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Falcons Rally for 4-3 Win over Toledo
March 27, 2009 | Women's Tennis
March 27, 2009
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University tennis team spotted the visiting University of Toledo an early lead at nearly every singles flight, but the host Falcons rallied back to capture just enough of those matches. The result was a 4-3 BG win in Mid-American Conference action Friday afternoon (March 27) at Keefe Courts on the BGSU campus.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 8-4 in dual-match play, and BGSU is now 1-1 in MAC action. The Rockets are 10-7 and 1-2, respectively.
After opening the match by taking the doubles point, BGSU entered singles play needing to win three of the six matches. Things did not start well for the Falcons in singles action, however.
Toledo won the first set in five of the six singles matches. For the Falcons, only senior Libby Harrison won her first set. And, the first two matches to finish saw the Rockets pick up victories. But, junior Samantha Kintzel and senior Stefanie Menoff each rallied after first-set losses for three-set wins.
When Harrison finished off her opponent in a lengthy two-set win, the Falcons had the requisite four points and the overall victory over their arch rivals.
The day began, as mentioned, with BG winning the doubles point. Senior Kelsey Jakupcin and sophomore Christine Chiricosta teamed up for a win at the top flight, downing UT's Ashley Frey and Nadia Zoubareva by an 8-2 decision.
Harrison and Menoff picked up an 8-5 win over Jessica Azoulay and Melissa Reynolds at flight number three, as Harrison's nifty shot down the line gave BG the doubles point. UT's Jenny Belsky and Maha Guirguis salvaged a win for their school with a narrow 8-6 triumph over Kintzel and fellow junior Katia Babina at the second flight.
In singles action, UT players won the opening set at each of the top-five flights. And, Guirguis and Frey would go on to win the second set and earn victories for the Rockets. Guirguis topped Chiricosta at the second flight, while Frey picked up a win over Jakupcin at the top flight.
Falcon coach Penny Dean's squad trailed by a 2-1 score. Needing to win three of the remaining four singles matches, the Brown and Orange held the lead on only one court. But, the Falcons slowly swung momentum back in their favor.
Kintzel's match was the next to finish. After losing the first set to Zoubareva at the third flight, the Falcon junior lost only three games over the final two sets, taking a 6-2 third set to tie the overall match at 2-2.
Menoff then put the Falcons back in the lead, winning a hotly-contested fifth-flight match. Menoff downed Azoulay, 6-4, in the second set, then dropped only one game in the final set en route to the win.
Meanwhile, Harrison was slowly but surely working her way to a win at the sixth flight. Moments after Menoff finished her match with a win, Harrison closed out a victory over Reynolds on the adjacent court. The Falcon senior won both of her sets by identical 6-4 scores.
Belsky won the third set over Babina in the fourth-flight match, but the Falcons already had the victory in hand.
BGSU returns to action Saturday afternoon (March 28), hosting Eastern Michigan University in a 1:00 p.m. match.
FALCON TENNIS NOTES
* BGSU now leads Toledo, 22-14, in the all-time series between the teams ... Friday's win snapped a three-match Rocket win streak in the series.
* Senior Stefanie Menoff's win over Jessica Azoulay was the 78th singles victory of her career ... Menoff now sits in third place on the BGSU career list, and neede just one more win to tie the school record ... the school record of 79 career singles wins is shared by Deidee Bissinger (1997-2000) and Julie Weisblatt (1994-97).
* Falcon head coach Penny Dean has had great success in the BGSU-Toledo series ... her teams have won 19 of 25 matches ... Dean spent four years (1984-85 through 1987-88) at the helm of the Rockets, and had a perfect 5-0 record vs. Bowling Green during that time... since taking the BGSU head-coaching position prior to the 1990-91 season, Dean has guided the Brown and Orange to a 14-6 record against UT.
Bowling Green 4, Toledo 3
Friday, March 27, 2009 - Keefe Courts
Singles
1 - Ashley Frey (UT) def. Kelsey Jakupcin 6-2, 6-3
2 - Maha Guirguis (UT) def. Christine Chiricosta 6-0, 6-2
3 - Samantha Kintzel (BGSU) def. Nadia Zoubareva 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
4 - Jenny Belsky (UT) def. Katia Babina 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
5 - Stefanie Menoff (BGSU) def. Jessica Azoulay 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
6 - Libby Harrison (BGSU) def. Melissa Reynolds 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
1 - Jakupcin/Chiricosta (BGSU) def. Frey/Zoubareva 8-2
2 - Guirguis/Belsky (UT) def. Kintzel/Babina 8-6
3 - Harrison/Menoff (BGSU) def. Azoulay/Reynolds 8-5
Order of Finish
Singles: 2,1,3,5,6,4
Doubles: 1,3,2
