Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Open 'Spring' Portion of Season this Weekend
January 15, 2009 | Women's Tennis
Jan. 15, 2009
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University tennis team begins the 2009 portion of the schedule this weekend, heading eastward for a pair of road matches. The Falcons of head coach Penny Dean will face Duquesne University on Friday (Jan. 16) and Youngstown State University on Saturday (Jan. 17). Both matches are scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m.
Friday's match vs. DU will be held at the Club 4 Life in Monroeville, Pa. Saturday's YSU match will take place at the Boardman Tennis Center.
Duquesne is coming off a 2007-08 season in which the Dukes posted a 13-7 dual-match record and earned a school-best fourth seed in the Atlantic 10 Conference. YSU posted a 9-16 dual-match record a year ago.
This weekend marks the first 2008-09 dual-match action for all three teams.
The Falcons are coming off a 2007-08 season in which BG posted 16 dual-match wins to tie the school record. Dean's squad went 16-5, with the highest winning percentage in three decades.
Six letterwinners returned from that team, including a trio of seniors in Libby Harrison, Kelsey Jakupcin and Stefanie Menoff. Juniors Katia Babina and Samantha Kintzel and sophomore Christine Chiricosta also returned from that '07-08 team.
Jessica Easdale is the lone newcomer on the 2008-09 squad. Easdale, a freshman, has not yet seen action this season due to injury. The six returnees each played in both the singles and doubles lineups in all of the Falcons' fall competitions.
The Falcons lead Duquesne, 3-0, in the all-time series between the teams, and BGSU will be meeting the Dukes for the fourth consecutive season. Friday marks the first time the teams have met in Pennsylvania.
The Brown and Orange picked up a 6-1 neutral-site win over DU three years ago in Orlando, Fla., as part of the Falcons' school-record 11-match winning streak. Two seasons ago (Feb. 9, 2007), BGSU edged Duquesne by a 4-3 count at the Shadow Valley Tennis Club. The teams met at Shadow Valley again last year (Feb. 16, 2008), with the Falcons posting a 5-2 victory as part of another 11-match win streak.
The Falcons are a perfect 10-0 vs. Youngstown State in that series, with wins over the Penguins in each of the last six seasons. Last year (Jan. 26, 2008), BG posted a 7-0 win over YSU at Shadow Valley.
Following this weekend's action, the Falcons will begin a four-match homestand by taking on Cleveland State University and Wright State University next weekend. BGSU will face CSU on Friday, Jan. 23, at 6:30 p.m., before meeting WSU the following day at 1:00 p.m. Both of those matches are slated to be played at the brand-new Perrysburg Tennis Center.
| BGSU SINGLES RECORDS | |
| Katia Babina | 6-3 |
| Christine Chiricosta | 8-2 |
| Libby Harrison | 7-2 |
| Kelsey Jakupcin | 3-8 |
| Samantha Kintzel | 7-2 |
| Stefanie Menoff | 7-2 |
| BGSU DOUBLES RECORDS | |
| Chiricosta/Jakupcin | 8-4 |
| Babina/Kintzel | 3-6 |
| Harrison/Menoff | 3-6 |
OVERALL 2008-09 -- Babina 9-9; Chiricosta 16-6; Harrison 10-8; Jakupcin 11-12; Kintzel 10-8; Menoff 10-8.
