KALAMAZOO -- Western Michigan will conclude the 2009 regular season with a pair of home matches this weekend against Mid-American Conference leader Miami (Ohio) on Friday at 1 p.m. and Ball State on Saturday at 1 p.m. Both matches will take place outdoors at Sorensen Courts and admission is free.
The Broncos (18-6, 5-1 MAC) sit just one match behind the RedHawks (11-6, 6-0 MAC) in the race for the 2009 MAC championship. A win by the Broncos over Miami would move them into a first place tie and give WMU the inside track for the top seed at next weekend's MAC Tournament in Bowling Green, Ohio.
Saturday afternoon will be Senior Day as Ashley Moccia and Kerstin Pahl will be recognized for their contributions to the women's tennis program. This senior class has led Western Michigan to three-straight undefeated MAC championships and are still in the running for a fourth championship this season. Entering this weekend, Moccia and Pahl have helped the Broncos go 77-27 overall and 29-1 in the MAC, including NCAA Tournaments in 2006 and 2007.
Moccia is 30th all-time in career wins at Western Michigan with 141, including 73 doubles victories playing mostly at No. 1 or No. 2. Moccia, who earned her first MAC Player of the Week award this season, is a two-time ITA Scholar-Athlete with a 3.56 GPA majoring in special education.
Pahl will graduate among the greats in WMU history. She has more overall wins (227), doubles wins (116) and singles wins (111) than any tennis player (man or woman) in school history. A two-time First Team All-MAC honoree, the 2008 MAC Player of the Year and 2006 MAC Freshman of the Year is also only five wins shy of tying the MAC record for overall victories and two singles wins away from tying that MAC record. Pahl was recently awarded the prestigious WMU Senior Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year as she is a three-time ITA Scholar-Athlete and two-time Academic All-MAC honoree with a 3.75 GPA majoring in management.
The RedHawks, preseason favorites in the MAC Coaches Poll, will be playing their first conference road match of the season when they visit Kalamazoo after winning six straight in Oxford. Miami is paced at the top of its lineup by freshman Monica Gorny (14-3 in dual matches) at No. 1, sophomore Anastasia Dracheva (13-4) at No. 2 and freshman Stephanie Danesis (12-3) at No. 3, while in doubles Danesis and sophomore Megan Martzolf are 9-4 at No. 1 and Dracheva and Gorny are 10-2 at No. 2.
The Cardinals (5-11, 0-6 MAC) are the only winless team remaining in the MAC. Sophomore Georgina Thomson is 10-5 in dual match singles, while freshmen Hanna Oman and Kylee Johnson and sophomore Hayley Hall have each won six matches. In doubles, Johnson and freshman Sarah Hebble are 8-7, all at No. 2.
The Broncos are 29-3 all-time against Ball State and 17-13 against Miami.
