Local College News

BGSU Bounces Back to Beat WVU, 6-1
Falcons just miss sweeping Mountaineers in first win of dual-match season

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BGSU Athletic Communications) -- The Bowling Green State University tennis team picked up a win over Big East Conference competition on Saturday (Jan. 22), downing West Virginia University by a 6-1 count. The neutral-site match was held in Louisville, Ky.

The Falcons of head coach Penny Dean are now 1-1 in dual-match play this season, splitting this weekend's two matches. The Brown and Orange had suffered a loss to host U of L on Friday before bouncing back with Saturday's win over the Mountaineers.

BGSU swept all three doubles matches, and very nearly captured every singles contest as well. WVU's lone victory came by a narrow 16-14 verdict in a third-set tiebreaker.

In doubles play, BGSU won at the top-two flights by identical 8-3 scores, and the Falcons picked up an 8-5 victory at the third flight.

BGSU's top-flight tandem was senior Christine Chiricosta and sophomore Maddy Eccleston, while the Falcon team at the number-two flight consisted of freshmen Nikki Chiricosta and Emily Reuland. Sophomores Mary Hill and Katie Grubb teamed up for the victory at the third flight.

In singles play, the bottom half of the BGSU lineup was nothing short of dominant. The three players at flights four through six lost a combined total of one game in their six sets.

Reuland did not lose a single game, downing Liv Pettersson by identical 6-0 scores at the fourth flight. Eccleston matched Reuland's performance at flight number five, blanking Catie Wickline by a 6-0, 6-0 result.

At the sixth flight, junior Jessica Easdale lost a single game in her first set against Anna Rodionova, then won the second set by a 6-0 result.

Nikki Chiricosta won in relatively easy fashion at the third flight, dropping a total of only three games in her victory over Mary Chupa. And, Hill dropped just five total games in her win over Veronica Cardenas at the second flight.

The Mountaineers' lone win came at the top singles flight. Melis Tanik and Christine Chiricosta split their first two sets, then battled through an epic third set. With the overall dual-match result -- a BGSU win -- already determined, Tanik and Chiricosta began a third-set tiebreaker, scheduled to go to 10 points. The two players battled back and forth, however, with Tanik finally pulling out the win by a 16-14 final.

The Falcons will return to action next weekend, hosting Cleveland State University on Friday (Jan. 28). That dual is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. at the Perrysburg Tennis Center.

BOWLING GREEN 6, WEST VIRGINIA 1
Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011 - Louisville, Ky.
SINGLES
1 - Melis Tanik (WVU) def. Christine Chiricosta 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (16-14)
2 - Mary Hill (BGSU) def. Veronica Cardenas 6-3, 6-2
3 - Nikki Chiricosta (BGSU) def. Mary Chupa 6-2, 6-1
4 - Emily Reuland (BGSU) def. Liv Pettersson 6-0, 6-0
5 - Maddy Eccleston (BGSU) def. Catie Wickline 6-0, 6-0
6 - Jessica Easdale (BGSU) def. Anna Rodionova 6-1, 6-0

DOUBLES
1 - C.Chiricosta/Eccleston (BGSU) def. Cardenas/Chupa 8-3
2 - N.Chiricosta/Reuland (BGSU) def. Tanik/Pettersson 8-3
3 - Hill/Katie Grubb (BGSU) def. Wickline/Ashley Pilsbury 8-5


Sports Information Department
(574) 372-5100 ext. 6271
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2011

ROOSEVELT NO CONTEST FOR GRACE

CHICAGO, Ill. – Three Grace big men scored in double-figures in Grace’s 81-56 thrashing against non-conference opponent Roosevelt University on Saturday.

Duke Johnson led with 12 points in 20 minutes, Greg Miller posted 11 points in 15 minutes, and Jared Treadway added 10 points in eight minutes to give the Lancers their fifth victory in six games.

“We had a balanced production today,” said head coach Jim Kessler. “We were able to dominate down low and were productive on the offensive end, shooting above 50 percent from the field.”

The Lancers (15-7) held a narrow 22-18 advantage with six minutes left in the first half, then spearheaded a game changing 16-2 run to close the period and put the game out of reach. Johnson scored six points in a row during the run, and Dayton Merrell drained a half-court running shot at the buzzer to give Grace a demanding 38-20 lead at the break.

Grace continued their dominance over the Lakers (4-16) in the second half and rarely let its lead fall below 20 points. The Lancers built their lead to 32 points (69-37), the largest of the game, at the 7:10 mark.

The Lancers pounded it into the paint all night and outscored Roosevelt 56-18 down low, including 28-6 in the first period. Grace’s quality looks led to 54 percent shooting overall and 57 percent in the second half. They only took 12 threes total, and no Lancer attempted more than three from beyond the arc.

Tannan Peters, Dennis Williams and Miller grabbed seven boards apiece. Peters had four offensive rebounds.

Fourteen Lancers saw five minutes of action or more on the evening.

“It was a total team effort,” Kessler continued. “It will be important to carry this over when we get back into MCC play next week."

The game was Grace’s last non-conference contest of the season.

The Lancers return to action on the road against rival Bethel College at 8 p.m. on Tuesday to kick-off the second half of their conference season and try to improve on their 5-3 MCC record

Men’s Basketball (box attached as 10mg17hc.htm)

Manchester 67 - #17 Hanover 52

MANCHESTER DEFEATS CONFERENCE LEADER (#17) HANOVER 67-52
Manchester's men's basketball team posted a 67-52 conference win over league-leading and #17 in the nation Hanover on Saturday.

Manchester jumped out to a 14-4 lead over the first five minutes of the game, and held a 30-21 lead at halftime. In the second half, Manchester pushed their lead to 17, 53-36 with eight minutes to go. The Panthers pulled to within nine, 61-52 with two minutes to go, before the Spartans hit 7-8 free throws to end the game with a 67-52 victory.

Tyler Henn led all scorers with 23 points, hitting 9-14 from the field and added three rebounds. Jordan Moss scored 17 points on 6-8 shooting and 5-6 free throws to go with his eight rebounds and four assists. Jason Spindler added 10 points on 5-7 shooting with seven rebounds and five blocked shots.

Manchester improves to 11-6 on the year, 7-3 in the HCAC. They will host Earlham on Wednesday and travel to Mount St. Joseph on Saturday.



Women’s Basketball (box attached as 10wg17hc.htm)

Hanover 70 – Manchester 68

SPARTANS FALL TO LEAGUE LEADING HANOVER 70-68
Manchester's women's basketball team fell to conference leading Hanover College 70-68 Saturday afternoon from MC's Stauffer-Wolfe Arena.

Leading 22-17 with eight minutes to go in the first half, Manchester fell victim to a 20-5 run by Hanover, who took a 35-27 lead at the half. Down by nine early in the second half, MC pulled to within one, 41-40, before Hanover held a 53-44 lead with 13:22 remaining. The Spartans tied the game at 57-57 with under ten minutes remaining, taking a six point advantage over the following three minutes of play. Hanover tied the game at 64-64 with three minutes to go, and used a three-point play with 33 seconds remaining to tie the game at 68-68, before Abbey Schmahl's jumper with six seconds to go gave the Panthers the 70-68 win.

Melissa Eltzroth led Manchester with 18 points, hitting 7-9 from the floor and 4-6 from the three point arc. Brittani Bush added 11 points and three assist, while Kelsey DeMott scored 10 points with four steals and three rebounds.

Manchester falls to 8-9 overall, 6-4 in the HCAC. They will travel to Earlham on Wednesday and Mount St. Joseph on Saturday.


Valpo Men Downed by UIC

David Sivak (Hobart, Ind./Hobart H.S.) won a pair of races for the second straight day for Valparaiso, but the Crusaders fell to UIC on Saturday afternoon 114.5-84.5 at the Athletics-Recreation Center pool.

Sivak posted a narrow 0.13 second victory in the 50 freestyle for his first win on the afternoon, touching the wall in 21.27 seconds. He added another triumph in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 59.02 seconds.

Trevor Trimpe (New Palestine, Ind./Connersville H.S.) finished runner-up for the Brown and Gold in a pair of events on the day. He started in the 1000 freestyle, turning in a time of 10:33.24 before finishing behind Sivak in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:01.94.

Tate Wegehaupt (Tigard, Ore./Tigard H.S.) added a second place mark for Valpo in the 100 butterfly with a time of 56.27 seconds, swimming the event for the first time as a collegian.

Austin Hunter (La Crescent, Minn./La Crescent H.S.), competing for the first time this season, finished second as well on the afternoon, doing so in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.49 seconds.