The tennis team finished a busy weekend with three consecutive 7-0 victories in non-conference dual matches against the Cleveland State Vikings, the IUPUI Jaguars and the Butler University Bulldogs, bringing its record to 4-1.

While the scores read the same, the weekend was full of intense, hotly contested matches that kept the suspense level high as the Falcons battled the Vikings at the Perrysburg Tennis Center before heading to Indianapolis to play the Jaguars and Bulldogs.

A highlight was senior captain Christine Chiricosta’s singles match against Butler University’s Natali Jaimes, bringing her 154th career win (combined singles and doubles) to beat Deidee Bissinger’s previous record of 153.

Falcon head coach Penny Dean said Chiricosta earned that final win through enduring a two hour, 40 minute match where she was largely the underdog, falling 4-6 in the opening set and winning the next two 7-5 and 6-4.

“She had to battle the entire match,” Dean said. “It highlights how her tennis has been for four years: always fighting [with] grit, determination and mental toughness.”

Perseverance proved to be the key ingredient for a weekend where only Saturday’s dual against the Jaguars provided most of the players with large wins without losing any matches. The match still featured a 7-7 doubles tie that freshmen Nikki Chiricosta and Emily Reuland won with a tiebreaker.

Friday’s match against the Vikings set the weekend’s tone with several large Falcon victories with a few dominant set victories. Junior captain Jessica Easdale and sophomore Mary Hill each lost their first set, but Easdale posted a 6-1, 6-2 victory after an initial 1-6 set.

Hill’s match against Kara Sherwood proved to be a highlight, with Hill losing 5-7 in a close first set before a 6-4 win in the second set. A tiebreaker where Hill was the first to reach 10 points concluded the match that lasted for more than two hours.

“We all love to see Mary win; she’s so intense,” Dean said. “[Sherwood] is just a top notch player; she refuses to miss.”

Sunday’s match against the Bulldogs proved to be the closest. Dean said sophomore Maddy Eccleston was the only player to dominate in singles with a 6-1, 6-0 score, though she fell with doubles partner Christine Chiricosta to Stephanie McLoughlin and Gabrielle Rubenstein in the only Falcon loss of the dual.

Reuland’s singles match against the Bulldogs’ Gabriella Bobrowski also exemplified the intense atmosphere, lasting three hours and 20 minutes with scores of 7-6, 4-6 and 6-1.

Dean credits strength and conditioning trainer Nate Kapsal for helping to provide the endurance necessary to get through the longer matches, which Dean believes to be nerve-racking, but beneficial, to the team.

“[The long matches] give toughness, keep the team in shape to win and gets us ready for the MAC season.”