Falcons Off to Successful Start in Kalamazoo

Friday, September 30

Kalamazoo, Mich.

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Fall MAC Invitational

Nikki Chiricosta - 2011 BGSU Invitational

Nikki Chiricosta was one of two Falcons to go a perfect 3-0 on Friday (photo by John Enright)

September 30, 2011 | Women's Tennis

By: KALAMAZOO, Mich. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University tennis team got off to a successful start at the Fall MAC Invitational on Friday (Sept. 30). The two-day, six-team tourney, which features six Mid-American Conference schools, is hosted by Western Michigan University.

Team scores are not kept for the event, but BGSU competitors combined for a singles record of 5-2 and a doubles mark of 4-2 in day-one action. The top-four singles flights (A through D) and each of the four doubles flights feature closed brackets, while one additional singles 'flight' (E) features round-robin matches.

Two Falcons -- freshman Nikki Chiricosta and junior Maddy Eccleston -- went a perfect 3-0 on the day.

That duo teamed up for a pair of wins to capture the Flight B doubles crown. Chiricosta and Eccleston downed teams from Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois to win the title.

Both players competed in singles Flight B, and both picked up a win with relative ease on Friday. Eccleston lost just one total game in her sweep of Ball State's Ashlyn Rang, while Chiricosta downed NIU's Haley Dekkinga by identical 6-2, 6-2 scores.

BG's two other doubles teams each split their two matches on Friday. That included the duo of junior Jade Johnson and sophomore Emily Reuland. Johnson and Reuland topped a team from host Western Michigan, before losing by a narrow 9-7 score to a Toledo tandem in the Flight C final.

In Flight D, juniors Katie Grubb and Mary Hill lost to an EMU team, 8-6, in the first round, but rebounded to blank a Northern Illinois team, 8-0.

Hill won her singles match at Flight C as well. She topped UT's Alexandra Cristello, winning a 10-4 tiebreaker after the two players split their first two sets.

At Flight D, senior Jessica Easdale was a winner over BSU's Kylee Johnson, but the Falcons' Jade Johnson lost to the Cardinals' Sarah Hebble.

Reuland suffered a first-round loss in singles Flight A, while Grubb picked up a win in the E flight.

The Fall MAC Invitational concludes Saturday (Oct. 1) in Kalamazoo.

FALL MAC INVITATIONAL - BGSU'S FRIDAY RESULTS
SINGLES
Flight A - Emily Reuland
lost to Kelsey Anonsen (Toledo) 6-2, 6-4

Flight B - Maddy Eccleston
def. Ashlyn Rang (Ball State) 6-1, 6-0
Saturday: vs. Lexy Pitt (UT)

Flight B - Nikki Chiricosta
def. Haley Dekkinga (Northern Illinois) 6-2, 6-2
Saturday: vs. Kristel Sanders (BSU)

Flight C - Mary Hill
def. Alexandra Cristello (UT) 6-4, 4-6, 10-4
Saturday: vs. April Kerr (Western Michigan)

Flight D - Jade Johnson
lost to Sarah Hebble (BSU) 6-2, 6-1

Flight D - Jessica Easdale
def. Kylee Johnson (BSU) 6-4, 6-4
Saturday: vs. Marcela Rivero (Eastern Michigan)

Flight E - Katie Grubb
def. Ilse Pacheco (NIU) 6-2, 6-1

DOUBLES
Flight A - no BGSU competitors

Flight B - Chiricosta/Eccleston
def. Toncheva/Friedrichs (EMU) 8-3
def. Dekkinga/Youel (NIU) 8-4

Flight C - Johnson/Reuland
def. Aleck/Shustova (WMU) 8-4
lost to Coffman/Pitt (UT) 9-7

Flight D - Grubb/Hill
lost to De Lisle-Tarr/Bhatia (EMU) 8-6
def. Malkin/Pacheco (NIU) 8-0