The BG women’s tennis team spent its fall break in Cincinnati participating in the Queen City Invitational.
The three-day event, hosted by Cincinnati, featured Akron, Ball State, Eastern Kentucky, Kennesaw State, Miami (Ohio), Xavier and the Falcons.
For the tournament, the Falcons posted a 14-9 overall record in singles play, while compiling a combined 7-4 record in doubles play.
Sam Kintzel cruised through the fourth flight to win the singles title.
Kintzel defeated Xavier’s Kelsey Kinnard, 6-0, 6-1 in the title match. She lost just three games over her final three matches.
“I went into the tournament really wanting to do good and try to win the flight,” Kintzel said. “I took each match one-by-one and just concentrated and focused on that match. I played really hard and really strong each match.”
Christine Chiricosta continued to impress as she advanced to the 16-player first-flight singles title match where she eventually lost to Miami’s Anastasia Dracheva, 3-6, 4-6. The loss was Chiricosta’s first singles loss of her career.
“Christine had an awesome tournament,” Coach Penny Dean said. “She played a really good match in the finals even though she lost. She had a great performance.”
Chiricosta, along with doubles partner Kintzel, also performed well in doubles play winning the first-flight doubles consolation bracket.
In the duo’s opening round match, they lost to Miami’s Britney Larson and Megan Martzolf, 4-8. The Miami duo eventually won the title.
After losing their opening-round match, Chiricosta and Kintzel won their next two matches including the consolation game against Xavier with a score of 8-1.
Andrea Volle and Katia Babina both advanced to the semi-finals of the second-flight singles bracket before losing to Ball State’s Hayley Hall, 3-6, 5-7, and Kennesaw State’s Karen Ammann, 2-6, 3-6, respectively.
Stefanie Menoff and Jenna Nussbaum both won their opening-round matches before losing in the second round of the third-flight singles bracket.
Kelsey Jakupcin and Libby Harrison both lost their opening-round matches in the first and fourth-flights, respectively.
Coach Dean was very pleased with the team’s overall performance.
“Everyone performed well,” Dean said. “We had a lot of really good matches.”
Dean has seen a lot of improvement since the team’s first tournament back in September.
“Every single doubles team has improved,” Dean said. “They play better together and their skills have improved.”
“In singles play, everyone has improved. The points were generally longer and the players were able to play more of their own, unique style. It was a good tournament to build off of.”
Having the opportunity to play some Mid-American Conference opponents early in tournaments like the Queen City Invitational and the University Invitational will help prepare the team for conference play, Kintzel said.
“It helps us prepare and see what’s to come in the future,” she added. “I think now we all know what we need to work on to play those teams when the time comes.”
The Falcons will conclude their fall season Oct. 18-23 when selected members will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., to participate in the Wilson/ITA Regional Championships.
The remaining members of the team will head to Muncie, Ind., for the Ball State Fall Invitational that weekend.