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Saturday, April 20
Kalamazoo, MI
1:00 PM
Bowling Green State University
5
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Western Michigan
BGSU Wins at WMU, 5-2, on Historic Day
April 20, 2013 | Women's Tennis
Falcons finish MAC regular-season play in a tie for 2nd; BG will be No. 2 seed for the league tournament
VIDEO: Penny Dean Post-Match Interview
With the win, BGSU improves to 16-4 overall, and the Falcons finish the regular season with a 5-3 record in MAC play. BGSU concludes the regular season in a tie for second place, and the Falcons will be the number-two seed for next weekend's MAC Championships.
Both the Falcons' regular-season finish and BG's tournament seeding are the best in program history.
The Broncos drop to 11-13 overall and 4-4 in MAC action.
BGSU has tied the school single-season record for wins. Head coach Penny Dean's 1998-99 team set the mark, finishing 16-7, while her 2007-08 club went 16-5 overall.
Saturday's victory was the Falcons' first over Western Michigan in program history. The Broncos had won the first 38 meetings against the Brown and Orange.
For the first time in over three months, the Falcons lost the doubles point to go behind, 1-0. The Broncos captured all three doubles matches, becoming the first BG opponent to take the point since nationally-ranked Notre Dame on Jan. 18.
BGSU responded by taking five of the six singles matches, all in straight sets. Seniors Maddy Eccleston, Katie Grubb and Mary Hill picked up singles victories, as did juniors Nikki Chiricosta and Emily Reuland.
| School (overall) | MAC |
| 1-Miami (11-12) | 7-1 |
| 2-Bowling Green (16-4) | 5-3 |
| 3-Akron (17-9) | 5-3 |
| 4-Ball State (14-10) | 5-3 |
| 5-Western Michigan (11-13) | 4-4 |
| 6-Buffalo (13-4) | 4-4 |
| x-Eastern Michigan (9-13) | 4-4 |
| x-Toledo (8-13) | 2-6 |
| x-Northern Illinois (14-10) | 0-8 |
Western swept the three doubles matches on Saturday afternoon, although all three were closely-contested. The third-flight match saw the Broncos' Jill Pastunink and Kelsey King defeat Hill and fellow Falcon senior Jade Johnson by an 8-5 count. At the second flight, Western's Nini Sujashvili and Maggie Remynse squeaked past Eccleston and Grubb, 8-6.
In each of those two doubles matches, the Falcons took the first game, but the Broncos captured the next two to take the lead. Each match was tight throughout, but the Pastunink/King duo, leading by a 6-5 score, took the next two games to win the match. Sujashvili and Remynse led by a 7-4 score before Eccleston and Grubb rallied to within 7-6. But, the WMU duo won the next game to close out the match and give WMU the point.
At the top flight, the Broncos' Caroline Aleck and Kathleen Hawkins won a tiebreaker to down the Chiricosta/Reuland tandem. BGSU led on several occasions in the early going, before the Broncos won three-straight games to take a 6-4 lead. Trailing, 7-5, the Falcon juniors responded by taking two games to force the tiebreaker, but Western won the 'breaker to sweep the doubles matches.
For Hill and Johnson, the doubles loss was their first of the MAC schedule this season. That duo finished league regular-season play with a 7-1 mark. Eccleston and Grubb went 6-2 in MAC doubles action.
In singles play, however, the Falcons took five matches vs. the Broncos for the first time in school history. Reuland was the first Falcon to finish, downing Remynse by identical 6-2 scores at the second flight. Reuland spotted her opponent the opening game in each of the two sets, but rallied back for decisive outcomes on both occasions.
Soon after, Grubb gave the Falcons a 2-1 lead, efficiently dispatching Aleck by scores of 6-2 and 6-3 at the fifth flight. The BG senior rallied from an early 2-1 deficit in the first set, winning five consecutive games to close out the set. Then, Grubb never trailed in the second set en route to the win.
Hawkins pulled the Broncos back into a tie with BG, posting a win over freshman Katie Brozovich in fourth-flight action. For Brozovich, it marked her first loss of any kind since that Notre Dame match on Jan. 18. The MAC-Freshman-of-the-Year candidate had won 18 consecutive singles matches and 25-straight overall matches (singles and doubles combined), going three months and two days without a loss.
But, Chiricosta battled past Sujashvili at the number-one flight, winning by a 6-4, 6-3 result to give the Brown and Orange a 3-2 lead. The BG junior never trailed, but never held more than a one-game lead in the opening set until the final point. In the second set, Chiricosta burst out to a 3-0 lead before Sujashvili took the next two games to creep within a single game. But, after the two traded the next two games, Chiricosta won two-straight games to take the match.
BG needed just one win in the remaining two matches to clinch the victory, and the Falcon co-captains delivered two wins in those two matches. Hill defeated King at the sixth flight, winning a pair of 6-3 results. The first set saw King win two games in a row to take a 3-2 lead, but the BGSU senior responded by taking four consecutive games to take a one-set lead. The second set was tied several times in the early going, but Hill never trailed, taking the last three games for the win.
Eccleston topped Pastunink, 6-3, in her opening set, winning four-straight games after falling behind by a 3-2 score. The BG senior took a 3-0 lead in the second set, and Eccleston led by scores of 4-1 and 5-2 as well. Pastunink, however, battled back to tie the set at 5-5. Eccleston won the next game, but Pastunink returned the favor, forcing a second-set tiebreaker. The BG senior fought past Pastunink in the 'breaker, 7-5, for the Falcons' fifth point.
The MAC Championships will be held next weekend in Muncie, Ind. Pending confirmation from the MAC office, Friday's (April 26) first-round pairings appear to be #3 seed Akron vs. #6 seed Buffalo, and #4 seed Ball State vs. #5 seed WMU.
Second-seeded BGSU will face the UA-UB winner, while #1 seed Miami will meet the BSU-WMU survivor in Saturday's (April 27) semifinal round. The semifinal-round winners will meet in the championship match on Sunday (April 28).
BGSU 5, WESTERN MICHIGAN 2
Sat., April 20, 2013 – West Hills Athletic Club – Kalamazoo, Mich.
SINGLES
1 – Nikki Chiricosta (BGSU) def. Nini Sujashvili 6-4, 6-3
2 – Emily Reuland (BGSU) def. Maggie Remynse 6-2, 6-2
3 – Maddy Eccleston (BGSU) def. Jill Pastunink 6-3, 7-6(5)
4 – Kathleen Hawkins (WMU) def. Katie Brozovich 6-4, 6-3
5 – Katie Grubb (BGSU) def. Caroline Aleck 6-2, 6-3
6 – Mary Hill (BGSU) def. Kelsey King 6-3, 6-3
DOUBLES
1 – Aleck/Hawkins (WMU) def. Chiricosta/Reuland 8-7(2)
2 – Sujashvili/Remynse (WMU) def. Eccleston/Grubb 8-6
3 – Pastunink/King (WMU) def. Hill/Jade Johnson 8-5
RECORDS
BGSU 16-4, 5-3 MAC
WMU 11-13, 4-4 MAC
ORDER OF FINISH
Doubles: 3,2,1
Singles: 2,5,4,1,6,3
UP NEXT FOR BGSU
Sat., April 27, vs. Akron or Buffalo
MAC Championships Semifinal
Muncie, Ind. (time TBA)
MAC WEEKEND RESULTS
Friday, April 19
Akron 5, at Toledo 2
Buffalo 4, at Eastern Michigan 3
Ball State 5, at Northern Illinois 2
Saturday, April 20
Bowling Green 5, at Western Michigan 2
at Eastern Michigan 4, Akron 3
Buffalo 6, at Toledo 1
Miami 5, at Northern Illinois 2
BG Tennis : Hannah Neuman Postmatch 2.17
Saturday, February 18
BG Tennis : Coach Bonnell Postmatch 2.17
Saturday, February 18
BG Tennis Highlights vs Findlay 2.13
Sunday, February 13
BG Tennis : Ioanna Tsadari Post-Match 2.13
Sunday, February 13