June 17, 2009
This summer, GoTerriers.com is counting down the top 12 achievements of Boston University teams and student-athletes in 2008-09, one of the greatest years ever for Terrier athletics. Check back each Monday, Wednesday and Friday as we reveal this year's Terrier Twelve.
Coming in eighth in this year's Terrier Twelve is the continuing domination of the women's tennis team in the America East Conference, highlighted by its first move into the national rankings since 2007 and three victories over ranked teams during the regular season. The Terriers, led by AE Player and Rookie of the Year Stefanie Nunic, won their 16th consecutive and 20th overall league title and also earned their 11th straight trip to the NCAA tournament.
BU worked its way up the ladder to finish the year ranked 59th in the last Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) poll and the team started its climb by taking care of business within the state. The Terriers opened the spring with a 4-3 victory over Harvard and followed in February with a 5-2 win against Massachusetts before earning its second straight 4-3 win over then-No. 73 Boston College in April.
After beginning the year with an 8-1 record, though, the women found themselves in a funk, losing four of five games with three of them coming by one point. On March 29 at No. 52 Virginia Commonwealth, senior Cori Lefkowith provided that spark needed to make the season one to remember.
After only taking one game in the first set and trailing 4-1 in the second with the Rams on the cusp of earning the clinching point for the team victory, she rallied for a three-set win (1-6, 7-6(2), 6-1) and gave the Terriers their first victory over a nationally-ranked team since beating then-No. 63 Dartmouth in 2007.
The come-from-behind victory gave the squad a confidence boost, as the women went on to knock off two more ranked teams in BC and then-No. 75 South Florida and then enter the America East tournament riding a four-match win streak.
With the other conference members looking to push them off the podium, the Terriers held tough and defeated UMBC and Binghamton by a combined score of 8-1 to take the crown. Nunic won the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award after winning both of her singles and doubles matches each day in the top spot.
BU had the difficult task of trying to unseat defending national champion and 11th-seeded UCLA in the opening round of the NCAA tournament and put up a valiant effort trying to do so. The freshman Nunic made program history by becoming just the second ever and first since 1999 to win a set in singles action at the NCAAs, but hers was even more impressive given the fact that it came in the top singles contest against a nationally-ranked player, No. 15 Yasmin Shnack. Nunic was leading her match when play was halted after the Bruins won, 4-0.
The Terriers were recently rewarded for their successful season by earning the America East's first-ever invite to the ITA's Kick-Off Weekend, which for the second consecutive season will feature a 60-team field in January and also serve as the qualifier for the 2010 ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
The Terrier Twelve
No. 9 - Conference Crown and All-Americans for Women's Track
No. 10 - Women's Swimming & Diving Conquers America East
No. 11 - Women's Ice Hockey Cracks National Rankings
No. 12 - Rickett Rewrites Records at America East Championship
A Letter from Athletic Director Mike Lynch
