Tennis Falcons Head North this Weekend

THIS WEEK
The Bowling Green State University tennis team, believe it or not, hits the road for the final time(s) in the 2009-10 regular season this weekend ... the Falcons of head coach Penny Dean will make a pair of short trips north, beginning with a Friday (April 9) match against the arch-rival University of Toledo ... then, on Saturday (April 10), the Brown and Orange will face Eastern Michigan University ... both matches will begin at 1:00 p.m, with Friday's contest to be held at the UT Varsity Courts, and Saturday's match taking place at the Chippewa Racquet Club.

BGSU Release & Stats (6 pages) | Stats only (4 pages) | 2009-10 Media Guide

LAST TIME OUT
In a match that was much closer than the final score indicated, visiting Western Michigan pulled out a 5-2 victory over the Falcons at Keefe Courts on Friday afternoon (April 2) ... the Broncos narrowly won the doubles point, with BG winning at the top flight ... junior Christine Chiricosta and freshman Maddy Eccleston won that match, while senior Katia Babina and freshman Jade Johnson lost a narrow 8-6 match at the middle flight ... in singles, both Chiricosta and Babina picked up wins at the first and second flights, respectively, but WMU captured each of the other four matches.

CHIRICOSTA COLLECTING MAC AWARDS
Junior Christine Chiricosta picked up another award last week from the league office ... she was named the MAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week for the third time this season ... Chiricosta earned that honor on Jan. 22, Feb. 19 and again on Friday (April 2) ... she also was named the MAC Player of the Week on March 17, for her efforts in the team's wins over South Dakota and Temple ... another Falcon, senior Katia Babina, has been named the MAC Player of the Week on two occasions this year to date (Feb. 3 and March 3).

FOUR THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE FALCONS
• BGSU needs one more win to match the total for all of last season ... the 2008-09 team posted an overall dual-match record of 12-7 ... this year's squad is 11-5 with at least six matches remaining.

• The Falcons have recorded 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).

• Additionally, the Falcons need just one more victory to clinch a winning record ... BGSU is looking to finish above .500 for the sixth-straight season, which would extend that school mark ... BG has had winning overall records in each of the last five years, breaking the old mark of four consecutive winning seasons (from 1974-75 through 1977-78, and from 1996-97 through 1999-2000).

• BGSU has posted a total of 52 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.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
BGSU is 11-5 in dual matches, and the Falcons are 1-2 in the MAC ... BG has lost the last two matches, both 5-2 decisions against the teams that advanced to the finals of last year's MAC Championships, Miami and Western Michigan ... the Falcons are 4-2 at home, 4-3 on the road and 3-0 in neutral-site contests ... five of the six home matches have come indoors, at the Perrysburg Tennis Center ... Friday's (April 2) loss to WMU was the Falcons' first dual at Keefe Courts this season.

Junior Christine Chiricosta and senior co-captain Katia Babina each won in singles vs. WMU ... both Chiricosta and Babina are 3-0 in MAC singles play this season ... Chiricosta leads the Brown and Orange in singles and overall wins ... she has a 13-3 record at the number-one singles flight in dual-match play, and is 20-5 overall in singles this year to date.

Babina is 11-5 at the second flight in dual-match action, while the Falcons' other senior co-captain, Samantha Kintzel, is 10-6 at the third flight ... Kintzel has lost two consecutive matches after winning each of the previous five.

Freshman Maddy Eccleston is 9-7, primarily at the fourth flight, since the start of dual-match play ... sophomore Jessica Easdale has an 8-4 record in dual-match play, including a 6-3 mark at the fifth level and a 2-0 record in sixth-flight play ... freshmen Katie Grubb and Jade Johnson each have seen time at the fifth and sixth flights in dual action.

In doubles, the Chiricosta/Eccleston duo is 12-4 at the top flight, while Babina and Johnson have a 10-6 mark in second-flight play ... Kintzel has teamed with Grubb (6-5 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
Toledo enters the weekend with an overall record of 9-4 and a 2-1 MAC mark ... the Rockets saw a three-match winning streak snapped with Friday's 5-2 loss at Akron, but bounced back to down Buffalo Saturday, 4-3 ... UT's other MAC match was a 6-1 win at Northern Illinois on March 26 ... last year, UT went 14-10 overall and 4-4 in MAC regular-season play.

Eastern Michigan is 6-10 overall and 0-3 in conference play, heading into a Friday home match vs. Western Michigan ... the Eagles have faced NIU, UB and UA in MAC play, all on the road, to date ... EMU lost 5-2 decisions to the first two opponents and a 7-0 match at Akron ... a year ago, Eastern was 5-16 overall and 2-6 in the MAC.

The Falcons lead Toledo, 22-15, in the all-time series between the teams ... last year, BG won the regular-season matchup, 4-3, at Keefe Courts, but the Rockets got revenge with a 4-0 triumph in the MAC Championships quarterfinal round ... BGSU trails Eastern Michigan, 26-11, in that series, but the Falcons have won two-straight matches vs. the Eagles after losing the previous nine.

UP NEXT
Following the UT and EMU matches, the Falcons return home for the final three regular-season contests ... BGSU will host Northern Illinois (April 16), Akron (April 23) and Buffalo (April 24) at Keefe Courts, before heading to Kalamazoo, Mich., for the MAC Championships (April 29-May 2).

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