April 12) match at Ball State ... both matches are scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m., with Friday's contest at MU's Hepburn Varsity Courts and Saturday's match at BSU's Cardinal Creek Tennis Center.
BGSU Notes, Stats & Records in PDF Format
FIVE NOTES THAT NO SELF-RESPECTING MEDIA MEMBER OR BG TENNIS ENTHUSIAST SHOULD BE WITHOUT
• BGSU is coming off a pair of wins last weekend, including a 4-3 win over Buffalo on Friday afternoon (April 4) ... the Bulls were picked to win the MAC in the conference's preseason coaches poll ... the Falcons also downed Akron by a 6-1 count.
• After the win over UA on Saturday (April 5), the Falcons are now 14-2 in dual matches this year to date ... with at least four matches remaining, BGSU already has topped the win total for all of last season ... last year's edition of the Falcons went 13-9 ... the school record for dual-match wins is 16, set by Penny Dean's 1998-99 team.
• BGSU's current win total ties the Falcons for the second-highest total in school history ... as mentioned, the 1998-99 team holds the record, having gone 16-6 ... two years ago, Dean's Falcons had a 14-10 mark.
• BGSU's quest to match or surpass that school-record win total certainly won't be easy ... of the Falcons' three remaining regular-season opponents, two are tied for first place in the conference ... both Miami and Western Michigan currently sport perfect 5-0 MAC records this year to date.
• The Falcons already have broken one record ... with last weekend's two wins, BGSU now has won 53 dual matches over the last four years, the most victories in a four-year span in school history ... the old record was 51 wins, amassed from the 1996-97 to 1999-2000 seasons ... obviously, the senior class of Jenna Nussbaum and Andrea Volle is the winningest class in program history ... they also will be only the third class in BG women's tennis annals to post a winning dual-match record in all four seasons.
ANOTHER WINNING RECORD
BGSU clinched a winning dual-match record several weeks ago ... the Falcons will finish with a winning mark for the fourth consecutive year, tying the school record ... BG also had four-straight winning seasons from 1974-75 through 1977-78, as well as from 1996-97 through 1999-2000.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Falcons' Saturday win over Akron came in BGSU's first-ever dual match at the program's new tennis complex ... the only other event for the Brown and Orange at the venue was the season-opening BGSU Invitational on Sept. 15-16, 2007.
HOME-AWAY-FROM-HOME SWEET HOME-AWAY-FROM-HOME
Due to inclement weather, the BG's Friday win over Buffalo came at the Shadow Valley Tennis Club in Toledo, and continued the Falcons' recent run of success at the team's 'home away from home' ... BG has won 16 consecutive dual matches at Shadow Valley, and the team is an impressive 30-1 at the facility over the last three-plus years ... the Falcons went 6-0 at the venue in the 2004-05 season, 8-1 in '05-06 and a perfect 8-0 last year, and BG is 8-0 at the site this year to date.
SHE'S THE DEAN
After the Falcons' wins over Buffalo and Akron last weekend, head coach Penny Dean now is just two victories shy of 200 wins with the Brown and Orange ... Dean currently has a dual-match record of 198-179 in her 18th season at the BGSU helm ... she is 244-223 in her 22nd year as a collegiate head coach.
ANOTHER AWARD FOR KELSEY
Junior Kelsey Jakupcin earned her third conference weekly award this year, being named a MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Thursday (April 3) ... the award is presented to one male and one female each week, who has a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or better and performs well during the previous week's competition ... Jakupcin earned the honor after winning at both singles and doubles in the Falcons' win over Northern Illinois ... she has a 3.69 cumulative GPA as a communication disorders major ... Jakupcin has twice been named MAC Player of the Week this year to date, being recognized on both January 23 and February 13.
ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons are 14-2 in dual-match action this season, and BGSU enters the weekend with a MAC ledger of 3-2 ... BGSU, after reeling off 11 consecutive wins to begin the dual-match schedule, suffered a pair of narrow losses to start MAC play, falling at Eastern Michigan and Toledo by identical 4-3 scores ... but, the Brown and Orange has bounced back to win the next three contests, downing Northern Illinois, Buffalo and Akron.
BGSU spent three weeks in the national rankings prior to the EMU and UT losses ... the Falcons broke into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings on March 4, debuting at 60th in the poll ... that is believed to be the first national ranking in program history ... the Falcons were 54th in the country in the March 11 rankings, and 56th in the March 18 poll.
BG has posted at least 10 dual-match victories for the sixth consecutive season, extending the school record ... prior to the current streak, the longest string of double-digit win totals was four-straight seasons, on two prior occasions (1988-92 and 1996-2000) ... as mentioned earlier, the Falcons are just two wins shy of matching the school single-season record of 16.
Individually, all eight Falcon competitors have posted more than 20 total wins this year to date, with seven of the eight having surpassed 30 victories ... sophomore Samantha Kintzel has 41 overall wins this season, while freshman Christine Chiricosta has 40 and sophomore Katia Babina 39 ... juniors Kelsey Jakupcin (35 wins) and Stefanie Menoff (33) and seniors Andrea Volle (32) and Jenna Nussbaum (31) are close behind.
In singles play, all eight Falcon players have winning records ... Menoff has a 19-4 mark, while Chiricosta is 19-6 and Kintzel 18-6 ... Jakupcin has a singles record of 16-8 to date, while Babina is 15-8 heading into the Miami match ... Volle is 14-6 and Nussbaum 13-6 in singles play, while junior Libby Harrison is 11-6.
In doubles action, Babina has a stellar 24-3 mark, while Kintzel is 23-4 and Chiricosta 21-6 ... all eight Falcons have winning doubles ledgers, with each of them having posted at least 12 victories heading into the MU match.
In dual-match action, Jakupcin has a mark of 13-3 at the top singles flight, while Chiricosta is 12-4 at the second level ... Babina has a record of 11-4 at the third flight, with Kintzel 10-3 at flight number four ... Menoff (4-2 at flight five, 7-0 at flight six), Nussbaum (3-1 at both #5 and #6) and Volle (5-1 at flight five, 2-2 at flight six) also have seen time in the Falcons' singles lineup in dual-match play.
In doubles, Chiricosta and Jakupcin have teamed up for a record of 12-4 at the #1 flight in dual-match action ... the tandem of senior co-captains Nussbaum and Volle is 12-4 at the second level in duals, while the sophomore duo of Babina and Kintzel has gone a stellar 13-1, including 4-0 in MAC play, since the dual-match season began.
THE OPPONENTS
Miami is 11-5 in dual-match play this year, and the RedHawks are tied atop the conference standings with a 5-0 MAC record, heading into Friday's match with BGSU ... last weekend, MU concluded a nine-match road swing with wins at Toledo, 6-1, and Eastern Michigan, 5-2 ... Miami, like BGSU, topped the win total for all of last season with a Saturday (April 5) victory ... last year's edition of the RedHawks went 10-13 overall and 4-4 in the MAC.
The Falcons trail Miami, 29-5, in the all-time series between the teams, but two of BGSU's five series wins came last season ... the Falcons posted a pair of wins over the RedHawks in matches held indoors in the Glass City last year ... BGSU won a 5-2 decision in the teams' regular-season match (April 6, 2007) at Shadow Valley Tennis Club in Toledo ... then, in the quarterfinal round of the MAC Championships, BG battled back from a 3-0 deficit for a 4-3 win over the RedHawks three weeks later (April 27, 2007) ... that match was held at Laurel Hill in Toledo.
Ball State has an overall dual-match record of 8-8, and the Cardinals are 1-4 in MAC action heading into a Friday match vs. Western Michigan ... BSU suffered a pair of 7-0 road losses to EMU and UT last weekend, closing a three-match road swing ... the first contest in that stretch was a 4-3 victory at Akron ... a year ago, the Cards finished 7-14 overall and 2-6 in the MAC.
BGSU trails Ball State, 17-13, in that series ... but, the Falcons captured a win in last season's meeting, snapping a three-match losing streak to the Cardinals ... four of the last five matchups, and six of the last nine meetings between the teams, have been decided by a 4-3 score.
A FEW MORE FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
• Saturday's win over Akron gives the Falcons a 25-2 lead in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU has won 16 consecutive matches vs. the Zips ... UA's two series wins came in back-to-back seasons, 1991-92 and 1992-93.
• The Falcons' Friday win over Buffalo makes BGSU 10-2 in the series with the Bulls ... BG's win snapped a two-match UB series winning streak ... in each of the last two seasons, the home team has won by a 4-3 final.
• With three regular-season matches remaining, BGSU is tied for third place in the Mid-American Conference race ... the Falcons and Toledo each are 3-2, behind only Miami and Western Michigan ... BG, as mentioned, still must face each of the league's co-leaders.
• In Saturday's Akron match, BGSU won the doubles point for the 14th time in this season's 16 duals ... the Falcons have swept all three doubles matches on nine of those occasions.
• Of the eight members of the 2007-08 Falcon squad, four are on the BGSU top-20 list for combined career wins ... junior Stefanie Menoff became the latest Falcon to crack the list ... her two victories in the Akron match give her a total of 92 career victories, moving her past Susie Schoenberger (2002-05) into 20th place on the school chart.
• Junior Kelsey Jakupcin is the Falcons' active career leader in overall wins ... she now has 106 career victories, ranking 15th in BGSU annals ... senior co-captains Jenna Nussbaum and Andrea Volle also are in the top-20 ... Nussbaum has 104 career wins, tying her for 16th in school history ... Volle currently ranks 19th.
• Volle's two wins vs. Akron give her a total of 99 ... she is one win away from becoming the third current Falcon, and (obviously) the 19th player in program history, to reach the century mark.
• Volle, BGSU's active career leader in doubles wins, now has 58, tying her with Patty Bank (1993-96) for 11th all time ... Nussbaum is right behind, with 57 career doubles victories to rank 13th in Falcon history.
• Jakupcin now has 51 career doubles wins, and is tied for 17th in BG annals.
• Menoff picked up her 60th career singles win in the UA match, tops among active Falcons ... she ranks 13th in BG history ... Menoff is now a stellar 60-14 in career singles play, including a 14-2 mark in MAC dual-match action.
• Jakupcin now has 55 career singles wins to rank 16th in BG history, while Nussbaum is 19th with 47 such wins.
• Sophomore Samantha Kintzel's singles loss on Friday vs. Buffalo was her first setback of any kind since the Duquesne dual of mid-February ... she had won 15 consecutive matches (eight doubles, seven singles) from Feb. 16 to April 4.
• Kintzel's doubles winning streak currently stands at 13 matches, as she has not lost in doubles play since the Butler match of Jan. 20.
• Fellow sophomore Katia Babina has won 14-straight doubles matches, with her last loss also coming on Jan. 20 ... Babina teamed with Kintzel for 13 of those doubles contests, and also played one match with Menoff, against Wright State on Jan. 27.
• Kintzel now has a BG-best 41-10 record this season ... she has moved into 11th place on the school single-season wins list ... in just her second year with the Falcons, Kintzel now has a total of 78 career wins.
• Both sophomores rank high atop the season wins list for doubles ... Babina has 24 doubles victories this year, tying her for third place ... Devon Bissinger and Tracy Howitt each won a school-record 32 doubles matches in the 1998-99 season ... Kintzel is tied for sixth with 23 doubles wins this year.
• Freshman Christine Chiricosta has moved onto that list as well ... she is deadlocked for 12th place with 21 doubles victories this year ... Chiricosta's total of 40 overall wins this season ties her for 12th on that chart, too.
• Entering the Miami match, BGSU singles players have combined to post a 125-50 record this year ... Falcon doubles teams are an aggregate 75-28 to date.
UP NEXT
Following this weekend's Miami and Ball State matches, BGSU will have just one regular-season contest remaining ... the Falcons will host defending MAC champion Western Michigan on Saturday, April 19 ... that match is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. at BGSU's new tennis complex, and will be "Senior Day" for the Falcon program, with senior co-captains Jenna Nussbaum and Andrea Volle honored.
