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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Tennis Falcons Named an ITA All Academic Team for 2008-09
August 07, 2009 | Women's Tennis
Christine Chiricosta, Jessica Easdale, Kelsey Jakupcin and Stefanie Menoff all earned the individual Scholar Athlete awards for the Falcons of head coach Penny Dean. Jakupcin and Menoff were seniors on the 2008-09 team, while Chiricosta was a sophomore and Easdale a freshman on the '08-09 squad.
The ITA, the governing body of collegiate tennis, bestows its academic awards on deserving teams and student-athletes for men and women at all collegiate levels - NCAA Divisions I, II, III, NAIA and junior colleges. The ITA All-Academic Team award is open to any ITA program that has a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or above (on a 4.00 scale). All eligible student-athletes whose names appear on the NCAA/NAIA/NJCAA eligibility form and have competed in one or more varsity matches must average into the GPA for the current academic year (including fall 2007 and spring 2008).
In order to earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status, a player must meet the following criteria:
- be a varsity letterwinner,
- have a grade point average of at least 3.50 (on a 4.00 scale) for the current academic year, and
- have been enrolled at their present school for at least 2 semesters (including freshman through senior year).
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, and she 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.
Chiricosta was one of just two Falcons to qualify for the ITA Midwest Region Championships in the fall, competing in both singles and doubles. She had a 12-match winning streak (7 singles, 5 doubles) early in the dual-match schedule. In June, Chiricosta became the first-ever BGSU women's tennis player to be named an Academic All-American by CoSIDA.
In the classroom, Chiricosta maintains a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade-point average through two years at BGSU, as an adolescent/young adult/secondary education major.
Easdale, a native of Dublin, Ohio (Dublin Jerome HS), missed nearly all of the 2008-09 season due to injury. She saw action in only four matches in the spring, playing exhibition singles matches that did not count in the final match scoring. After having surgery in September, Easdale did not see match action until the April 3 dual at Northern Illinois. She also played in 'seventh-flight' singles matches vs. Akron (April 10), Buffalo (April 11) and Miami (April 18).
In the classroom, Easdale has a 3.53 GPA as a chemistry 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, had a 3.80 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.
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, maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.93.
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 2002-03.
