Falcons Down Northern Illinois For Third Straight Victory

Friday, April 23

Bowling Green, OH

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Northern Illinois

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

April 23, 2021 | Women's Tennis

Photo Gallery

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University tennis program topped Northern Illinois on Friday (April 23) by a score of 6-1 at the Bowling Green High School tennis courts. The Falcons began the day by taking the doubles point before also claiming five of the six singles courts en route to the 6-1 win. The win marks the third straight for the Orange and Brown and places them at 12-6 on the season while being 8-4 in the MAC. With two matches left to play, the Falcons stand in third place in the MAC standings. Bowling Green still has a home match against Eastern Michigan (April 30) and a road match against Miami (May 2) remaining on the schedule.

BGSU Results
Friday, April 23, 2021 - Bowling Green, Ohio

SINGLES
1 - Marharita-Sophia Tavpash (BGSU) def. Maria Potsi (NIU), 6-2, 7-6 (6)
2 - Diana Lukyanova (NIU) def. Ioanna Tsadari (BGSU), 6-3, 6-3
3 - Ayumi Sasaki (BGSU) def. Christy Robinson (NIU), 6-2, 6-4
4 - Yulia Kapitanova (BGSU) def. Fernanda Naves (NIU), 7-5, 6-2
5 - Selina Karg (BGSU) def. Iulliia Dmitrieva (NIU), 6-4, 6-2
6 - Marta Bettinelli (BGSU) def. Lara Slisko (NIU), 6-1, 6-3

DOUBLES
1 - Tavpash/Silveira (BGSU) def. Potsi/Slisko (NIU), 7-6 (3)
2 - Sasaki/Tsadari (BGSU) vs. Dmitrieva/Lukyanova (NIU), 6-6 (Unfinished)
3 - Karg/Neuman (BGSU) def. Robinson/Naves (NIU), 6-3

Making Of The Match

The Falcons began the day by capturing the doubles point. First, Selina Karg and Hannah Neuman took No. 3 doubles by a score of 6-3, including winning the last three points of the set.
Bowling Green capped off doubles play with a win at No. 1 doubles as well. With both No. 1 and No. 2 doubles going to extra points, Marharita-Sophia Tavpash and Laura Silveira were able to snag a 7-6 score after trailing 5-2 to give the Falcons the early advantage at 1-0 for the day.
Moving to singles, Karg was the first to finish, walking away with scores of 6-4 and 6-2 to increase the lead for the Orange and Brown to 2-0.
The next point for the Falcons came not long after with Marta Bettinelli winning at No. 6 singles by scores of 6-1 and 6-3 to extend the BGSU lead to 3-0.
After Northern Illinois tallied a point, Bowling Green answered with the match-clinching point at No. 3 singles from Ayumi Sasaki. Sasaki posted scores of 6-2 and 6-4 for the win to push the lead to 4-1 for the Falcons.
With the win secured, Yulia Kapitanova soon added another win to the total. Kapitanova battled back from a 5-2 deficit in the first set to win 7-5 before taking the second set by a score of 6-2 to move the day's score to 5-1.
Rounding out the day, Tavpash tallied another singles win for the Falcons. After winning the first set 6-2, Tavpash went into extra points in the second set before closing it out for a 6-1 final in favor of the Falcons.

Falcon Stat Facts

With a pair of wins, Marharita-Sophia Tavpash is now up to 149 combined career wins with the Falcons, tying her for seventh all-time with Abby Bratton, Meghan Rhodes and Erika Wasilewski. Tavpash's 149 wins come from 82 doubles and 67 singles victories.
Ayumi Sasaki also moved up the all-time combined wins list following a singles win. Now up to 124 career wins, Sasaki is tied for 23rd all-time in program history.

Up Next

The Falcons will be back home next Friday (April 30) to host Eastern Michigan for what will serve as Bowling Green's Senior Day. The match is currently set to begin at 1 p.m. with the location being dependent on the weather. Updates will be available on the tennis schedule at BGSUFalcons.com and on Twitter (@BGSUTennis).

Follow the Falcons
Be sure to follow the Falcons' tennis team throughout the season on social media.
Twitter – @BGAthletics and @BGSUTennis
Instagram – 'bgfalcons' and 'bgsuwtennis'
Facebook – 'BGSU Athletics'
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