Falcons Vanquish Vulcans, 6-1, for Ninth Win in a Row

Sunday, February 24

Perrysburg, OH

9:30 AM

Bowling Green State University

California Univ. (PA)

February 24, 2013 | Women's Tennis

BGSU bests California (Pa.) on Sunday morning at the PTC

By: PERRYSBURG, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University tennis team worked overtime to earn the doubles point on Sunday morning (Feb. 24), but the Falcons took little time to take control of singles play. The result was a 6-1 win for the Brown and Orange over California University of Pennsylvania at the Perrysburg Tennis Center.

LINKS
Updated BGSU Stats | 2012-13 Individual Match-by-Match Results

With the win, the Falcons improve to 9-1 on the season, and BGSU has won nine consecutive matches since a road loss against No. 19 Notre Dame. BG is a perfect 7-0 at home, including a 6-0 mark at the PTC on the current homestand.

The Vulcans drop to 3-3 on the season. Sunday's loss snapped a three-match winning streak for Cal U, including a 9-0 victory over Division-I Villanova on Friday (Feb. 22).

Senior Maddy Eccleston had a pair of wins to move into second place on the BGSU career list. Junior Emily Reuland and freshmen Katie Brozovich and Drew Fillis also won at both singles and doubles on Sunday.

"This was a great team victory," said BGSU head coach Penny Dean. "Some of the scores might make it appear that the wins came easier than they actually did. Everyone had to battle, even if the scores might not indicate it. This is a very strong, very talented California team."

All three doubles matches went right down to the wire. The Falcons struck first, as Fillis hit the clinching shot in the third-flight match. Fillis and classmate Brozovich picked up an 8-6 win at the number-three flight.

The Vulcans evened things up with a win at the second flight, as Ramona Czakon and Alexandra Borgenhoff topped senior Jade Johnson and junior Nikki Chiricosta by an 8-6 final. That result left the doubles outcome up to the top-flight match.

For Chiricosta, the narrow doubles loss snapped a personal 15-match winning streak. She had not lost a match, singles or doubles, since the Duquesne dual back on Jan. 19.

At the number-one flight, BGSU's duo of Eccleston and Reuland had gotten out to a 4-1 lead, and the Falcons still led by a 6-3 count before Cal U's Lucie Sipkova and Lucie Rey rallied. The Vulcans captured three-straight games, and the match was tied, 6-6, when the second-flight match came to an end on the adjacent court.

Reuland and Eccleston took a 7-6 advantage, but the Sipkova/Rey duo won the next two games to take an 8-7 lead. Eccleston, however, hit the decisive shot in the next game, sending the match to a tiebreaker.

In the 'breaker, the Falcons fell behind, 5-3, before knotting the score. The Vulcans got the next point before an Eccleston ace tied it up at 6-6. The teams traded points, with BG taking a quick lead and Cal U equalizing, A double fault gave BG an 8-7 lead, however, and Reuland then served the winning point. Roughly 90 minutes after doubles play had begun, the Falcons had the initial point of the day.

"This was the first time this season that there has been one doubles match on the court with the point on the line," said Dean. "Maddy and Emily were down a break, and had to break their opponents to get back to a tie score.

"In the last two games and the tiebreaker, we told them 'win or lose, you have to stay aggressive and keep hitting the ball hard.' They bought into that, went out and did it, and won the match. It was great focus and a great effort on their part."

In singles play, the Falcons picked up a second point at the sixth flight, where Cal U's Jade Pondicas was forced to retire. Brozovich led Pondicas, 5-2, in the opening set when the match was halted.

Senior Katie Grubb put BG one point away from victory soon after, downing Jesse Burrell in straight sets at the fifth flight. Grubb rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the opening set to win five-straight games, then took control early in the second set en route to a 6-2 win.

Reuland, after teaming with Eccleston for that lengthy doubles win, left no doubt about the outcome of her singles match. The BGSU junior lost only three total games to Czakon in a win at the second flight. Reuland did not lose a game in her opening set, and raced to a 3-0 second-set lead before closing out the victory.

Reuland's win gave BGSU the necessary four points required for the team victory.

The Vulcans got a point, as Rey outlasted senior Mary Hill at the fourth flight, but Chiricosta got a win at the number-one flight, downing Sipkova by identical 6-2 scores.

Eccleston, who had played a marathon doubles match, was participating in the last match on the court for the second time on Sunday. The senior co-captain came from behind in each of her two sets, winning four-straight games after falling behind by a 3-2 score in the opening set. Then, in second-set action at the third flight, Eccleston trailed, 3-0, early, but battled back to take a 6-5 lead against Borgenhoff. Borgenhoff won the next game to tie the score at 6-6, and for the second time on the day, Eccleston was headed to a tiebreaker.

And, for the second time on Sunday morning/afternoon, Eccleston emerged victorious from that 'breaker, coming out on top by a 7-5 score.

"One of our goals, of course, is to win the doubles point," said Dean. "Another of our goals is to use the momentum from doubles play to get us off to a high-energy start in singles. I felt like we really met our goals today, and the result was a good team win."

Fillis, after teaming with fellow freshman Brozovich for a doubles win, returned to the court to defeat the Vulcan's Maxime Colen in a match that did not count in the final scoring.

The Falcons are idle from competition for the next two weekends. BGSU will return to action with a home match against Butler on Saturday, March 16, before heading to the Windy City to face UIC the following day.

BGSU 6, California (Pa.) 1
Sun., Feb. 24, 2013 – Perrysburg Tennis Center – Perrysburg, Ohio
SINGLES
1 – Nikki Chiricosta (BGSU) def. Lucie Sipkova 6-2, 6-2
2 – Emily Reuland (BGSU) def. Ramona Czakon 6-0, 6-3
3 – Maddy Eccleston (BGSU) def. Alexandra Borgenhoff 6-3, 7-6(5)
4 – Lucie Rey (Cal U) def. Mary Hill 6-1, 6-4
5 – Katie Grubb (BGSU) def. Jesse Burrell 6-4, 6-2
6 – Katie Brozovich (BGSU) def. Jade Pondicas 5-2, ret.
# – Drew Fillis (BGSU) def. Maxime Colen 8-3
# exhibition; not included in final match scoring

DOUBLES
1 – Eccleston/Reuland (BGSU) def. Sipkova/Rey 9-8 (9-7)
2 – Czakon/Borgenhoff (Cal U) def. Chiricosta/Jade Johnson 8-6
3 – Brozovich/Fillis (BGSU) def. Burrell/Pondicas 8-6

RECORDS
BGSU 9-1
Cal U 3-3

ORDER OF FINISH
Doubles: 3,2,1
Singles: 6,5,2,4,1,3

UP NEXT FOR BGSU
Sat., March 16, vs. Butler
1:00 p.m. - Keefe Courts