Eagles Top Falcons, 4-0, in MAC Championships

Friday, April 25

Oxford, OH

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Eastern Michigan (Quarterfinals)

April 25, 2014 | Women's Tennis

Friday's match marks final career contest for two stellar seniors

By: OXFORD, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

Emily Reuland Nikki Chiricosta MAC Champ's - April 25 2014

The Bowling Green State University tennis team saw the 2013-14 season come to an end with a 4-0 loss to Eastern Michigan University Friday afternoon (Apr. 25). The match, a quarterfinal-round contest in the Mid-American Conference Championships, was held at Hepburn Varsity Tennis Courts on the campus of Miami University.

FINAL STATS: PDF
BGSU-EMU PHOTO GALLERY

With the win, the third-seeded Eagles improve to 14-8 on the year, and Eastern advances to Saturday's semifinal round to take on second-seeded Ball State University. The Falcons, the sixth seed for the MAC Championships, end the season with a dual-match record of 10-9.

Friday's match marked the final career contest for BGSU senior co-captains Nikki Chiricosta and Emily Reuland. Both players were leading their singles matches at the first and second flights, respectively, when the Eagles picked up the clinching fourth point.

The Eagles captured a closely-contested doubles point to take an early lead. At the top flight, Reuland and sophomore Drew Fillis took an early 2-1 lead over Klara Supejova and Nino Mebuke, but the EMU duo won the next two games to take the lead, and went on to an 8-3 win over the Falcons.

The third-flight match was a back-and-forth affair that was tied on multiple occasions, as BGSU freshmen Hannah Drayton and Harley Hutchison battled Eastern's Mariya Toncheva and Daphne Friedrichs. The match was deadlocked at 1-1, 2-2 and 3-3, before the EMU tandem forged ahead by a pair of games at 6-4. Drayton and Hutchison battled back to within a game on two occasions, but each time, the Eagles answered by winning the next game. Toncheva and Friedrichs captured the match by an 8-6 outcome to clinch the doubles point.

At the second flight, Chiricosta and sophomore Katie Brozovich were leading the Eagles' Diana Davitaia and Maria Paula Ribero by a 6-5 score when their match was halted.

In singles play, the Eagles won at each of the bottom three flights to capture the match. Friedrichs topped Fillis in fifth-flight action, while Ribero defeated Hutchison at flight number six. Soon after, Toncheva downed Drayton at the fourth flight for the win.

As mentioned, each of the BG seniors was leading when the remaining singles matches were stopped. Chiricosta took leads of 3-1 and 4-2 over Supejova at the number-one flight, in a battle of the last two MAC Player-of-the-Year award winners. 2013 MAC P-O-Y honoree Supejova ralllied back to tie the set at 4-4, but Chiricosta, the 2014 MAC Player of the Year, won two-straight games to capture the set. The BGSU senior had taken a 2-1 lead when play was halted.

At the second flight, Reuland, an All-MAC Second-Team selection, faced Davitaia, who was named to the all-conference first team earlier this week. Reuland breezed to a 6-0 win in the opening set, and the two were knotted at 3-3 in the second set when the match was stopped.

At the third flight, Mebuke won the first set over Brozovich, and had a second-set lead over the Falcon soph at the conclusion of the match.

As mentioned, Friday marked the final collegiate contest for seniors Chiricosta and Reuland. Chiricosta ends her career as the winningest player in BGSU history, with 190 total victories, while Reuland ranks fourth on the school career chart with 166 total wins.

Head coach Penny Dean's roster included three freshmen (Drayton, Hutchison and Brittany Plaszewski), two sophomores (Brozovich and Fillis) and the two seniors.

Eastern Michigan 4, BGSU 0
Fri., April 25, 2014 – Hepburn Varsity Tennis Courts – Oxford, Ohio
MAC Championships Quarterfinal Round
SINGLES
1 – Nikki Chiricosta (BGSU) led Klara Supejova (EMU) 6-4, 2-1, unfinished
2 – Emily Reuland (BGSU) led Diana Davitaia (EMU), 6-0, 3-3, unfinished
3 – Nino Mebuke (EMU) led Katie Brozovich (BGSU) 6-2, 4-2, unfinished
4 – Mariya Toncheva (EMU) def. Hannah Drayton (BGSU) 6-0, 6-3
5 – Daphne Friedrichs (EMU) def. Drew Fillis (BGSU) 6-2, 6-0
6 – Maria Paula Ribero (EMU) def. Harley Hutchison (BGSU) 6-1, 6-3

DOUBLES
1 – Supejova/Mebuke (EMU) def. Fillis/Reuland (BGSU) 8-3
2 – Brozovich/Chiricosta (BGSU) led Davitaia/Ribero (EMU) 6-5, unfinished
3 – Toncheva/Friedrichs (EMU) def. Drayton/Hutchison (BGSU) 8-6

RECORDS
#3 EMU 14-8 [6-2 MAC]
#6 BGSU 10-9 [4-4 MAC]

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

MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS & SCHEDULE
Friday, April 25
#4 Buffalo 4, #5 Toledo 1
#3 Eastern Michigan 4, #6 BGSU 0

Saturday, April 26
#4 Buffalo at #1 Miami, 10:00 a.m.
#3 Eastern Michigan vs. #2 Ball State, 2:00 p.m.

Sunday, April 27
UB/MU winner vs. EMU/BSU winner, 12:00 p.m.