After posting the second best overall record at the Indiana Doubles Invitational last weekend, the BGSU tennis team will head back to the state of Indiana to face Butler University on Sunday to begin dual-match play.
“I’m excited going in to play Butler,” Coach Penny Dean said. “I feel confident that we are playing well, and I feel the only thing that can stop us is ourselves.”
“It should be good, competitive matches,” Dean said.
Sophomore Sam Kintzel leads the Falcons with an overall record of 17-6, including a 10-3 record in doubles play. Freshman Christine Chiricosta is second with an overall record of 16-4. Five other members of the team have also reached double-digit win totals this season.
Butler finished the 2006-2007 campaign with an overall record of 13-14, including a 6-1 record in Horizon League conference play and a spot in the championship match of the conference tournament.
This weekend’s match against Butler marks the 10th time the two teams have played against each other in the past 11 years. The Falcons hold an 11-0 record against Butler in dual matches since the series began in 1991-1992 season.
BG beat Butler, 5-2, last season.
“I think that we have a great chance of winning this weekend,” Chiricosta said. “If we play like we did last weekend, we should be able to win.”
BG was originally scheduled to begin dual-match play against Wright State University on Saturday Jan. 19, but that match has since been pushed back one week to Jan. 27.
The Wright State match will be the second of six consecutive home matches for the Falcons.
The match against Butler begins at noon in Indianapolis.
Recently, the Falcons were picked to finish sixth among the nine teams in the Mid-American Conference.
Buffalo was predicted to win the conference, followed by Western Michigan. Miami, Eastern Michigan and Toledo rounded out the top five. Ball State, Northern Illinois and Akron followed BG at six.
The Falcons begin conference play at Eastern Michigan on March 21. BG hosts Northern Illinois the following weekend in the conference home opener.