2014-15 Season Begins as Falcons Head to Oxford

Friday, September 12

Oxford, OH

3:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Miami Invitational

September 11, 2014 | Women's Tennis

BGSU to compete in this weekend's Miami Invitational

By: BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

31103 — Junior Drew Fillis & the Falcons open the 2014-15
season at this weekend's Miami Invitational

The Bowling Green State University tennis team opens the 2014-15 season this weekend, heading to Oxford for the Miami Invitational. Head coach Olga Elkin and the Falcons will begin play on Friday afternoon (Sept. 12) and conclude weekend action on Saturday (Sept. 13) at MU's Hepburn Varsity Tennis Courts.

"We are excited to start the season," said Elkin. "We are just looking to get better every day.

"There are a few little things that we have worked on, and I'm looking forward to watching the girls play to see how they improve upon those things."

Teams scheduled to participate in the invite include Eastern Kentucky, Louisville and Xavier, in addition to the Falcons and host Miami.

BGSU's most recent action took place at Hepburn, as Miami hosted the Mid-American Conference Championships in April. The Falcons' 2014-15 roster looks much different than the '13-14 team.

For starters, Elkin begins her first season at the helm of the Brown and Orange. She was named BGSU's head coach in August after two highly-successful seasons at Murray State University. Elkin replaced Penny Dean, who guided the Falcons for 24 years.

Elkin's youthful roster includes one junior, three sophomores and four freshmen. Drew Fillis (Toledo, Ohio/Ottawa Hills) is the only Falcon entering her third year with the program. She is joined by sophomores Hannah Drayton (Valley Forge, Pa./Harriton), Harley Hutchison (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Catholic Academy) and Brittany Plaszewski (St. Charles, Ill./North). Fillis, Drayton and Hutchison were mainstays in the Falcons' lineup last season, while Plaszewski was a perfect 3-0 in first-day action at last year's Miami Invitational.

The Falcons' freshman class is comprised of Madison Adams (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny), Meili Martin (Proctorville, Ohio/Chesapeake), Megan Miller (Sylvania, Ohio/Northview) and Emily Witt (Grafton, Ohio/Magnificat).

"Drew and the returning players have done a great job of stepping up and showing the four new players the ropes," said Elkin. "We have a great group of freshmen, and they are getting used to the team aspects and team atmosphere of what college tennis entails. I'm very excited to see how they thrive here at BG."

This weekend's tournament will utilize a hidden dual format, with the Falcons scheduled to face Xavier on Friday afternoon and EKU and Miami on Saturday.

Following the Miami Invitational, the Falcons will prepare for the lone home event of the fall schedule, next weekend's BGSU Invitational. That tourney will be held next Friday and Saturday, Sept. 19-20. The fall slate also includes a tournament in Cincinnati (Oct. 10-12) and a trip to Champaign, Ill., for the ITA Midwest Regional Championships (Oct. 16-19).

* NOTE: Apologies for the blurriness of the interview subjects in the above videos.