April 12, 2007

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University tennis team puts a three-match winning streak on the line this weekend with a contest against the defending Mid-American Conference champion. The Falcons of head coach Penny Dean will head to Kalamazoo, Mich., to face nationally-ranked Western Michigan University Saturday (April 14), in a match scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start. Western's outdoor matches are played at Sorensen Courts on the WMU campus, while the Broncos' indoor matches are held at the West Hills Athletic Club.

THREE NOTES THAT NO SELF-RESPECTING MEDIA MEMBER OR BG TENNIS ENTHUSIAST SHOULD BE WITHOUT
• Falcon freshman Samantha Kintzel has been named the MAC Player of the Week, the league office announced on Wednesday (April 11) ... Kintzel earns the league P-O-W award for the first time in her brief career, and is BGSU's first such honoree this season.

• The Falcons have topped the team's MAC win total for all of last season ... BGSU, after going 3-5 in conference regular-season action last spring, enters the Western Michigan match with a MAC mark of 4-1.

• Senior Ashley Jakupcin now has a career total of 75 singles wins ... that total ties her for fifth place on the BGSU career list, just four shy of the school record ... Julie Weisblatt (1994-97) and Deidee Bissinger (1997-2000) share the BG record with 79 career singles wins.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
The Falcons enter the weekend with an overall dual-match record of 12-5, and BG is 4-1 in MAC action after sweeping a pair of conference matches at Shadow Valley Tennis Club last weekend. The Brown and Orange posted 5-2 wins over Miami on Friday (April 6) and Ball State Saturday (April 7). BGSU had lost to both the RedHawks and Cardinals by identical 4-3 scores in the 2005-06 season.

Those wins give the Falcons a three-match winning streak. BGSU has won seven of the last eight matches, and the Falcons have won 11-of-13 contests since a 1-3 start to the dual-match season.

The Falcons have posted double-digit win totals in five consecutive seasons for the first time in school history. BG had had four-straight 10-win seasons twice before (1988-89 to 1991-92 and 1996-97 through 1999-2000).

Individually, eight of the nine Falcon players have amassed at least 10 singles wins this year to date. Sophomore Stefanie Menoff leads the pack with a stellar 21-2 mark, while freshman Samantha Kintzel is now 18-8. Soph Kelsey Jakupcin and her sister, senior Ashley Jakupcin, have 15 singles wins apiece, while a trio of teammates - junior Jenna Nussbaum, sophomore Libby Harrison and freshman Katia Babina - each have 12. Junior Andrea Volle has 11 wins, while senior Erica Wolfe has a 3-3 singles record.

In doubles action, Kelsey Jakupcin and Nussbaum have posted an overall record of 15-12, including a 10-7 mark at the number-one flight in dual-match action (4-1 in MAC matches). Babina and Volle have a 5-5 ledger, with all 10 matches coming in flight-two competition during the spring.

The Kintzel/Menoff duo is 13-8 this season, including a record of 8-4 in duals at the number-three flight this season to date. In last weekend's two matches, Menoff teamed with Volle at the second flight, while Kintzel and Ashley Jakupcin comprised the flight-three tandem.

THIS WEEKEND'S OPPONENT
Western Michigan enters the weekend with an overall record of 16-6, and the Broncos are a perfect 5-0 in MAC duals to date. In the latest Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings administered by the ITA (as of April 10), the Broncos are ranked 63rd in the nation. Western is riding a six-match winning streak, and the Broncos have won 10 of the last 12 matches, with the only losses in that time coming to #9 Miami (Fla.) and #35 Michigan. Western posted 7-0 wins over Ball State and Miami last weekend, and enters the BGSU match having won 23 consecutive MAC regular-season dual matches, dating to the 2004-05 season.

Believe it or else, the Falcons have never defeated the Broncos. BGSU trails Western Michigan by a 30-0 margin in the all-time series between the teams. BGSU has not recorded a point vs. Western since a 6-1 loss in the 2000-01 season. The Falcons lost to the Broncos by 5-4 scores in both 1981-82 and 1997-98.

FASCINATING FALCON FACTS
• BGSU's 4-1 MAC start is the Falcons' best in seven years, since the 1999-2000 team also won four of the first five conference matches of the season ... that '99-2000 squad tied for third in the 10-team MAC regular-season race, with a 6-3 mark, and was BG's last team to advance to the semifinals of the MAC Championships.

• As mentioned earlier, freshman Samantha Kintzel was named the MAC Player of the Week on Wednesday (April 11) ... Kintzel had an overall record of 4-0 in the wins over Miami and Ball State, with two wins apiece in singles and doubles.

• Senior Ashley Jakupcin also went 4-0 on the weekend ... she teamed with Kintzel for a pair of wins at the third doubles flight, and won a pair of three-set matches at the #1 singles flight ... in each of her two singles matches, Jakupcin rallied to win after dropping the first set.

• In the Ball State match, the Falcons held a narrow 3-2 lead with both Ashley Jakupcin and Kintzel still on the court ... the two players each went to a third set, with Jakupcin downing Sophie Quist after losing the opening set ... Kintzel fell behind BSU's Haly Calderwood, 3-0, in the third set, but rallied for a 6-4 win in that match at the #2 flight.

• Friday's win over Miami was only BGSU's fourth in the history of the series ... Miami now holds a 29-4 advantage in dual matches vs. the Brown and Orange ... the RedHawks had won three-straight matches since BG's last win, in 2002-03.

• Similarly, BG also snapped a three-match losing streak vs. Ball State, dating to the '02-03 season ... the Falcons now trail that series, 17-13.

• The Falcons are now a perfect 7-0 in dual-match play at Shadow Valley this year, and BGSU is 15-1 at the facility since the beginning of last season.

• Sophomore Stefanie Menoff now has a stellar 21-2 singles record this year, and is 39-10 in her career in singles action ... she is a perfect 5-0 in MAC singles matches this season to date.

• On Friday, Menoff teamed with junior Andrea Volle in doubles, for the first time in their respective Falcon careers ... the duo posted an 8-3 win over their Miami foes at the second flight.

UP NEXT
The Falcons end the 2006-07 regular season with a pair of home matches ... BGSU will face Eastern Michigan on Friday, April 20, and will meet arch-rival Toledo on Saturday, April 21 ... both matches are scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. at Keefe Courts on the BGSU campus ... the UT match will be BG's final dual before the Falcons head to UT's campus for the MAC Championships (April 26-29).