Falcons add trio to tennis program

Sumejja Plicanic (BGSU Athletics)

The Bowling Green State University womens tennis program and coach Mike Bonnell announced the signing of Sumejja Plicanic, Konstantina Adamopoulou, and Isabella Norris for the 2024-25 season.

“Sumi will join us in the fall and has a very polished all court game. She can grind opponents down with her consistency, step in and punish the mid court forehands, and transition to the net where she finishes with intelligent and well-placed angles,” said Bonnell.

“She has been in the Croatian national junior rankings since she was a little kid, and I think her transition to college tennis will be seamless.

“I know Sumi can’t wait to be a Falcon and she is going to fit in perfectly with the team we are building. We are excited to have her with us.”

Plicanic joins the Falcons from Zagreb, Croatia and is the daughter of Faris and Amra Plicanic. Plicanic plans to major in Business and has one brother, Lejs and one sister, Reem. Pilcanic graduated from the High School for Tourism and Hotels in May.

Plicanic has made several accomplishments during her early years. She placed first in the U16 Championship of the City of Zagreb in 2017 and placed second the following year in U18. She placed second at the U16 Croatian National Championship and placed first in 2018 and 2019, in U18.

“I think it is an excellent choice because it has a very nice campus for students and there are many choices for majors, it looks like you would feel at home there and there are very good conditions for sports,” said Plicanic.

Adamopoulou joins the Falcons from Athens, Greece and is the daughter of Panagiotis Adamopoulos and Sotiris Vlachou.

Adamopoulou plans to major in Exercise Science and has one brother, Giorgos and one sister, Maria. Adamopoulos will graduate from the 1st High School of Spata in June.

“She’s got athleticism by the boatload and some of the best volleys of any recruit that I have ever recruited. We are going to put both of those things to use very soon,” says Bonnell.

“Konstantina has such a passion for tennis that she is actually hard to reach because she is always on the court, or in the gym. That passion is what we are looking for and it’s going to translate into difference making play in the MAC. Our program gets better with this signing.”

Norris will join the Falcons as a freshman in the fall.

“Isabella Norris is a great addition to our program. Her game is full of potential. She has the exact attitude, work ethic, intelligence, and hunger to get better that we are looking for,” said Bonnell.

“Isabella is going to be very fun to coach and I can’t wait for her to get to BG. I believe her tennis is going to blossom here. With how hard she works on her game, she is going to deserve the success that she gets.”

Norris of Westfield, Indiana is the daughter of Dave and Kim Norris and plans to major in business at Bowling Green.

Norris graduated from Westfield High School in May and has a younger brother, Jacob. Isabella’s father, played football at Western Michigan and her mother was on the track and field/cross country team at Western Michigan.

Norris earned four varsity letters for the Shamrocks and was the 2024 senior team captain. She completed a 40-7 overall record while at Westfield and competed at number one singles for three years.

Norris was named All-District twice and also earned Indiana High School Athletic Association All-Conference twice.

“I chose BGSU because I believe BGSU has the right people, coaches, teammates, faculty, and opportunities to help me achieve my goals and far beyond,” said Norris.