The University tennis team will finish their home schedule this weekend against MAC opponents Akron Friday and will host Buffalo on Saturday.
On Saturday, the program’s two seniors, Nikki Chiricosta and Emily Reuland, will be recognized in ceremonies for senior day before the Buffalo match.
The Falcons go into the weekend with an 8-6 record overall and 2-2 record in the conference. In part due to their success last weekend, as the Falcons collected two wins when they defeated the Northern Illinois Huskies 6-1 April 4 and then defeated the Chicago State Cougars 7-0 April 5.
The Falcons performed very well on both days as every single player picked up a victory on each day. On the season, Nikki Chiricosta leads the Falcons with 36 overall wins. Behind her are Katie Brozovich with 33 and Emily Reuland with 26 wins.
Chiricosta is the winningest player in University history with 185 overall wins. She also holds the school record with 93 singles victories. Chiricosta broke both records, originally set by her sister, Christine (2008-11), in the Falcons’ win over Western Michigan in the MAC opener March 22.
The Akron Zips come into Friday’s match with a 10-12 record overall and a 0-5 record in conference play. The Zips are coming off a two match home stand, where they dropped both matches to MAC opponents Ball State in which they fell 6-1 to the Cardinals and then to the Miami Ohio Red Hawks 7-0.
Buffalo will enter Saturday’s match with a 12-4 overall record and is 3-2 in conference play. Last weekend Buffalo went 1-1 as they won against Miami 5-2 on Friday. The win was the first time they have beaten Miami since 2008.
“I loved our focus out there in both doubles and singles from the moment the match began to the moment we shook hands,” said head coach Kristen Ortman Maines. “We were disciplined and smart out there and we made the most of our opportunities. This was a total team effort and I couldn’t be more proud of this group.”
The next day Buffalo fell to Ball State 4-3 in a highly competitive match. The loss to Ball State snapped a three game winning streak for the Bulls.
The Falcons look to improve their record this weekend before traveling on the road next weekend to face Ball State in Muncie, Ind. April 18, and then to Oxford, Ohio April 19 to meet the Miami Red Hawks in the final weekend of the regular season.
