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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Friday, April 5
Akron, OH
1:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
at
Akron
BGSU Heads East for Weekend MAC Matchups
April 04, 2013 | Women's Tennis
Falcons take on Akron, Buffalo on back-to-back days
LINKS
BGSU RELEASE & STATS
BGSU STATS & MATCH-BY-MATCH RESULTS
2012-13 BGSU TENNIS MEDIA GUIDE
AKRON TENNIS RELEASE | DIRECTIONS TO LaTUCHIE TENNIS CENTER
BUFFALO TENNIS RELEASE | UNIVERSITY TENNIS COURTS
BGSU enters the weekend with a record of 13-2 in dual-match play, and the Falcons are 2-1 in MAC action. BG is one of four teams currently tied for second place in the MAC standings, as UA, Ball State and Miami each are 2-1 in league play as well. Western Michigan is off to a 3-0 start in conference matches.
The Falcons played just one match last weekend, heading to the MAC's 'West Coast' and posting a 5-2 win over Northern Illinois on Friday afternoon (March 29). Senior co-captains Maddy Eccleston and Mary Hill led the way against the Huskies, winning in both singles and doubles. Freshman Katie Brozovich also won a pair of matches at NIU, although her doubles match did not count in the final match scoring.
Eccleston lost only four total games (while winning 20) in her singles and doubles matches vs. the Huskies. BGSU's all-time leader in doubles wins, she now has 92 career doubles victories. Eccleston, who broke the record of 89 set by Christine Chiricosta (2008-11), has won six consecutive doubles matches and 13 of her last 14.
Eccleston teamed with Christine Chiricosta for 44 victories during the two years that both players were on the BG roster. Eccleston and fellow 2012-13 senior Katie Grubb now are 25-8 as a duo, including an 18-5 mark this season and an 11-2 record since the start of dual-match play in mid-January.
The win over NIU was the 50th dual-match win since BGSU's four seniors – Eccleston, Grubb, Hill and Jade Johnson – arrived on campus. The Falcons are 50-30 (62.5%) in that time. The school record for wins in a four-year span is 55, set by the 2007-08 senior class and matched by the '08-09 and '10-11 classes.
This weekend, the 2012-13 Falcons will be looking to continue a trend that has led to success much more often than not. BGSU has captured the doubles point in 14 consecutive matches, and the Falcon competitors have a combined record of 34-8 during that time. BG tandems are 9-5 at the top doubles flight, 13-1 at the second and 12-2 at the third flight during that 14-match span.
BGSU has won the doubles point in 14 of this season's 15 dual matches, after turning that trick 13 times in last season's 20 duals. In the last three-plus years (since the current senior class came to BG), the Falcons have won the doubles point 57 times and lost the point 23 times. In MAC regular-season matches in that time, BG has won the doubles point 19 times and lost it eight times.
In each of the Falcons' three MAC matches this season to date, Dean and assistant coach Cindy Yonker have seen those four seniors combine to pick up doubles wins at the bottom two flights. Eccleston and Grubb have posted five consecutive victories at the second flight, while Hill and Johnson have combined to win each of their first three MAC matches in third-flight action.
On the season, the Hill/Johnson team has gone 10-3. All but one of those matches has come in dual-match play. As mentioned, Eccleston and Grubb are 18-5 on the year and 11-2 since the start of the dual-match schedule.
BGSU's two juniors, Nikki Chiricosta and Emily Reuland, have teamed up to go 20-9 this year, but that duo is looking to reverse a three-match losing streak at the top doubles flight. Chiricosta and Reuland have gone 8-5 overall in dual matches, with all but two of those 13 matches having come at the number-one flight.
Chiricosta and Reuland rank one-two on the team in total wins, as Chiricosta is now 46-16 on the season, while Reuland is 42-20. Brozovich and Grubb have 38 wins apiece, and both players – like Chiricosta and Reuland – have won more than two-thirds of their overall matches. Chiricosta has a winning percentage of 74.2% in 2012-13, with Grubb at 73.1% (38-14), Brozovich 71.7% (38-15) and Reuland 67.7%.
Freshman Drew Fillis also has won over two-thirds of the time in her first season as a Falcon. She has an overall record of 23-10 to date, good for a winning percentage of 69.7%.
Eccleston ranks fifth on the Falcons in overall wins with a 35-20 record this year, good for a 63.6% success rate. Both Johnson and Hill have 27 victories apiece.
In fact, all eight players on the BGSU roster have at least 23 total wins, and every Falcon is at least seven games over .500, with seven of the eight players at least 10 games above the break-even mark.
Chiricosta and Brozovich each have 23 singles wins, while Reuland has 19. In doubles, both Eccleston has a 23-8 record, and both Chiricosta and Reuland are 23-10. Grubb has a stellar 21-5 doubles mark this season, while Johnson is 21-7, Fillis 16-5, Hill 16-8 and Brozovich 15-7. Every player on the team has won at least two-thirds of her doubles matches this year.
Brozovich has captured 14 consecutive singles matches since her last loss back on Jan. 18. Overall, she has won 21 matches in a row since that singles setback. Eccleston has won six consecutive doubles contests, while Grubb has been a winner in five doubles matches in a row.
In doubles, school record-holder Eccleston, as mentioned, now has 92 career wins. Chiricosta, just a junior, is tied for 10th with 70 victories, while Grubb is deadlocked for 13th with 68. Hill and Johnson are tied for 16th on that list with 65 career doubles victories, while Reuland, just one win behind that duo, ranks 18th in BGSU history.
Chiricosta is 11th on the BGSU singles wins list, with 74, while Eccleston is 14th with 70 victories. Reuland is 17th with 67 career singles wins, with Grubb and Hill tied for 23rd with 55 victories apiece.
Eccleston is second on the BGSU combined career wins list, with a total of 162 victories as a Falcon. Christine Chiricosta holds that BG record, with 178 total wins as a Falcon.
All four BGSU seniors and both Falcon juniors are on the list of the top-30 players in school history in combined career wins, with Chiricosta seventh (144), Reuland deadlocked for 13th (131), Grubb tied for 20th (123), Hill 23rd (120) and Johnson 29th (96). All three lists can be found on page eight of these notes.
Akron enters Friday's match with an overall record of 14-7, and the Zips – like the Falcons – are 2-1 in MAC action to date. Six of the team's seven losses have come to teams ranked among the top-75 schools in the ITA rankings at the time of the match, and the Zips' seventh setback came on Saturday (March 30) against Miami. UA has MAC wins over Northern Illinois at home and Ball State on the road. Last season, the Zips finished second in the MAC regular-season standings for the second consecutive year, but went on to win the league tournament crown, also for the second-straight spring. UA had an overall record of 24-4 and a 7-1 MAC ledger in 2011-12.
Buffalo is 10-2 overall, and the Bulls are 1-2 in MAC action heading into a Friday home match vs. Western Michigan. UB got off to a 10-0 start in dual-match play, capped by a win over Northern Illinois in the league opener. But, the Bulls dropped a pair of 6-1 decisions on the road against Miami and BSU last weekend. UB enters Friday's WMU match with a perfect 8-0 record at home this season. Last weekend's two losses came after junior Tanvi Shah missed the singles portion of the MU match and the entirety of the BSU match due to injury. Last season, Buffalo went 7-12 overall and 3-5 in MAC action.
In the MAC's preseason coaches poll, Akron was picked to win both the regular-season and tournament titles in 2013. The Falcons were tabbed to finish third and Buffalo sixth in the regular-season standings.
BGSU leads Akron, 25-7, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Zips have won five-straight meetings. Last season, UA captured a 7-0 victory over the Falcons at the Perrysburg Tennis center (March 31, 2012). Two years ago, in the Falcons' last trip to Northeast Ohio, BG took an early lead, but the Zips rallied back for a 5-2 win (March 26, 2011). BGSU had won 16-straight series matchups against the Zips before a 6-1 UA win four years ago (April 10, 2009). Prior to the current streak, UA's only two series wins had come in back-to-back seasons, 1991-92 and 1992-93. BGSU is 13-4 in home matches, 10-2 on the road and 2-1 in neutral-site contests vs. the Zips over the years.
The Falcons lead Buffalo, 13-3, in that series, and BG has captured two consecutive meetings. Last season, the Brown and Orange pulled out a 4-3 victory at the PTC (March 30, 2012). Prior to that meeting, the visiting team had won three consecutive matchups, including a 5-2 BGSU victory two years ago (March 25, 2011). BGSU captured the first nine series meetings, UB won the next two, and the Falcons then picked up two-straight victories before Buffalo's win three years ago.
Following this weekend's matches, the Falcons will return home for the final time this season. BGSU will meet Ball State on Friday, April 12, before facing Miami the following day (Sat., April 13). The MU match will be Senior Day for the Falcon program, with BG's four seniors – Eccleston, Grubb, Hill and Johnson – recognized in ceremonies prior to the match.
Then, BGSU will end the regular season on the road vs. Western Michigan (April 20). The MAC Championships will be April 26-28 in Muncie, Ind.
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