The Bowling Green womens tennis fell to Buffalo Sunday, 5-2, on the Falcons’ senior day and final home match of the season. Drew Fillis, the only senior for the Falcons, played in her final match at the BG tennis courts in the loss.
“Drew has been an amazing leader and captain. We are all going to really miss her,” head coach Olga Elkin said. “Not only was she great for us on the court, but she was also extremely successful off the court.”
Fillis, an athletic training major, has a very high GPA and is also president of the BGSU Student Athlete Advisory Committee. According to the University athletic website, the SAAC “strives to be the primary link between student-athletes and administration to enhance the experience of all student-athletes.”
To begin the day, the Falcons took the doubles point in a match for the first time since an early March victory over the University of South Dakota. Fillis and freshman Paula Comella won their set, 6-4, and Polina Radeva and Marina Ferrero notched a 6-4 victory over their opponents.
“The energy was great today,” Elkin said of the team’s effort Sunday. “The girls really left it all out there.”
Comella earned the only singles victory for the Falcons with her 6-3, 6-3 win over the Bulls’ Tanja Stojanovska. With her victory in singles, she now posts a 6-2 singles record in the Mid-American Conference.
Following Sunday’s match, coach Elkin noted Comella’s impressive play.
“She has worked so hard this year, and she deserves the success that she has had on the tennis court,” Elkin said. “She is one of the most talented players I have ever seen.”
In Bowling Green’s April 17 match at Ball State, Comella became just the seventh Falcon ever to earn 22 wins in a season. It is no surprise that her youthful but sound talent proved a dynamic complement to Fillis’ confident and experienced play.
“The connection those two had was surreal,” Elkin said. “We put them to play together day (one), and they just clicked.”
The duo lost only one match in regular season MAC play.
After a winless campaign last season, the Falcons posted a 2-19 record this season, but battled closely in numerous matches throughout the year.
Bowling Green will now look to improve even further for next season. In returning all but one of its players, the outlook for the Falcons is nothing but positive as they will aim to compete atop the MAC in 2016-17.
