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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Land Three on Academic All-MAC Team
May 22, 2012 | Women's Tennis
All seven student-athletes on 2011-12 roster earn league academic recognition
A trio of Bowling Green State University tennis standouts have been named to the 2012 Academic All-Mid-American Conference Team. Junior Maddy Eccleston and sophomores Nikki Chiricosta and Emily Reuland were voted to the team, which was announced Tuesday morning (May 22) by the league office.
BGSU led all schools with three student-athletes named to the eight-woman team. All seven Falcons on the 2011-12 roster earned academic all-conference recognition, as four student-athletes received honorable mention. That group included senior Jessica Easdale and juniors Katie Grubb, Mary Hill and Jade Johnson.
Eccleston was selected to the Academic All-MAC Team for the second consecutive season, while both Chiricosta and Reuland earned the honor in their first year of eligibility for the award. The Academic All-MAC Team is the result of voting by the league's Faculty Athletics Representatives.
Chiricosta, a native of Avon Lake, Ohio (Avon Lake HS), was named to the All-MAC First Team last month. She finished the 2011-12 season with an overall record of 45-20, having gone 23-9 in singles play and 22-11 in doubles action. She ranked second on the team in wins in all three categories. Chiricosta played four singles matches at the top flight and four at the number-two level in MAC regular-season action, and had a 6-2 record. Additionally, she teamed with Reuland for a 6-2 conference mark in doubles, playing at the number-one flight in all eight league matches.
Chiricosta was named the MAC Player of the Week on three occasions this season. Her total of 45 wins this year ties her for 11th on the BGSU single-season list. Just a sophomore, she already ranks 25th in school history with 98 career wins. Chiricosta picked up her 50th career singles win in the Falcons' victory at Toledo on April 21, and now ranks 21st on that BGSU list with a total of 51 singles victories. She won nearly 70 percent of her matches this season (.692) and almost 72 percent of her career collegiate contests (.715).
In the classroom, Chiricosta is a communication major, and maintains an 3.95 cumulative grade-point average through the Spring 2012 semester.
Eccleston, a native of Toledo, Ohio (St. Ursula Acad.), was the MAC's recipient of the Leann Grimes Davidge Sportsmanship Award. That award is presented to the player who displayed outstanding sportsmanship in MAC competition, and is the result of voting by the MAC women's tennis student-athletes. She had a singles record of 19-13 this season and a doubles mark of 22-10, for an overall mark of 41-23. Eccleston split time with Chiricosta at the top-two singles flights this season, and primarily played at the second doubles flight.
Eccleston, the winningest active Falcon, has had at least 40 total victories in each of her three seasons at BGSU and is moving up the BGSU career charts. With a year remaining in her BGSU career, she is tied for 14th in school history with 127 overall wins. Eccleston is 18th in career singles wins, with 58, and is 11th with 69 doubles victories. She has a career winning percentage of .655.
Eccleston, a health science major, finished her junior year with a cumulative GPA of 3.95.
Reuland, who hails from Oswego, Ill. (Rosary H.S.), was named to the All-MAC Second Team last month. She led the Falcons in all three wins categories this year, and has won almost 75 percent of her matches. Her 49-17 record included a 25-8 singles record and a doubles mark of 24-9. Reuland played at the third singles flight for nearly the entire season, moving up to the second flight and posting a 2-0 record in back-to-back matches in early April. She had a 6-2 singles record in MAC regular-season play, and teamed with Chiricosta to win six of eight MAC contests at the top flight.
Reuland's total of 49 overall wins this year marks the seventh-highest seasonal total in school history. She tied for fifth with 25 singles wins, and deadlocked for eighth on the doubles wins list, with 24 this season. In just two seasons in the Brown and Orange, Reuland has 89 total victories, the 28th-best total in BG annals. She is tied for 23rd all-time with 48 career singles wins.
Reuland, an exercise science major, has a 3.90 cumulative GPA through the spring semester.
BGSU, as mentioned, led the way with three Academic All-MAC Team selections. Miami and Western Michigan each had two student-athletes voted to the team, while Akron had one.
Chiricosta, Eccleston and Reuland were joined by UA's Prang Pantusart, Miami's Stephanie Danesis and Riekie Honiball and WMU's Rachel Denny and Nini Sujashvili. Eccleston, Pantusart, Danesis and Denny all made the team for the second-straight season.
To be nominated for the team, a student-athlete must have a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.20 and must have competed in at least 50 percent of the athletic competitions for their sport in the current academic year. Freshmen and first-year transfers are not eligible to be nominated.
The tennis Falcons concluded the 2011-12 season with an overall record of 10-10 and a 4-4 MAC ledger. BGSU placed fifth in the regular-season standings, then advanced to the semifinal round of the MAC Championships for the second consecutive spring.
The complete 2012 Academic All-MAC Team follows...
2012 ACADEMIC ALL-MAC TEAM
& Prang Pantusart, Akron, Junior, Finance, 3.54 GPA, Amphur Muang, Nonthaburi, Thailand
Nikki Chiricosta, Bowling Green, Sophomore, Journalism, 3.93 GPA, Avon Lake, Ohio
& Maddy Eccleston, Bowling Green, Junior, Health Science, 3.94 GPA, Toledo, Ohio
Emily Reuland, Bowling Green, Sophomore, Exercise Science, 3.93 GPA, Oswego, Ill.
& Stephanie Danesis, Miami, Senior, Exercise Science, 3.46 GPA, Akron, Ohio
Riekie Honiball, Miami, Senior, Mathematics, 3.68 GPA, Windhoek, Namibia
& Rachel Denny, Western Michigan, Senior, Biomedical Sciences, 3.92 GPA, Oakland Twp., Mich.
Nini Sujashvili, Western Michigan, Sophomore, Psychology, 3.93 GPA, Tbilisi, Georgia
& 2011 Academic All-MAC Team selection
HONORABLE MENTION
Sarah Hebble, Ball State
Jessica Easdale, Bowling Green
Katie Grubb, Bowling Green
Mary Hill, Bowling Green
Jade Johnson, Bowling Green
Marta Stoyanova, Buffalo
Nino Mebuke, Eastern Michigan
Marcela Rivero, Eastern Michigan
Mariya Toncheva, Eastern Michigan
Miriam Westerink, Eastern Michigan
Haley Dekkinga, Northern Illinois
Kelsey Anonsen, Toledo
Amanda Border, Toledo
Christine Coffman, Toledo
Maria Nivia, Western Michigan
Jill Pastunink, Western Michigan
Maggie Remynse, Western Michigan
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