Penny Dean Last College: Michigan, 1968 Position: Head Coach Experience: 19 seasons Records: 212-189 at BGSU // 258-233 Overall

The Bowling Green State University tennis program is in the more-than-capable hands of Penny Dean. The 2008-09 academic year marked Dean's 19th season as head coach of the Falcons and her 23rd year as a collegiate head coach. Through the end of the '08-09 campaign, she now has a record of 212-189 with the Brown and Orange, and a career head-coaching mark of 258-233.

In that 2008-09 season, the Falcons finished with an overall record of 12-7, and a Mid-American Conference mark of 5-3. The latter record was the program's first winning ledger in MAC play since the 2002-03 season. BGSU finished fourth in the regular-season standings.

Dean's '08-09 team had two players -- Kelsey Jakupcin and Christine Chiricosta -- selected to the All-MAC Team, and a league-high three student-athletes named to the Academic All-MAC Team, as Stefanie Menoff joined Chiricosta and Jakupcin in the latter group.

Additionally, the tennis Falcons received a public recognition award for their latest multi-year NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR), earning that distinction for the third consecutive year. The award is given to programs that posted an APR in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports.

Dean and the Falcons posted a 16-5 overall record in the 2007-08 season, in the process tying the school single-season record for wins. Dean's 1998-99 team originally set that mark.

That '07-08 team ended the season with the school's highest winning percentage in three decades. The program's .762 win rate in `07-08 was the highest since the 1977-78 team finished 8-2 (.800) in dual matches.

The Falcons won the first 11 matches of the season before finally losing a dual match in late March. BGSU's streak was the best start to a season in school history, and tied the program record for longest winning streak (regardless of time of year).

Also in '07-08, for the first time in program history, the Falcons were listed among the national rankings. BGSU debuted at No. 60 in the March 4 ITA poll, before moving up to 54th in the March 11 rankings. The following week, the Falcons were ranked 56th in the nation, before finally losing a match and dropping out of the polls.

That loss came at the hands of Eastern Michigan, but the Falcons avenged that setback with a win over the Eagles in the quarterfinal round of the MAC Championships. That win was Dean's 200th victory at BGSU. Additionally, it helped her `07-08 senior class, Jenna Nussbaum and Andrea Volle, conclude their careers as the winningest class in program history. BGSU won 55 matches during their four seasons, the most victories in a four-year span in program annals.

Dean's '08-09 senior class of Jakupcin, Menoff and Libby Harrison furthered that tradition, matching Nussbaum and Volle by recording a total of 55 dual-match wins during their four years with the program.

Dean's 2007-08 club had two All-MAC performers and, as mentioned, picked up a public recognition award by the NCAA for their latest Academic Progress Rate score.

And, as if that weren't enough, BGSU was well-represented when the ITA announced its academic awards for the 2007-08 year. The Falcons were named an All-Academic Team, and four of the program's eight student-athletes -- Chiricosta, Jakupcin, Volle and Menoff -- all were named ITA Scholar Athletes. Jakupcin and Menoff were named to the Academic All-MAC Team as well. All in all, a pretty good year for the tennis Falcons.

The Falcons posted a 13-9 overall record in 2006-07, tying for fourth place in the MAC with a 4-4 league mark. The Falcons, the fourth seed for the MAC Championships, battled back from a 3-0 deficit in the quarterfinal-round match to post a 4-3 win over Miami.

In that match, four Falcons -- Katia Babina, Samantha Kintzel, Jakupcin and her older sister, Ashley Jakupcin -- picked up singles victories, with each knowing that a loss would end the Falcons' season.

The Falcons advanced to the semifinal round of the 2007 MAC Championships before succumbing to the eventual tourney champs. Ashley Jakupcin was named to the All-MAC First Team and joined Menoff on the Academic All-MAC Team.

Dean has led the Brown and Orange to double-digit win totals in 15 of her 19 seasons, including in each of the last seven campaigns. BGSU has posted double-digit win totals in seven consecutive years for the first time in school history. BG had had four-straight seasons of 10 wins or more on two prior occasions (1988-89 to 1991-92 and 1996-97 through 1999-2000), with Dean at the Falcon helm for half of the first streak and all of the second.

The 2005-06 Falcon squad reeled off a school-record 11-match winning streak (matched by the `07-08 club) en route to a 14-10 ledger. That came on the heels of a 12-10 overall mark the season prior, after the Falcons had recorded a total of 10 victories in 2003-04.

In 2002-03, Dean's Falcons were picked to finish seventh in the MAC's preseason poll, but placed fifth with a 5-4 league record. That `02-03 squad posted a four-match winning streak, the team's longest in over two years, to end the regular season. All four wins came in MAC play, marking the team's longest conference regular-season winning streak in nearly two decades.

Dean and the Falcons amassed a school-record 16 victories in 1998-99. Both that `98-99 team and the 1999-2000 squad tied the BGSU record for MAC wins in a season, each going 6-3 in league play.

Prior to joining the Falcons, Dean spent eight years as the tennis director at the Toledo Country Club, while also serving as tennis professional at Shadow Valley Tennis Club in Maumee.

Dean spent four years (1985-88) as head coach at The University of Toledo, leading the Rockets to fourth-place MAC finishes each year. Dean had a 46-44 dual-match record at UT.

Dean has experienced a great deal of success on both sides of the BGSU-UT rivalry, with her teams winning 19-of-26 matches. Dean had a perfect 5-0 record vs. BGSU during her four years with the Rockets. Since her arrival at BG, Dean has guided the Brown and Orange to a 14-7 record against UT.

Her coaching background also includes stints with the Northwest Ohio Junior Wightman Cup (1977-81, 1983-85) and Midwest Federation Cup teams (2000-01).

Dean was appointed by the governor to the Ohio Physical Fitness & Sports Advisory Board, serving a three-year stint.

She also served as a tennis pro at the Toledo Racquet Club, holding that position from 1976-84.

Dean has worked with the Ethel Parker multicultural tennis program for inner-city youth in Toledo for the past five summers.

Dean is a 14-time winner of the Toledo City Championships, having collected five singles titles and nine doubles crowns.

In October, 1998, her league team, competing at the 4.5 level, won the state and Midwest District playoffs and advanced to national play in Tucson, Ariz.

A 1967 graduate of the University of Michigan with a degree in business administration, Dean played four years (1963-67) of tennis for the Wolverines.

Dean and her husband, Bill, reside in Toledo. The couple has two children: Debby and Michael, a BGSU graduate.