Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
ECAC Tournament
Bison Men's Tennis Team Opens Fall Season At ECAC Open
9/23/2001 8:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Sept. 23, 2001
MERCER COUNTY, N.J. - Playing in its first competition of the fall season, the Bucknell men's tennis team traveled to the ECAC Men's Open - Southern Division Tournament this weekend. Four Bison players were in action in singles play, while a duo of freshmen competed in the doubles portion for the Orange and Blue.
The Bucknell doubles team of freshmen Nick Denefrio (Schenectady, N.Y./Niskayuna) and Leland Tien (State College, Pa./State College) reached the championship match in their first competition in a Bucknell uniform. The duo, seeded second in the tournament, defeated the doubles team from Dowling, 6-1, 6-1, and went on to defeat Loyola's doubles squad in the semi-finals, 6-4, 6-1. The only loss the tandem suffered on the weekend was a tough 4-6, 6-3, 5-10 tiebreaker, to top-seeded Towson in the championship match.
In singles action, senior co-captain Alex Davydov (Middlebury, Vt./Middlebury) won his first match at the first flight on Saturday, defeating John McConnell of Loyola, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (5), in a match that took four hours and twenty minutes to complete. Due to fatigue, Davydov was kept out of the rest of the tournament.
Senior Scott Allen (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) was impressive at the second flight, making it to the semi-finals before losing to second-seeded Ilye Ivenov of Dowling, 6-1, 6-0. Allen defeated Tyler Burt of Cabrini, 6-1, 6-0, and received a victory by default on his way to the semi-finals.
At third and fourth singles, respectively, junior co-captain Todd Jacobs (Wayne, Pa./Conestoga) and senior Lee Scarborough (Wilmington, Del./A.I. Dupont) were both 1-1 on the weekend. Jacobs, seeded third, received a bye in the first round and then fell 7-5, 6-3 to Concordia's Cristano Borelli. Scarborough picked up a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Ton Pham of Concordia before dropping a 6-2, 6-4 decision to Dowling's Vitor Garielli.
The Bison men's tennis team is in action again on Sunday, October 7 when it hosts Duquesne for a 2:00 p.m. match.
