BGSU Rallies for Win over Preseason MAC Favorites

Friday, April 5

Akron, OH

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Akron

April 05, 2013 | Women's Tennis

Falcons pull out 4-3, come-from-behind win at Akron

By: STOW, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University tennis team won the final three singles matches on the courts, posting a 4-3, come-from-behind win over the University of Akron Friday afternoon (April 5). The Mid-American Conference match was held at LaTuchie Tennis Center in Stow, Ohio.

With the win, the Falcons improve to 14-2 overall and 3-1 in MAC action. Midway through the conference regular-season schedule, BGSU is in a three-way tie for second place, just a game out of first.

The Zips, the two-time defending league tournament champions, drop to 14-8 and 2-2, respectively.

Freshman Katie Brozovich capped the comeback for the Brown and Orange, winning a 6-0 third set at the fourth singles flight. After winning the doubles point, the Falcons fell behind by a 3-1 score as the Zips won the first three singles matches to finish. But, with three matches left on the courts, BG competitors proceeded to win all three.

BGSU captured the doubles point for the 15th consecutive match. And, for the fourth time in as many MAC duals, head coach Penny Dean's four seniors combined for the two wins that gave her Falcons the initial point of the match.

The Zips' tandem of Angelina Jogasuria and Prang Pantusart, ranked 65th in the nation in the most recent ITA doubles rankings, gave the home team a win at the top flight. That UA duo downed BG juniors Nikki Chiricosta and Emily Reuland.

**UPDATED MAC STANDINGS (through Friday)**
Team (Overall)	MAC
Western Michigan (11-9)	4-0
Bowling Green (14-2)	3-1
Ball State (12-8)	3-1
Miami (7-12)	3-1
Akron (14-8)	2-2
Buffalo (10-3)	1-3
Eastern Michigan (6-12)	1-3
Toledo (7-10)	1-3
Northern Illinois (14-6)	0-4

But, at the third flight, Falcon seniors Mary Hill and Jade Johnson pulled out an 8-6 win over Ksenia Berestetska and Olga Shkundina. Hill and Johnson trailed by a 5-2 score before winning six of the next seven games to take the match.

The doubles point came down to the number-two flight, and that second-flight match came down to a tiebreaker. Fourth-year Falcons Maddy Eccleston and Katie Grubb trailed by a 5-1 score, but rallied to pull out the victory over the Zips' duo of Madison Cohen and Angelika Jogasuria, 9-8 (5).

Eccleston and Grubb now are 26-8 as a duo in their respective BGSU careers, including a 19-5 mark this season and a 12-2 record since the start of dual-match play in mid-January.

Eccleston, BGSU's career leader in doubles wins, posted her 93rd such victory on Friday afternoon. She has won seven-straight doubles contests, while Grubb has been a winner in six doubles matches in a row.

The doubles team of Hill and Johnson has gone 11-3 this year, with all but one of those matches coming in dual-match play.

Akron, picked to win the 2013 MAC regular-season and tournament titles in the preseason coaches' poll, responded by winning the first three singles matches to finish. Pantusart downed Eccleston in straight sets at the third flight, while Cohen defeated Hill in sixth-flight action. And, at the second flight, Angelina Jogasuria outlasted Reuland, 7-5, in the second set to capture the win.

But, Chiricosta began the Falcons' comeback, as the junior topped Shkundina at the number-one flight. Chiricosta won the opening set in a tiebreaker, then captured the second set by a 6-3 count.

The two remaining matches each had seen Akron win the opening set, but the Falcons would ultimately rally back to win both matches for the overall victory.

At the fifth flight, Grubb dropped her first set against Signe Lazdina by a narrow 6-4 count, but rallied back to win each of the next two sets by identical 6-3 scores. The match was tied, 3-3, with only the fourth-flight competitors still on the court.

That fourth-flight match saw Brozovich win her first set by a 6-4 score, before Berestetska evened the match by winning a second-set tiebreaker. But, the BGSU freshman was undaunted, reeling off six-straight wins for a 6-0 triumph in the third set.

Brozovich now has won 15 consecutive singles matches since her last loss back on Jan. 18. Overall, she has won 22 matches in a row since that singles setback.

BGSU now leads Akron, 26-7, in the all-time series between the team, but Friday's win snapped a five-match UA series winning streak. The Falcons' last win over the Zips came exactly five years prior to Friday's match (April 5, 2008).

The Falcons' weekend sojourn continues with a Saturday (April 6) match at Buffalo. First serve is set for 1:00 p.m. at UB's University Tennis Courts.

BGSU 4, AKRON 3
Fri., April 5, 2013 – LaTuchie Tennis Center – Stow, Ohio
SINGLES
1 – Nikki Chiricosta (BGSU) def. Olga Shkundina 7-6(5), 6-3
2 – Angelina Jogasuria (UA) def. Emily Reuland 6-0, 7-5
3 – Prang Pantusart (UA) def. Maddy Eccleston 6-1, 6-2
4 – Katie Brozovich (BGSU) def. Ksenia Berestetska 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-0
5 – Katie Grubb (BGSU) def. Signe Lazdina 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
6 – Madison Cohen (UA) def. Mary Hill 6-3, 6-4

DOUBLES
1 – Pantusart/Angelina Jogasuria (UA) def. Chiricosta/Reuland 8-3
2 – Eccleston/Grubb (BGSU) def. Cohen/Angelika Jogasuria 9-8(5)
3 – Hill/Jade Johnson (BGSU) def. Berestetska/Shkundina 8-6

RECORDS
BGSU 14-2, 3-1 MAC
Akron 14-8, 2-2 MAC

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

UP NEXT FOR BGSU
Sat., April 6, at Buffalo