Bowling Green State University Athletics
2009 Falcon Tennis Outlook
January 22, 2009 | Women's Tennis
Jan. 22, 2009
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University tennis team begins the home portion of the dual-match schedule Friday evening (Jan. 23), as the Falcons host Cleveland State University. First serve of the doubles portion of the match is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., at the brand-new Perrysburg Tennis Center.
* BGSU-Cleveland State match program in PDF Format
* Perrysburg Tennis Center website
* CLICK HERE for directions to Friday's match
Optimism is high in the BGSU tennis camp as the Falcons kick the dual-match portion of the 2008-09 schedule into high gear. Head coach Penny Dean has a small roster in terms of numbers, but a very experienced corps of returnees looking to build upon last year's success.
Last season, the Falcons put together a school record-tying 11-match winning streak, earned the first national ranking in program history and advanced to the semifinal round of the Mid-American Conference Championships. The 2007-08 edition of the Falcons tied the school record for dual-match wins, and had the program's highest winning percentage in three decades. That team went 16-5 on the year (76.2%).
Now, with six returning letterwinners, all of whom were in head coach Penny Dean's lineup for the entire fall, the Brown and Orange will look to take that next step.
As the Falcons prepare for the spring portion of the schedule, Dean hopes that the phrase `quality, not quantity' applies to her 2008-09 team. The roster contains just seven players, with the six returnees joined by a newcomer who sat out all fall with an injury.
Two student-athletes are gone from last year's team. Jenna Nussbaum and Andrea Volle concluded their careers as the winningest class in program history, as BG posted a total of 55 dual-match wins in their four seasons.
The Falcons have had winning dual records in each of the last four seasons, the longest such streak in BGSU annals. Three seniors, two juniors and a sophomore all have had a role in that success, and will look to continue the winning tradition in '08-09.
"We have a veteran team, with five of our seven players in their junior or senior seasons," said Dean, who is in her 19th year at the BGSU helm. "And, our lone sophomore, Christine (Chiricosta), has experience beyond her years.
The three members of the senior class are Libby Harrison, Kelsey Jakupcin and Stefanie Menoff. That group, like last year's senior class, has a chance to leave BGSU with some impressive program records. BGSU has never had five consecutive winning seasons in dual-match play, but an above-.500 mark in the spring of 2009 would change that.
Additionally, the Class of '09 needs 13 dual-match victories to break the record for wins in a four-year period set by the Class of '08. The Falcons have gone 43-24 in dual-match play since Harrison, Jakupcin and Menoff arrived at BGSU in the fall of 2005.
Again, Dean is confident that what her roster lacks in quantity is more than made up by the quality of those players. Five of the six returnees have been mainstays in the lineup since arriving on campus, and the sixth - Harrison - got valuable experience in the fall.
"All six of those returning players gained some great experience and confidence by being in the lineup for the entire fall schedule," said Dean. "Libby's experience, especially, was key for us. From tournament to tournament, she continued to improve.
"Libby has a few things she needs to work on as we progress through the late winter and early spring, but she is bound and determined to do just that. She has been here for over three years, but this fall was the first time she knew she would be in the lineup every day. I think that was very exciting for her, and I think it also served as a motivator for her. She did a great job in the fall, and is looking to carry that momentum into the spring."
Jakupcin, a team co-captain along with Harrison, saw her win-loss record dip a little bit in the fall, but showed glimpses of the form she displayed en route to earning All-MAC First-Team honors a year ago. Jakupcin and sophomore Christine Chiricosta closed the fall portion of the schedule with a bang, downing two doubles teams from Big Ten Conference schools at the ITA Regional Championships.
"Kelsey had a great year as a junior," said Dean. "She has all the tools; it's just a matter of keeping her confidence up after a tough fall. She is one of the top players in the MAC, and she and Christine have really come into their own as a doubles team.
"Through the fall, we were able to make some adjustments in Kelsey's doubles game, along with some for Christine. I think it worked well for both of them, and they will be even better as a doubles team. Kelsey is in the homestretch of one of the finest careers of any player I have had, and she is looking to go out on a high note."
The third senior, Menoff, also is looking to leave her mark on the program. Through three-plus years in the Brown and Orange, Menoff has a stellar singles record of 68-17, including a 15-3 mark in MAC regular-season play. She, like Jakupcin, already ranks among BGSU's top-20 in combined career wins.
"I feel that the upcoming semester could truly be Stefanie's best at BG," said Dean. "The fall was a little rough for her because of her academic workload. With student teaching commitments, she did not always get the practice time that she would have liked, but she has hit the court running, with increased motivation now.
"I think Stefanie feels more confident, too, because she knows she will be in the doubles lineup as well. She has played doubles off and on over the first three years, but I think she plays better singles when she is in the doubles lineup, too."
The junior class is comprised of Katia Babina and Samantha Kintzel. That duo played as a doubles team last season, with an eye-popping 15-1 record. Babina finished second on the team with 44 total wins last year, including a 27-5 doubles mark. She was 6-3 in singles play in the fall, one of five players with a winning record in singles during that time.
Kintzel had a 7-2 singles mark in the fall, after winning over 80 percent of her total matches in 2007-08. She was 23-4 in doubles play, and was a combined 7-1 in MAC dual-match action (3-1 singles, 4-0 doubles) before suffering an injury last spring.
"I had said that Sam and Katia needed to step up their play this year, since they were moving from third-flight doubles to the second flight," said Dean. "They have done a nice job in taking their game up a notch.
"Katia has her singles game right where it needs to be as well. She has developed another shot that should make her harder to beat, and she just needs to keep working hard each day. She has been a mainstay in our lineup, and we will look to her for leadership and results this spring.
"Sam has all the shots. I think missing the time due to injury last year gave her even more incentive to come back at the top of her game this year. She has a renewed outlook, and a new maturity and confidence. She is working harder than ever, and I think that hard work will pay off."
The lone sophomore is Chiricosta, who already has experienced more success than many players do in their entire careers. An All-MAC Second-Team selection as a freshman, she led the team with 46 combined wins in 2007-08, playing almost exclusively at the first doubles and second singles flights.
She continued that success in the fall, with a team-best 16-6 record, and enters the spring portion of the schedule with an impressive record of 62-21 in her career to date.
"Christine just continues to shine for us," said Dean. "She has been an absolute dream since she got here, in the classroom as well as on the court. As the daughter of a coach (her mother, Sheila Chiricosta, coached at BGSU in the early 1980's), she has a great knowledge of the game, and that shows in her play.
"She adjusted well to college last year, but has taken another step forward. Christine's star continues to shine."
The lone freshman, Jessica Easdale, had a slow start to her collegiate career, being sidelined for the entire fall schedule due to injury. Easdale, a native of Dublin, Ohio, was a two-time All-Ohio First-Team selection, helping Dublin Jerome H.S. to a four-year record of 69-4.
"I am really anxious to have Jessica back on the court and see her match up against competition from other schools," said Dean. "She was able to hit for about a week at the start of fall practice, and then she had her surgery and was unable to play. But, she has been unbelievable in a coaching type of role for me at the fall matches.
"Jessica, as just a freshman, has great insight on the court. I know she is anxious to actually play, and maybe in the long run this will help her - the fact that she couldn't play and had to sit there listening and observing might actually be more valuable. We look forward to seeing her once she can actually return full-go."
Another behind-the-scenes aid to the Falcon program has come in the form of a new indoor facility in the area, the Perrysburg Tennis Center. The new venue will save the student-athletes valuable travel time to and from practices during the winter months and during inclement weather in the spring, and will also serve as the team's new home for indoor matches.
"We had a lot of success at Shadow Valley, and we loved playing there," said Dean. "But, we are looking forward to playing at the new facility and establishing a new winning tradition there. It is closer to Bowling Green, and will cut down on our travel time to give us more time on the courts."
The 2008-09 schedule sees the Falcons play numerous teams from around the region in the pre-conference schedule, before the MAC schedule begins in late March. BGSU jumps right into the fire, opening league action with a road match against defending regular-season champion Western Michigan on March 21.
The MAC home opener is March 27 against Toledo, and the Falcons also host Eastern Michigan (March 28), Ball State (April 17) and Miami (April 18), while hitting the road to face Northern Illinois (April 3), Akron (April 10) and defending MAC tourney champion Buffalo (April 11) in league action.
"With the MAC opener at Western Michigan, we certainly will get a good test right off the bat. We will see where we stand. Although we were 4-4 in MAC matches last year, we were very close to five or even six conference wins. We beat the eventual league tournament champion (Buffalo), and went right down to the wire in three of our four losses."
Buffalo won the league championship on the Bulls' home courts last April. This April, the nine conference teams converge on Northwest Ohio for the 2009 MAC Championships, as BGSU will host the event at Keefe Courts (April 23-26). Dean hopes the 2009 Falcons can capitalize on the opportunity.
"We need to keep working all through the spring, but hopefully things will come together at the right time for us," said the coach. "We hope to have a good crowd, and our three seniors will be playing their final weekend at Keefe Courts and will have great incentive to go out with a bang. Again, we need to keep working to put ourselves in a position to be successful.
"Last year, with Stef injured in the opening match and missing the next match, it was a frustrating way for our (season-opening 11-match) win streak to come to an end, and all of a sudden we were 0-2 in the MAC. We battled back to win four of our next five, but it is such a fine line between winning and losing in this conference. We want to make sure we are playing our best tennis in late March and April.
"After having so much success last year, with a lot of wins and some national recognition, the players don't want to take a step backward. They got a taste of what it's like, and they want more.
"Again, hosting the MAC Championships is a great incentive for us. After seeing the success that Buffalo had, we want to replicate that. They played well, had a great home crowd behind them, but most importantly, they believed in themselves. The level of play has risen in the MAC, and there is so much more parity now than there used to be. Sometimes, having a little confidence is all you need to get that edge over your opponent, which could make the difference between winning and losing.
"Our seniors have been great so far. As the captains, Kelsey and Libby have been working hard with me, developing a plan, and they have done a nice job of motivating their teammates. They want to do whatever it takes to win, and I think that feeling is shared by the entire team."
