Western Michigan Edges Falcons, 4-3

Friday, April 13

Bowling Green, Ohio

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Western Michigan

Jessica Easdale Senior Day v WMU April 13 2012 Dave Meyer photo

Jessica Easdale, the lone fourth-year Falcon, was recognized in Senior Day festivities prior to Friday's match (photo by Dave Meyer)

April 13, 2012 | Women's Tennis

Broncos capture four singles matches to eke out a comeback win

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Western Michigan University rallied from an early deficit, winning four singles matches to post a 4-3 win over the Bowling Green State University tennis team Friday afternoon (April 13). The Mid-American Conference match was held at sun-drenched Keefe Courts on the BGSU campus.

With the win, the Broncos improve to 14-10 overall and 3-3 in MAC action. The Falcons are now 8-8 and 3-3, respectively.

"This was a tough loss for us," said Falcon coach Penny Dean. "The positives are that our doubles teams are playing awesome right now, and we got great results from our sophomores in singles."

BGSU won a doubles point, capturing each of the three matches in a kerfuffle-filled first hour at Keefe Courts. Juniors Jade Johnson and Mary Hill were the first to finish, at the third flight. They opened up a 7-1 lead over the WMU team of Kathleen Hawkins and Caroline Aleck, saw the Broncos win three consecutive games to cut the lead to three games, then closed out the 8-4 win.

Tennis: MAC standings through Friday April 13 2012

For the Johnson/Hill duo, the win was the fourth in a row and the sixth in the last seven matches.

At the top flight, sophomores Nikki Chiricosta and Emily Reuland fell behind by a game on two occasions, then reeled off four-straight games to take a 6-3 lead. Western's Nini Sujashvili and April Kerr closed the gap to 6-5 and then to 7-6, but the Falcon sophs answered each time, picking up an 8-6 win.

Juniors Katie Grubb and Maddy Eccleston dropped the first three games against Jill Pastunink and Maria Nivia, and the Falcons trailed by a 4-1 count before winning seven consecutive games for the 8-4 victory.

Chiricosta and Reuland, like Hill and Johnson, have won four-straight matches and six of the last seven contests. Grubb and Eccleston have won each of the last three matches, and BGSU's doubles teams have combined for a 14-4 record in MAC play.

Chiricosta took the momentum of her doubles win into singles play. Her single match was the first to finish, as she lost a total of just two games in her 6-1, 6-1 win over Nivia at the top flight.

The Broncos, however, rallied back with three-straight wins at the bottom flights. Pastunink downed Hill at the fourth flight, while Kerr won a first-set tiebreaker en route to a sixth-flight victory over senior co-captain Jessica Easdale.

Aleck defeated Grubb in fifth-flight action, winning by identical 6-4 scores. Aleck's win gave the Broncos a 3-2 lead in the match.

Reuland closed out a hard-fought victory over Hawkins at the third flight, winning both sets by 6-3 scores. But, Maggie Remynse was able to hold off Eccleston at the second flight to give the visitors the victory. Western Michigan now owns a 38-0 lead in the all-time series with the Falcons.

"I'm very proud of Nikki and Emily," said Dean. "The rest of our singles players fought hard, too. Western was just more patient at times, and willing to play longer points. I felt like we played the big points better in doubles, but they played the bigger points better during singles.

"This one hurts a lot, because we wanted it so bad. But, we will learn from this, and we will get ready for two big matches next weekend before the MAC Championships."

The match was the closest in the BGSU-WMU series in nearly 14 years, since a 5-4 Bronco win on April 16, 1998.

The Falcons hit the road to end the regular season, facing Eastern Michigan on Friday (April 20) before meeting Toledo on Saturday afternoon (April 21). Both matches are scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. Then, BGSU will head to DeKalb, Ill., for the MAC Championships, which run from April 26-29.

WESTERN MICHIGAN 4, BOWLING GREEN 3
Fri., April 13, 2012 - Keefe Courts - Bowling Green, Ohio
SINGLES
1 - Nikki Chiricosta (BGSU) def. Maria Nivia 6-1, 6-1
2 - Maggie Remynse (WMU) def. Maddy Eccleston 6-4, 6-4
3 - Emily Reuland (BGSU) def. Kathleen Hawkins 6-3, 6-3
4 - Jill Pastunink (WMU) def. Mary Hill 6-1, 6-2
5 - Caroline Aleck (WMU) def. Katie Grubb 6-4, 6-4
6 - April Kerr (WMU) def. Jessica Easdale 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
Order of finish: 1,4,6,5,3,2

DOUBLES
1 - Chiricosta/Reuland (BGSU) def. Kerr/Nini Sujashvili 8-6
2 - Eccleston/Grubb (BGSU) def. Pastunink/Nivia 8-4
3 - Hill/Jade Johnson (BGSU) def. Hawkins/Aleck 8-4
Order of finish: 3,1,2

RECORDS
BGSU 8-8, 3-3 MAC
WMU 14-10, 3-3 MAC

UP NEXT
BGSU - at Eastern Michigan; Fri., April 20
WMU - at Toledo; Fri., April 20

FALCON NOTES
* BGSU has won the doubles point in four consecutive duals, in six of the last seven matches and in 11 of this season's 16 contests ... the Falcons have captured all three doubles matches in three-straight contests, and BG has done so six times this spring.

* Sophomore Emily Reuland now has a team-leading 45 wins this year ... her 45-15 record includes a 22-8 singles mark and a 23-7 doubles ledger ... she leads the Falcons in both singles and doubles victories.

* Reuland has won eight consecutive matches, having picked up victories in both singles and doubles in each of the last four contests.

* Reuland's 45 combined wins moves her into a tie for 10th place on the BGSU single-season list ... she is deadlocked with Erika Wasilewski (1998).

* With 22 singles victories this season, Reuland is now deadlocked for 16th on that BG list ... and, her 23 doubles wins tie her for 11th in school history.

* Sophomore Nikki Chiricosta now has 41 total wins this season, with a 20-9 singles record and a 21-9 doubles mark ... she is second on the team in singles wins and is deadlocked for second on the Falcons in doubles victories.

* Chiricosta now has 94 career wins at BGSU, ranking her 25th on the school list ... with 48 singles wins, she is now deadlocked for 22nd in BG history with Cameron Benjamin (2002-05).

* Chiricosta and Reuland each are 4-2 in singles play in MAC matches ... they are 5-1 as a doubles team in league play.

* Juniors Mary Hill and Jade Johnson are also 5-1 in doubles play in conference action, while fellow juniors Maddy Eccleston and Katie Grubb are 4-2.