Falcons Open 'Spring' Season with Two Matches in Louisville this Weekend

The Bowling Green State University tennis team returns to action this weekend, heading to Louisville, Ky., for a pair of dual matches as the 'spring' portion of the season begins. The Falcons of head coach Penny Dean will face the University of Louisville in Friday (Jan. 21) action, with a match against West Virginia University the following day (Jan. 22), at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.

"The team is psyched to get on the road and begin competing again," said Dean. "It is always tough at Louisville, because their courts are very fast, and they have some big hitters. We should be more prepared for that this year."

The Falcons had a successful fall schedule, competing in a total of four non-scored tournaments. BGSU players had a combined record of 61-24 in singles and an aggregate 28-13 doubles mark during the fall schedule.

Senior Christine Chiricosta is expected to play at the top singles and doubles flights again this spring. She went 11-2 in singles action in the fall, and teamed with sophomore Maddy Eccleston for a doubles ledger of 8-4.

Chiricosta had a total of 20 wins in the fall, second on the team behind only her sister, freshman Nikki Chiricosta. The latter Chiricosta had 21 victories, going a team-best 12-2 in singles and posting a 9-4 doubles mark.

Eccleston (18), sophomore Mary Hill (18) and freshman Emily Reuland (17) all picked up at least 17 total wins during the fall portion of the schedule. Junior Jessica Easdale, a co-captain along with Christine Chiricosta, had 10 wins, while sophomore Katie Grubb had nine during the fall. Another sophomore, Jade Johnson, was slowed by injury for much of the fall schedule.

Louisville is led by the doubles team of Julia Fellerhoff and Mandy Brown, ranked No. 33 in the nation in the latest ITA National Doubles Rankings. That is the highest ranking by a doubles team in U of L program history. Last season, the Cardinals went 11-11 overall, advancing to the second round of the BIG EAST Championships.

The Falcons opened the dual-match portion of last year's schedule against Louisville as well. A year ago (Jan. 16, 2010), the Cardinals posted a 5-2 win over the Brown and Orange. According to available records, that was the first-ever matchup between the teams in dual-match play.

West Virginia finished the 2009-10 season with an overall record of 17-7 and a BIG EAST mark of 6-2. The 2010-11 Mountaineers are under the direction of first-year head coach Tina Samara.

The Falcons have never met WVU in dual-match play. Dean took her BGSU teams to Morgantown to open the season at invitationals in both 1995-96 and 1997-98.

"The potential is there for us to have a great season, starting this weekend as we begin the pre-MAC portion of the schedule," said Dean. "But, it is a long road ahead, with most of our matches away from home. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we need to be ready to play every single time we take the court."

Following this weekend's matches, the Falcons will return to Northwest Ohio to begin the home portion of the dual schedule. BGSU will face Cleveland State on Friday evening, Jan. 28. That match will begin at 6:00 p.m. at the Perrysburg Tennis Center.

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