Top-ranked Miami stands in the way for the Falcons to climb up the conference ladder this weekend and establish themselves as a premiere team in the Mid-American Conference.
The RedHawks (9-9, 4-0 MAC) took down Akron (17-2, 3-1 MAC) on March 23 with a team score of 4-3. The Miami match marks the most pivotal match in the Falcons’ season in staying with the leaders.
The Falcons fell to Akron last week, but would rebound highly with a win to Miami, extending their MAC record to 3-1 and tying them with Akron. The Zips have a weekend match against Buffalo who is the middle of the road team having a 2-2 record in the conference.
An Akron loss and a Falcons win would place BG in second place, or at worst, place them just a game behind the Zips.
The RedHawks are currently riding a three-game winning streak and are 3-0 at home. Miami has also faced seven nationally ranked teams, ranging from No. 15 to No. 68 rankings. The RedHawks have notably taken the doubles point 9-18 times during their 2012 season and have lost nearly all of their matches when they gave that up.
The RedHawks have won 29 consecutive MAC regular-season matches heading into Friday’s BG contest.
Concluding the Miami match, the Falcons will hit the road to face Ball State. The Cardinals are housed currently at the bottom of the barrel in the MAC.
Ball State (5-11, 0-4 in conference) started off the season on a hot streak, only giving up a single team point in their first four matches with a 27-1 points earned in all of the respected flights combined. The cardinals are currently riding a six game losing streak and should give the Falcons high hopes to at least split the weekend series.
All seven BG players have kept winning records this season prior to this weekend’s matches, with six of them having won at least 60 percent of their matches.
Co-captain Maddie Eccleston is tied for 18th on the University’s career wins list with 121 total victories.
Sophomore Nikki Chiricosta is a mere win away from moving into the top 25 on both the singles and overall wins lists.
