Falcons Win Fourth in a Row, Besting Buffalo, 5-2

Saturday, April 12

Bowling Green, OH

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Buffalo

April 12, 2014 | Women's Tennis

BGSU concludes perfect home schedule with 'Senior Day' victory

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Nikki Chiricosta, Penny Dean & Emily Reuland - seniors

The Bowling Green State University tennis team capped a perfect home schedule and continued a season-best winning streak, downing the University at Buffalo by a 5-2 score Saturday afternoon (April 12). The Mid-American Conference dual match was held at Keefe Courts.

With the victory, the Falcons improve to 10-6 overall and 4-2 in MAC play, and BGSU has clinched a berth in the MAC Championships. The top-six teams in the final standings will qualify for the conference tourney.

The Bulls drop to 13-5 and 4-3, respectively.

BGSU's win, combined with Saturday's other results around the MAC, lifted the Falcons into a tie for third place in the nine-team standings. BG is just one game behind first-place Miami. The complete MAC standings, as well as weekend results, can be found at the bottom of the page.

"This was a great team win," said BGSU coach Penny Dean. "Everyone on the roster contributed to this win.

"It was great to see such a big crowd today. We had some alumnae back in town, and we could really feel the support from the entire crowd all day long."

BGSU won all three doubles matches for the second consecutive day, and the Falcons then went on to win four of the six singles matches, including straight-sets victories at each of the top-three flights.

The Falcons finished the home schedule with a perfect 7-0 record, including a 4-0 mark against MAC foes. BG went 2-0 at Keefe Courts, with a 6-1 win over Akron on Friday prior to Saturday's victory vs. UB.

On 'Senior Day' at Keefe, the Falcons' two seniors went a combined 4-0, as co-captains Nikki Chiricosta won at both singles and doubles vs. the Bulls. Sophomore Katie Brozovich and freshman Harley Hutchison each won two matches against UB as well, while sophomore Drew Fillis and freshman Hannah Drayton each helped the Falcons to a doubles victory.

Fillis teamed with Reuland for an 8-2 win over UB's Tanvi Shah and Miranda Podlas at the top doubles flight, while Chiricosta combined with Brozovich for a win by the identical score at flight number two. That BG duo topped the Bulls' Marta Stoyanova and Anamaria Candanoza.

Just like the other two BGSU doubles teams, the third-flight doubles duo captured a victory on Saturday for the second-straight day. Drayton and Hutchison downed the visitors' Margarita Kotok and Laura Holterbosch by an 8-5 outcome.

In singles play, Chiricosta, Reuland and Brozovich won in straight sets at flights one through three. Hutchison, however, picked up the most lopsided win, losing just one total game in her sixth-flight drubbing of Stoyanova.

Chiricosta and Reuland lost just four total games each in singles, as Chiricosta won a 6-0 opening set over Shah before picking up a 6-4 victory in the second set at the number-one flight. Chiricosta now has a singles record of 5-1 in MAC dual matches this season to date.

Reuland downed Podlas by identical 6-2 scores at the second flight, and Brozovich got past Laura Fernandez in two narrow sets at the third flight. The Falcon sophomore picked up a 6-4 win in the first set and a 7-5 victory in the second.

UB's two points came in a pair of close battles at flights four and five. Kotok got past Drayton in three sets, battling back for the victory after the BG freshman captured a 6-4 win in the opening set. At the fifth flight, Candanoza won the opening set over Fillis in a tiebreaker, before Fillis rallied back for a 6-3 win in the second set. With the Falcons' win already sewn up, Fillis and Candanoza played a 10-point 'breaker in lieu of a third set, with Candanoza coming out on top.

"This was a good team win on Senior Day," said Dean. "Nikki and Emily were determined to win their final home match, and I couldn't be happier that they combined to go 4-0 today as we won as a team. Now, as I said last weekend, we will look to keep the momentum going as we head into our matches next weekend."

The Falcons now hit the road to conclude the regular season. BGSU will play at Ball State on Friday (April 18), before ending the regular-season schedule at Miami the following day. MU, as mentioned, leads the MAC with a 5-1 conference record. BSU is tied with BGSU for third place, as the Falcons and Cardinals have identical 4-2 league ledgers.

Following the Ball State/Miami trip, the Brown and Orange will return to Oxford for the MAC Championships, hosted by MU, the next weekend. The league tourney is scheduled for April 25-27.

BGSU 5, Buffalo 2
Sat., April 12, 2014 – Keefe Courts – Bowling Green, Ohio
SINGLES
1 – Nikki Chiricosta (BGSU) def. Tanvi Shah 6-0, 6-4
2 – Emily Reuland (BGSU) def. Miranda Podlas 6-2, 6-2
3 – Katie Brozovich (BGSU) def. Laura Fernandez 6-4, 7-5
4 – Margarita Kotok (UB) def. Hannah Drayton 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
5 – Anamaria Candanoza (UB) def. Drew Fillis 7-6, 3-6, 1-0(4)
6 – Harley Hutchison (BGSU) def. Marta Stoyanova 6-0, 6-1
# – Laura Holterbosch (UB) def. Brittany Plaszewski 8-6
# not included in match scoring

DOUBLES
1 – Fillis/Reuland (BGSU) def. Shah/Podlas 8-2
2 – Brozovich/Chiricosta (BGSU) def. Stoyanova/Candanoza 8-2
3 – Drayton/Hutchison (BGSU) def. Kotok/Holterbosch 8-5

RECORDS
BGSU 10-6, 4-2 MAC
UB 13-5, 4-3 MAC

UP NEXT FOR BGSU
Friday, April 18, at Ball State – 1:00 p.m. – Muncie, Ind.

FRIDAY'S MAC RESULTS
at BGSU 6, Akron 1
Miami 4, at Eastern Michigan 3
at Toledo 4, Ball State 3
Buffalo 5, at Western Michigan 2
at Northern Illinois 6, Cardinal Stritch 0

SATURDAY'S MAC RESULTS
at BGSU 5, Buffalo 2
at Western Michigan 6, Akron 1
Ball State 4, at Eastern Michigan 3
Miami 7, at Toledo 0

UPDATED MAC STANDINGS
(overall record in parentheses)
1. Miami (13-6).............. 5-1
2. Eastern Michigan (12-8)... 5-2
3. Bowling Green (10-6)...... 4-2
Ball State (14-8)......... 4-2
5. Buffalo (13-5)............ 4-3
Toledo (13-6)............. 4-3
7. Western Michigan (13-9)... 2-4
8. Northern Illinois (7-10).. 1-5
9. Akron (10-14)............. 0-7