March 22, 2008

TOLEDO, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The host University of Toledo rallied from a 3-2 deficit, winning the last two singles matches of the day for a 4-3 win over the Bowling Green State University tennis team Saturday afternoon (March 22). The Mid-American Conference match was held at the Laurel Hill Tennis Club.

With the win, the Rockets improve to 10-4 overall and 1-1 in MAC action, while the Falcons drop to 11-2 and 0-2, respectively.

Before a crowd comprised primarily of screaming Toledo fans, the Falcons lost the doubles point, for the first time in eight matches and only the second time in 13 dual matches this year. BGSU's third-flight duo of sophomores Katia Babina and Samantha Kintzel picked up the Falcons' lone doubles win, downing UT's Jenny Belsky and Sarah Horning by an 8-4 count.

In singles action, the Falcons won three of the first four matches to finish, taking a 3-2 lead. Junior Kelsey Jakupcin, freshman Christine Chiricosta and Kintzel all won their singles matches in straight sets.

Jakupcin downed Martina Wodzinski at the top flight, losing a total of only five games. At flight number two, Chiricosta and Ashley Frey battled through a pair of closely-contested sets, with Chiricosta pulling out the win by a 7-6, 7-5 result.

Kintzel completed a 4-0 weekend with a fourth-flight win over Jenny Belsky, including a 6-0 whitewashing in the second set.

Meanwhile, UT's Maha Guirguis had defeated Babina at the third flight for the Rockets' second point of the day. The fifth- and sixth-flight matches were the only two battles to go to a third set. At the sixth flight, senior Andrea Volle rebounded from a first-set loss to win the second set in a tiebreaker against the Rockets' Jessica Azoulay. But, Azoulay was able to get past Volle, 6-4, in the third set to win that match.

At the fifth flight, senior Jenna Nussbaum and UT's Nadia Zoubareva split the first two sets by identical 7-5 scores. Nussbaum began cramping up in the third set of the lengthy match, and Zoubareva was able to win a tiebreaker.

The Falcons, having completed a six-match road swing, finally return home for next weekend's match. The Brown and Orange will begin a three-match homestand by facing Northern Illinois on Saturday, March 29. That match will begin at 1:00 p.m. at the new BGSU tennis complex, weather permitting.

FALCON TENNIS NOTES
* The Falcons played the Toledo match without junior Stefanie Menoff ... Menoff, a regular in the BGSU lineup, has a 16-4 singles record this season and a 57-14 career singles ledger ... she suffered an injury during her Friday match vs. Eastern Michigan's Aleksandra Stankovic, which kept her out of the UT match ... the loss to Stankovic was Menoff's first MAC singles loss since the 2005-06 season, and only the second of her career.

* Sophomore Samantha Kintzel won at both singles and doubles for the second-straight day ... Kintzel has won 12 consecutive matches (both singles and doubles) since her last loss, vs. Duquesne in singles play on Feb. 16.

* Kintzel has won six-straight singles matches since that Duquesne dual, and has won 11 consecutive doubles matches, teaming with classmate Katia Babina for all 11, since the duo's last loss (Jan. 20 vs. Butler).

TOLEDO 4, BOWLING GREEN 3
Sat., March 22 - Laurel Hill; Toledo
SINGLES
1 - Kelsey Jakupcin (BGSU) def. Martina Wodzinski 6-3, 6-2
2 - Christine Chiricosta (BGSU) def. Ashley Frey 7-6, 7-5
3 - Maha Guirguis (UT) def. Katia Babina 6-2, 6-2
4 - Samantha Kintzel (BGSU) def. Jenny Belsky 7-5, 6-0
5 - Nadia Zoubareva (UT) def. Jenna Nussbaum 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (4)
6 - Jessica Azoulay (UT) def. Andrea Volle 6-1, 6-7 (7), 6-4

DOUBLES
1 - Wodzinski/Guirguis (UT) def. Chiricosta/Jakupcin 8-4
2 - Frey/Zoubareva (UT) def. Nussbaum/Volle 8-2
3 - Babina/Kintzel (BGSU) def. Belsky/Sarah Horning 8-4