With identical 5-2 victories over the University of Detroit Mercy and Duquesne University this past weekend, the BG tennis team improved to 7-0 in dual-match play – tied for the second-best start in school history.
“It’s quite an exciting deal to be 7-0,” Christine Chiricosta said. “I think the key is that we’ve been starting off all of our matches really strong by winning the doubles point.”
The Falcons have been winning the doubles point, and this past weekend’s matches were no exception.
BG captured the doubles point in both matches by sweeping all three doubles flights.
“The whole weekend we swept all the doubles’ courts, which is a good way to start off,” Chiricosta said. “It’s kind of intimidating to the other team knowing they didn’t even win a court in the doubles and then they go into singles thinking that.”
First up for BG was Detroit Mercy on Friday night.
Chiricosta and Kelsey Jakupcin teamed together to win 8-6 at the top flight.
The tandem of senior co-captains Jenna Nussbaum and Andrea Volle won 8-5 at the second flight, while the duo of Sam Kintzel and Katia Babina won 8-2 at the third flight.
In singles play, Jakupcin defeated Annie Moore at the top flight after Moore was forced to retire due to injury.
After being down 5-2 in the first set, Chiricosta won 11 games in a row to defeat Svetlana Flankova, 7-5, 6-0, in second-flight action.
“[Flankova] came out really strong and was playing really well,” Chiricosta said. “I won a few games, and I didn’t get down on myself. I just kept fighting, and I kind of got her to give up a little bit.”
“[Chiricosta] really turned it on,” coach Penny Dean said, referring to Chiricosta’s come-from-behind win. “She really had to earn it. [Flankova] started out strong again in the second set, but Christine just hustled after some amazing balls and hit some amazing shots. [Flankova] was done mentally after the first couple games in the second set.”
Volle and Menoff also won singles matches at the fifth and sixth flights, respectively.
Next up for the Falcons was Duquesne on Saturday.
The duo of Chiricosta and Jakupcin won in convincing fashion, 8-1, at the top flight.
The duos of Nussbaum/Volle and Babina/Kintzel won by identical scores of 8-3 at the second and third flights, respectively.
In singles play, Jakupcin lost for the first time at the top flight in dual-match play. She was defeated by Duquesne’s Zena Williams, 6-4, 6-3.
“It was disappointing to see Kelsey take the loss, but she’ll bounce back and you have to learn from every loss,” Coach Dean said.
Chiricosta lost just one game in her straight-sets win over Johanna Bezjak.
Babina (third flight), Volle (fifth) and Menoff (sixth) also won singles matches.
Chiricosta, along with the rest of her teammates, is excited about the opportunity to get to 10-0 – the best start in school history set by the 1973-74 squad.
“We’re so excited about that,” Chiricosta said. “I really think we can get there and beyond. We’re a really deep team and we’ve got a lot of heart. No one on the team ever gives up and we work really hard and we’ve been working hard and will continue to work hard.”
If BG does make it to 10-0 and beyond, it will come on the road.
The Falcons will be on the road for their next six matches after concluding a six-game homestand. Cincinnati (Feb. 23) and Xavier (Feb. 24) will be the first two stops on the Falcons’ road trip followed by a week-long trip to California over spring break.