The beginning of the new year was kind to the BG women’s tennis team as they posted an overall record of 12-8 at the Indiana Doubles Invitational held in Bloomington, Ind., this past weekend.
BG, who hasn’t competed since the weekend of Oct. 19-21, was second in wins only to host Indiana (16-4). Other teams in the two-day tournament included Louisville (9-7), Indiana State (2-7) and Ball State (1-14).
Sophomore Katia Babina led the way for the Falcons after posting an individual record of 5-0.
Freshman Christine Chiricosta and sophomore Sam Kintzel both had a 4-1 record on the weekend, while juniors Kelsey Jakupcin and Stefanie Menoff both finished 3-2.
The Falcons handed the Hoosiers two of their four losses including an 8-3 victory by Chiricosta and Jakupcin over the No. 1 doubles team of Berdala and Zapadalova.
BG also pulled off some impressive come-from-behind wins.
The tandem of Babina and Kintzel were down 7-2 to Louisville before winning the match 9-7.
Senior Jenna Nussbaum and Chiricosta dug themselves a 7-1 hole against Indiana State before tying it up at eight and forcing a tiebreaker. The duo went on to win the tiebreaker 7-3.
Rounding out the BG netters were junior Libby Harrison (2-3), Nussbaum (2-3) and senior Andrea Volle (1-4).
The Falcons were excited to get back into action.
“I missed it so much,” Chiricosta said. “Competing is my favorite thing in the world, and it was really hard to go those couple months without it.”
With dual-match play vastly approaching,the tournament wasn’t scored and allowed coaches to play different combinations of doubles teams.
Coach Penny Dean used 13 different doubles combinations over the weekend.
“I’ve found some combinations I like,” Dean said. “Every combo that played over the weekend did a good job.”
“[The tournament] gave me a chance to experiment and gave us a chance to play against some different teams that we don’t see all the time,” Dean said. “[The tournament] kind of helped us get out the jitters for when we start real matches next weekend.”
BG Tennis: 2007-08 Individual Records
Katia Babina: 4-4 singles, 10-2 doubles, 14-6 overall
Christine Chiricosta: 7-2 singles, 9-2 doubles, 16-4 overall
Libby Harrison: 5-4 singles, 7-7 doubles, 12-11 overall
Kelsey Jakupcin: 3-5 singles, 7-5 doubles, 10-10 overall
Samantha Kintzel: 7-3 singles, 10-3 doubles, 17-6 overall
Stefanie Menoff: 7-2 singles, 8-4 doubles, 15-6 overall
Jenna Nussbaum: 3-3 singles, 6-6 doubles, 9-9 overall
Andrea Volle: 6-3 singles, 6-8 doubles, 12-11 overall
Next Match: Saturday at 1 p.m. vs. Wright State at Toledo’s Shadow Valley courts.