April 22, 2004

ROCKFORD, Ill. - The Bowling Green State University tennis team opened play in the 2004 Mid-American Conference Championships on a successful note, blanking the University of Akron by a 4-0 count in the first round Thursday morning (April 22). The tournament, hosted by Northern Illinois University, is being held at the Rockford Park District Courts/Clock Tower Resort.

With the win, the Falcons improve to 10-13 in dual-match play this season. BGSU is the seventh seed for the tourney. Akron sees the season come to an end with a dual-match mark of 7-14.

The Falcons earned the doubles point behind a pair of 8-2 victories. Junior Susie Schoenberger teamed with senior co-captain Lisa Maloney for a win over UA's Irina Strembinsky and Diana Serafini at the number-one flight, while sophomore Heidi Romer and freshman Ashley Jakupcin bested Stephanie Miles and Jenna Larson at the second flight.

The third-flight match was suspended, per tournament guidelines, as BGSU's two wins at the top-two flights had clinched the doubles point. Falcon senior Gaby Coello and sophomore Andrea Meister were competing against UA's Courtney Brenkus and Mindy Price.

Sophomore Heidi Romer's singles win clinched the match victory for the Falcons (photos by Jonathan Willey)

In singles play, the Falcons won at three flights, and were leading in two of the other three matches when play was stopped. Schoenberger lost only two total games in her win over Serafini at flight number-two, while Jakupcin also won in straight sets, dropping only four games in her fourth-flight win over Brenkus.

Romer picked up a win over Miles in the number-five position, winning each set by a 6-3 score, to clinch the victory for the Falcons. Both Coello (third flight) and senior Jessica Johnson (sixth flight) had won their opening set when the match ended.

BGSU now advances to the quarterfinal round, and the Falcons will face second-seeded Western Michigan on Friday morning (April 23). That match will begin at 10:00 a.m. locally (11:00 a.m. Eastern).

#7 Bowling Green 4, #10 Akron 0
MAC Championships - First Round

Singles
1 - Irina Strembinsky (UA) vs. Lisa Maloney (BGSU) 6-3, 3-0 DNF
2 - Susie Schoenberger (BGSU) def. Diana Serafini 6-2, 6-0
3 - Gaby Coello (BGSU) vs. Jenna Larson (UA) 6-4, 1-2 DNF
4 - Ashley Jakupcin (BGSU) def. Courtney Brenkus 6-1, 6-3
5 - Heidi Romer (BGSU) def. Stephanie Miles 6-3, 6-3
6 - Jessica Johnson (BGSU) vs. Mindy Price (UA) 7-6 (4), 1-0 DNF

Doubles
1 - Maloney/Schoenberger (BGSU) def. Strembinsky/Serafini 8-2
2 - Jakupcin/Romer (BGSU) def. Larson/Miles 8-2
3 - Brenkus/Price (UA) vs. Coello/Andrea Meister (BGSU) 4-3 DNF

DNF - match did not finish