Chiricosta, Jakupcin and Menoff All Named to Academic All-MAC Team

May 7, 2009

CLEVELAND, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Mid-American Conference has released the 2009 Academic All-MAC Women's Tennis Team, and Bowling Green State University has a league-high three student-athletes on the squad. Seniors Kelsey Jakupcin and Stefanie Menoff and sophomore Christine Chiricosta all have been selected to the seven-woman team.

The team is the result of voting by the faculty athletic representatives at the MAC's member tennis institutions sponsoring the sport.

Menoff was named to the team for the third consecutive year -- in her third year of eligibility -- while Jakupcin was voted to the team for the second-straight year. Chiricosta earns the honor for the first time in her Falcon career, in her first year of eligibility.

Chiricosta, a native of Avon Lake, Ohio (Avon Lake HS), has been an All-MAC Second-Team selection on the court in each of her two years at BGSU. In 2008-09, she had an overall record of 39-16, best on the team. Chiricosta tied for the BG lead in both singles wins (20) and doubles victories (19). Chiricosta, who played at the second singles flight for most of the year, went 3-0 in dual matches at the #1 flight and was 9-4 at the #2 flight in dual-match play.

In doubles, she had a record of 19-9, teaming with Jakupcin to go 11-4 in dual matches and 6-1 in conference play. She was one of just two Falcons to qualify for the ITA Midwest Region Championships in the fall, competing in both singles and doubles. Chiricosta had a 12-match winning streak (7 singles, 5 doubles) early in the dual-match schedule.

After just two years at BGSU, she already is close to adding her name to several of the school's career records lists. With 42 singles wins, Chiricosta is just three shy of 24th place. Her total of 85 overall wins puts her just two away from joining the top-25 on that chart. Overall, she has records of 42-14 in singles, 43-17 in doubles and 85-31 combined at BG. She was named an ITA Scholar Athlete as a freshman (this year's ITA awards have not yet been announced).

Menoff has been named to the team for the third consecutive year

In the classroom, Chiricosta maintains a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade-point average as an Adolescent/young adult/secondary education major.

Jakupcin, who hails from Dublin, Ohio (Bishop Watterson HS), joined Chiricosta as an All-MAC selection for the second consecutive year. This spring, Jakupcin was named to the all-conference second team. A team co-captain, she played at the top singles flight for all but three matches on the season. Jakupcin played at the #1 doubles flight for nearly the entire season as well, and her 19-10 overall doubles record included a 19-8 mark when teaming with Chiricosta. That duo went 6-1 in MAC doubles action.

Jakupcin had a 12-18 singles mark, including a 9-10 record in dual matches. She joined Chiricosta as one of just two Falcons to qualify for the ITA Midwest Region Championships in the fall, competing in both singles and doubles. Jakupcin, who had over 30 wins in each of her four seasons at BGSU, ended her career tied for sixth on the BGSU overall wins list, with 141. She finished in a fourth-place tie in doubles wins (73), and tied for 11th in school history in singles wins (68). She was named an ITA Scholar Athlete as a junior in 2007-08.

Jakupcin, a communication disorders major, has a 3.78 cumulative GPA.

Menoff, a native of Naperville, Ill. (Neuqua Valley HS), finished her career as the winningest singles player in school history. She posted a four-year singles record of 81-23. Overall, Menoff ended her career with 128 overall wins, ranking 10th on the BGSU list.

Chiricosta earns the honor in her first season of eligibility

In 2008-09, Menoff tied for the team lead with 20 singles wins, going 20-8. She had a dual-match record of 13-6, competing primarily at the fifth flight. In doubles play this season, her overall record of 14-14 included a 14-11 mark when teaming with Libby Harrison. That duo went 10-4 at the third flight in dual-match action. Menoff, along with Jakupcin and Harrison, was part of a senior class that tied the school record for most wins in a four-year span, with 55 dual-match victories. Menoff also was named an ITA Scholar Athlete last season.

Menoff, an early childhood education major, maintains a cumulative GPA of 3.93.

Chiricosta, Jakupcin and Menoff were joined on the Academic All-MAC Team by the Western Michigan duo of Kerstin Pahl and Amanda Moccia, along with Buffalo's Denise Harijanto and Toledo's Jenny Belsky.

The Academic All-MAC honor, not surprisingly, goes to student-athletes who has excelled in both athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50% of the contests for that particular sport. First year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award. Outstanding academic and athletic accomplishments from the current season only are considered.

The Falcons concluded the 2008-09 season with an overall dual-match record of 12-7 and a MAC regular-season mark of 5-3. BGSU finished with a winning mark in MAC play for the first time since the 2002-03 season.

2009 ACADEMIC ALL-MAC TEAM
* Christine Chiricosta, Bowling Green, Soph., 4.00, Adolescent/young adult/secondary education
* Kelsey Jakupcin, Bowling Green, Sr., 3.78, Communication disorders
* Stefanie Menoff, Bowling Green, Sr., 3.93, Early childhood education
* Denise Harijanto, Buffalo, Jr., 3.671, Management
* Jennifer Belsky, Toledo, Sr., 3.703, Pre-Med/Biology and Organic Chemistry
* Kerstin Pahl, Western Michigan, Sr., 3.75, Management
* Amanda Moccia, Western Michigan, So., 3.85, Biomedical Sciences

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