Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Menoff Sets Record; Falcons Get Win, 6-1
April 03, 2009 | Women's Tennis
April 3, 2009
DeKALB, Ill. (BGSUFalcons.com) - Senior Stefanie Menoff became the winningest singles player in Bowling Green State University tennis history, helping the Falcons to a 6-1 win over Northern Illinois University Friday afternoon (April 3). The Mid-American Conference dual match was held at Huskie Tennis Courts.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 10-4 in dual-match play, and BGSU is now 3-1 in MAC action. The Huskies drop to 5-11 and 1-4, respectively.
Menoff, a native of nearby Naperville, Ill., downed the Huskies' Brooke Forsberg in straight sets for the 80th singles win of her career, a new school record. Menoff, one of three Illinois natives on the seven-player BGSU roster, helped the Falcons down the Huskies for the fifth-straight meeting.
"It was a good match for us," said Falcon head coach Penny Dean. "Everyone really brought their 'A' game, and we handled the winds and the cold very well."
The Falcons took the doubles point for the third consecutive match and the 10th time in 14 dual matches this year. Senior Kelsey Jakupcin teamed with sophomore Christina Chiricosta for an 8-1 win at the top flight, while Falcon juniors Katia Babina and Samantha Kintzel -- both Illinois natives - won by an 8-2 outcome at the middle flight.
NIU captured a narrow decision at the bottom flight to keep the Falcons from taking all three doubles matches.
In singles play, the Falcons won five of the six matches, all in straight sets. As mentioned, Menoff downed Forsberg, winning by scores of 6-4 and 6-2 at the fifth flight. Jakupcin and Chiricosta had little difficulty at the top-two flights, with Jakupcin losing only three total games vs. Lilian Asuaje at the number-one flight. Chiricosta dropped just one game against Kathryn Friedlund at the second flight.
Kintzel swept Martina Schnapp, losing just three total games, at the third flight. Senior Libby Harrison made sure NIU's Sara McLaughlin was not building a mystery, sweeping her NIU sixth-flight counterpart by a 6-4, 6-1 result.
Northern's lone win came at the fourth flight, where Emily Rogers rallied to squeak past Babina in three sets.
Additionally, Friday marked the debut, unofficially, of Falcon freshman Jessica Easdale. Easdale, who had been sidelined due to injury, played NIU's Stephanie Okuma in a singles match that did not count in the overall match scoring, with Okuma winning by an 8-5 outcome.
BGSU's win, coupled with Friday's other outcomes around the MAC, puts the Brown and Orange into a third-place tie with Akron and Buffalo. All three teams are 3-1 in league play, trailing only Western Michigan and Miami (both 3-0), heading into Saturday's matches.
The Falcons are idle on Saturday but return to action next weekend, heading to UA (April 10) and UB (April 11) to close the road portion of the 2008-09 schedule.
Bowling Green 6, Northern Illinois 1
Friday, April 3 - Huskie Tennis Courts - DeKalb, Ill.
Singles
1 - Kelsey Jakupcin (BGSU) def. Lilian Asuaje 6-3, 6-0
2 - Christine Chiricosta (BGSU) def. Kathryn Friedlund 6-0, 6-1
3 - Samantha Kintzel (BGSU) def. Martina Schnapp 6-1, 6-2
4 - Emily Rogers (NIU) def. Katia Babina 1-6, 6-0, 6-4
5 - Stefanie Menoff (BGSU) def. Brooke Forsberg 6-4, 6-2
6 - Libby Harrison (BGSU) def. Sara McLaughlin 6-4, 6-1
# - Stephanie Okuma (NIU) def. Jessica Easdale 8-5
Doubles
1 - Jakupcin/Chiricosta (BGSU) def. Forsberg/Schnapp 8-1
2 - Kintzel/Babina (BGSU) def. Asuaje/Rogers 8-2
3 - Friedlund/McLaughlin (NIU) def. Harrison/Menoff 8-7 (5)
# - exhibition; did not count in match scoring
