Feb. 21, 2008

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University tennis team, after a perfect 6-0 homestand, now hits the road for the next six matches ... the Falcons of head coach Penny Dean head to the Queen City for a pair of duals this weekend, taking on Cincinnati Saturday evening (Feb. 23) and Xavier Sunday afternoon (Feb. 24) ... the UC match is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m., with the XU contest slated for a 2:00 p.m. first serve.

BGSU Notes, Stats & Records (6 pages) in PDF Format

THREE NOTES THAT NO SELF-RESPECTING MEDIA MEMBER OR BG TENNIS ENTHUSIAST SHOULD BE WITHOUT
• The Falcons' 7-0 start to the dual-match season is tied for the second best in school history ... the start is BG's best in three decades, since the 1977-78 team (coached by Joan Weston) also won seven-straight matches to begin the year ... the best start in BGSU history was 10-0, by the Janet Parks-coached 1973-74 team.

• After the just-completed homestand, BGSU now has won 14 consecutive matches at the Shadow Valley Tennis Club, and the team is 28-1 at the facility over the last three-plus years ... BGSU went 6-0 at Shadow Valley in the 2004-05 season, 8-1 in '05-06 and a perfect 8-0 last year ... the Falcons are 6-0 at the venue this season to date.

• The Falcons now have won 25-straight non-conference dual matches at Shadow Valley ... BGSU's last loss to a non-MAC foe there came over four years ago, vs. DePaul on Feb. 6, 2004.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons are 7-0 in dual-match action this season to date ... BGSU is coming off back-to-back 5-2 wins last weekend, over Detroit (Feb. 15) and Duquesne (Feb. 16), at Shadow Valley ... in both matches, the Falcons swept the three doubles contests to take an early 1-0 lead, then captured four-of-six singles flights for the win.

The Falcons are three wins away from reaching 10 dual-match victories for a sixth-straight year ... BG's current streak of posting double-digit win totals in five consecutive seasons is a first for the program ... BG had had four-straight 10-win seasons twice before (1988-89 to 1991-92 and 1996-97 through 1999-2000).

Individually, all eight Falcon competitors have posted at least 17 total wins this year to date ... freshman Christine Chiricosta leads the pack with 27 overall victories, followed closely by sophomore Samantha Kintzel (26), junior Stefanie Menoff (24) and soph Katia Babina (24).

In singles play, all eight Falcon players have winning records ... Menoff leads the way with a 13-2 mark, while Chiricosta is 12-4 and senior Andrea Volle 11-4 ... Kintzel has a singles record of 11-5 to date.

In doubles action, Babina has a stellar 16-3 mark, while Chiricosta is 15-3 and Kintzel 15-4 ... all eight Falcons have winning doubles ledgers, with seven of the eight posting at least 11 double-digit victories heading into the Cincinnati match.

In dual-match action, junior Kelsey Jakupcin has a 6-1 mark at the top singles flight, while Chiricosta is 5-2 at the second level ... Babina has a 4-2 record at the third flight, while Kintzel (3-2), Volle (5-1) and Menoff (5-0) have played the bulk of the duals at flights four through six, respectively.

In doubles play, Chiricosta and Jakupcin have teamed up for a 6-1 record at the #1 flight in dual-match action ... the tandem of senior co-captains Volle and Jenna Nussbaum is 5-2 at the second level in duals, while the sophomore duo of Babina and Kintzel has gone 5-1 since the dual-match season began.

THE OPPONENTS
Cincinnati has an overall record of 3-6 in dual-match play entering the weekend, and the Bearcats are 1-4 in Big East Conference action ... UC picked up its first conference win of the season last weekend, with a 4-3 victory over Pittsburgh ... the Bearcats open the home portion of their spring schedule with a Friday (Feb. 22) match vs. Abilene Christian, before facing the Falcons the following day ... UC finished with an 11-10 dual mark last year.

BGSU leads Cincinnati, 15-10, in the all-time series between the teams, but the Bearcats won last year's meeting, and UC has captured six of the last seven matchups ... BGSU is 9-3 at home, 3-7 on the road and 2-0 in neutral-site matches (one early BG-UC match is site unknown) ... the Falcons are 8-8 against the Bearcats in Penny Dean's head-coaching tenure.

Xavier is 7-3 overall this season, and the Musketeers are looking to rebound from a 7-0 loss to Miami on Sunday (Feb. 17) ... XU is 2-1 vs. Mid-American Conference teams this year to date, having defeated both Akron and Toledo by 5-2 scores ... the Musketeers begin a three-match homestand vs. Bradley on Saturday (Feb. 23), before facing the Falcons Sunday ... XU finished the 2006-07 season with a 16-8 dual-match record.

BGSU leads Xavier, 11-4, in that series, and the Falcons are riding a three-match win streak vs. the Musketeers ... the teams are meeting for the eighth-straight season in dual-match action ... BG is 7-1 at home, 3-3 on the road and 1-0 in neutral-site contests vs. XU ... Dean-coached Falcon teams are 10-4 against the Musketeers.

FAMILIAR FACES, FAMILIAR PLACES
The Falcons will face Cincinnati at the Queen City Racquet and Fitness Club, located at 11275 Chester Road in Cincinnati, this weekend ... the match will mark the second time BG has competed at the facility this season ... the Falcons participated in the Queen City Invitational on Oct. 5-7, 2007 ... in that tournament, not surprisingly, the Brown and Orange competed along with both UC and Xavier ... BG also saw XU on the season's first weekend, as the Musketeers competed at the BGSU Invitational (Sept. 15-16), the first-ever event at BGSU's new varsity tennis courts ... Xavier competitors won three singles flight titles and one doubles crown at the invite.

A FEW MORE FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
• As mentioned, the Falcons are away from home for the next six matches ... BGSU's next scheduled home competition is not until March 29.

• Junior Kelsey Jakupcin has made a successful jump to the top singles flight this year, to say the least ... Jakupcin began the dual-match schedule with six consecutive wins, before losing to Duquesne's Zena Williams on Saturday.

• Another junior, Stefanie Menoff, is a perfect 6-0 in singles play in the dual portion of the schedule ... Menoff now has a career singles record of 54-12 ... Menoff is BG's active career leader in singles wins, and ranks 15th in school history.

• Senior co-captains Jenna Nussbaum and Andrea Volle teamed up for a pair of wins at the second doubles flight last weekend ... Volle now has 51 career doubles wins, while Nussbaum has 50 ... Volle has tied Erin Bowbeer (1992-95) for 15th place on that BGSU career list, while Nussbaum currently sits in a tie for 17th with Heidi Romer (2003-06) on that chart.

• Jakupcin's three wins last weekend (one singles, two doubles) give her 93 in her career, tops among active Falcons ... she is 17th on the BGSU list ... Nussbaum now has 91 wins, ranking 18th, while Volle is 20th in school history with 89 total wins in her career.

* Jakupcin and freshman Christine Chiricosta have an overall doubles record of 8-1 together this season, including a 6-1 mark in dual-match play ... sophomores Katia Babina and Samantha Kintzel are 7-1 as a team this year, including a 5-1 record in duals.