Junior Emily Reuland had a successful second day as she led the way for the Falcons at the Muirfield Collegiate Tennis Invitational. Reuland went 4-0 in her matches, while the Falcons were 10-2 as a team.
Rueland went 2-0 in her singles matches, advancing to the semi-finals, and earned two more wins in doubles play as she teamed up with fellow junior Nikki Chiricosta. The two advanced to the finals in doubles play and will face the second-seeded team, Louisville’s Fellerhoff and Manuela Velasquez on Sunday.
“The semifinal rounds of doubles began at 8 p.m. and were held under the lights. It made for a long day of tennis, but it was a great atmosphere and a great win for Nikki and Emily,” said BG Head Coach Penny Dean.
Tiebreakers were the story of the day, as four of BG’s eight singles matches required a third-set super tiebreaker. Reuland won both tiebreaker matches, beating Ohio State’s Kelsey Dieters, the third seed, and Gabby Steele, the seventh seed.
Reuland split sets 6-4 with Dieters before defeating her in the tiebreaker 11-9. In her match-up against Steele, Reuland dropped the first set 6-0, but bounced back and won the next set 6-4 and the tiebreak set 14-12.
“In her second match, she was able to come back and win after losing a 6-0 opening set. They played an incredibly long tiebreaker, and both players had multiple match points, but Emily came through and won it, and I couldn’t be more proud of her,” Dean said.
The semi-finals match-up between Reuland and top-seeded Julie Fellerhoff of Louisville will take place Sunday morning at 11:30 a.m.
Chiricosta won her first match of the day with a win over Ohio State’s Noelle Malley in straight sets (6-4, 6-3), but saw her run in the singles main draw come to an end against second-seeded Becca Shine of Louisville.
After losing in singles play, Chiricosta set her sights on doubles play. Chiricosta and Reuland teamed up for an 8-0 win over Eastern Kentucky, and then downed the top-seeded doubles team in the tournament in Ohio State’s Steele and Fidan Manashirova, 8-6, in semifinal-round action to advance to the finals.
“Nikki and Emily played a very tough, back-and-forth match in the semifinals tonight,” Dean said. “They did a great job of staying focused and picking up the win.”
In singles back-draw play, Eccleston picked up a pair of victories Saturday, including a straight-set win over Kelly Poggensee-Wei of Cincinnati. She then narrowly outlasted EKU’s Melissa Gerritsen.
After winning the opening set, 6-4, Eccleston dropped the second set, 7-5, then fell behind in the tiebreaker, but rallied back for an 11-9 win.
“Against a very good player, she was able to win five-straight points to take the tiebreaker and the match. It was a great performance,” Dean said.
Brozovich lost her first match in a tiebreaker against EKU’s Kristina Labeja, falling, 10-7, but responded in her next match with a win over Sierra Sullivan of Cincinnati. The freshman won both sets, 6-2.
In doubles back draw, Eccleston and Brozovich defeated the Bearcats’ Sullivan and Ashleigh Witte, 8-1. They then followed up with a victory over EKU’s Saioa Oscoz and Carmen Rodriguez, 8-5.
So far in the first two days of the season, the Falcons are a combined 14-5, with a 9-4 singles mark and a 5-1 doubles record.
