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Bowling Green State University
Ball State
Falcons Hit the Road to Open MAC Schedule this Weekend
March 25, 2010 | Women's Tennis
BGSU takes on Ball State, Miami
The Bowling Green State University tennis team, riding a four-match winning streak, opens Mid-American Conference play with a pair of matches on the road this weekend ... the Falcons of head coach Penny Dean take on Ball State University in the conference opener on Friday (March 26), before meeting defending MAC champion Miami University Saturday afternoon (March 27) ... both matches are scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.
BGSU Notes & Stats - PDF | 2009-10 BGSU Media Guide
Ball State Tennis site | Miami Tennis site
LAST TIME OUT
BGSU, 10-3 in dual matches this season, is coming off a 4-3 win over Duquesne last Friday night (March 19) ... the match was held at the Falcons' indoor home, the Perrysburg Tennis Center ... BG swept the three doubles matches, then won at the first through third singles flights to down the Dukes.
FOUR THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE FALCONS
• BGSU has posted at least 10 dual-match victories for the eighth consecutive season, extending the school record ... prior to the current streak, the longest string of double-digit win totals was four-straight seasons, on two prior occasions (1988-92 and 1996-2000).
• The Falcons are looking to finish with a winning record for the sixth-straight season, which would extend that school record ... BG has had winning overall marks in each of the last five years, breaking the mark of four consecutive winning seasons ... the Falcons had four-straight winning seasons from 1974-75 through 1977-78, and again from 1996-97 through 1999-2000, prior to the current streak.
• BGSU has posted a total of 51 wins since the team's two seniors, co-captains Katia Babina and Samantha Kintzel, arrived on campus ... the school record for wins in a four-year span is 55, set by the senior class of 2007-08 (Jenna Nussbaum and Andrea Volle) and matched by last year's senior class of Libby Harrison, Kelsey Jakupcin and Stefanie Menoff.
• Two members of the Falcons will play in their home state for the first time in their collegiate careers on Friday afternoon ... freshmen Katie Grubb and Jade Johnson each are natives of Indiana ... Grubb is from Elkhart (Elkhart Memorial H.S.) with Johnson hailing from Fort Wayne (Homestead H.S.).
ABOUT THE FALCONS
BGSU, as mentioned, takes a four-match winning streak into Friday's Ball State contest ... the Falcons won two matches in Orlando, Fla., prior to besting Duquesne last weekend ... BG's trip south included wins over South Dakota and Temple.
Junior Christine Chiricosta and senior co-captains Katia Babina and Samantha Kintzel picked up singles wins vs. Duquesne ... Chiricosta leads the Brown and Orange in singles and overall wins ... she has a 10-3 record at the number-one singles flight in dual-match play, and is 17-5 overall in singles this year to date.
Babina is 8-5 at the second flight in dual-match action, while Kintzel is 9-4 at flight number three in duals ... freshman Maddy Eccleston is 9-4 at the fourth flight since the start of dual-match play ... sophomore Jessica Easdale and freshmen Katie Grubb and Jade Johnson each have played at the fifth and sixth flights in dual action ... Easdale has a 5-2 mark at the fifth level and a 2-0 record in sixth-flight play.
In doubles, the Chiricosta/Eccleston duo is 10-3 at the top flight, while Babina and Johnson have matched that 10-3 mark in second-flight play ... Kintzel has teamed with Grubb (4-4 in duals) and Easdale (2-2) at the third flight in dual-match action.
Head coach Penny Dean's eight-player roster includes four returnees from a year ago and four newcomers to Division-I tennis.
THE OPPONENTS / THE SERIES
Ball State enters the weekend with a record of 6-7 ... the Cardinals will have been idle for over two weeks, since a 7-0 loss at Saint Louis on March 11 ... BSU has played nine of the first 13 matches at home, having gone 6-3 in Muncie to date ... last season, the Cardinals went 5-14 overall and 0-8 in MAC play ... Amy Behrman was named the team's interim coach in January.
The Falcons trail Ball State, 17-15, in the all-time series between the teams, but BGSU has captured the last two meetings ... last season, the Brown and Orange picked up a 7-0 win at Keefe Courts (April 17, 2009) ... the last time BG and BSU played in Muncie, the Falcons won by a 6-1 final (April 12, 2008) ... four of the last seven matchups, and six of the last 11 meetings between the teams, have been decided by a 4-3 score.
Miami is 7-5 this season, heading into Friday's (March 26) home match vs. Western Michigan ... the RedHawks split a pair of 4-3 decisions last weekend, downing Georgia State before falling to UNC Wilmington ... MU's other losses have come to Indiana, Marshall, Marquette and Wisconsin ... a year ago, the RedHawks went 16-7 overall and a perfect 8-0 in MAC regular-season play ... Miami won the conference regular-season and tourney titles and advanced to the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history ... Ricardo Rosas was named the interim coach of the RedHawks in November.
The Falcons trail Miami, 31-5, in that series, and the RedHawks captured a 4-3 win in BG in last year's final regular-season match (April 18, 2009) ... in that match, BGSU became the only MAC team to win the doubles point against MU last season ... in the Falcons' last trip to Oxford, the RedHawks picked up a 6-1 decision (April 11, 2008) ... two of BGSU's five series wins came in the 2006-07 season.
BGSU'S RECORD COLLECTION
The Falcons have been recognized for their success on the court and in the classroom this year to date ... junior Christine Chiricosta was named the MAC Player of the Week on March 17, for her efforts in the team's wins over South Dakota and Temple ... Chiricosta had been named the MAC's Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Feb. 19 ... senior Katia Babina has been named the MAC Player of the Week on two occasions this year to date (Feb. 3 and March 3).
UP NEXT
Following this weekend's trip, the Falcons return home to take on Western Michigan University next weekend ... the Brown and Orange will host the Broncos next Friday (April 2), with the match scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. at Keefe Courts.
