Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
UMBC
Bucknell Men's and Women's Tennis Both Fall to UMBC
4/16/2004 8:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 16, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Both Bucknell tennis teams were defeated by visiting Maryland-Baltimore County on Friday afternoon, both 5-2, with each loss ending a possibility for milestones to be met next Wednesday at Bloomsburg for Bucknell's season-ending matches. With two to play, the men's squad (8-10) lost a chance at a winning record after going 7-21 last year, though the Bison men can still finish at .500. Bucknell's women needed to win out in order to achieve a Bucknell-record 17 wins, but will at best win 16 for the fourth time in the program's 31 seasons.
UMBC swept the doubles point on the men's side. Josef Novotny and James Tyler defeated Nick Denefrio and Joe Menezes on court one, 8-4, while Albert Hardja and Mike Keller knocked off Gerald DiChiara and Asher Salam, 8-6 on court two, and Mehrban Iranshad and Mikhail Kouznetsov defeated Matt Pikus and Aaron Saperstein, 8-3 at third doubles.
DiChiara fell at number one singles to Novotny, 6-4, 6-2, while Denefrio scored one of Bucknell's two points at second with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Tyler. Bucknell's other point came at fourth where Menezes beat Djan Gusmao, 6-4, 4-6, (10-6). Kouznetsov defeated Salam, 6-2, 6-2 at third, while Keller beat Pikus, 6-2, 6-1 at fifth and Iranshad defeated Saperstein, 6-1, 6-4 at sixth.
The Bucknell women won the doubles point but managed only one singles win in their defeat. Veronica Brown and Nadezda Curcic defeated Tia Kaasalainen and Lana Khvalina, 8-3 at first doubles, while Samantha Berthod and Rheanna Gaskin knocked off Liz Anderson and Adriana Fonseca, 8-4 at third. UMBC won on court two, where Aimee Lim and Ale Pedegrana defeated Chelsea Mills and Tanya Sichko, 8-1.
Bucknell's lone singles win came at third, where Curcic defeated Lim, 6-2, 6-4. Brown lost to Kaasalainen, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 at first, while Pedergnana knocked off Gaskin, 6-1, 6-0 at second, and Sichko lost to Khvalina, 6-0, 6-4 at fourth. Anderson's 4-6, 6-4, (10-8) win over Mills at sixth was the last match completed, cementing the final score, while Fonseca spoiled Berthod's last singles match at Bucknell, defeating the senior, 6-1, 6-1 at fifth.
The Bucknell men will host Binghamton on Sunday at 12 p.m. for their home finale, while both teams will visit Bloomsburg for their final matches on April 21 at 4 p.m.
MEN'S DOUBLES: 1) Novotny/Tyler (U) def. Denefrio/Menezes (B) 8-4 2) Albert Hardja/Keller (U) def. DiChiara/Salam (B) 8-6 3) Iranshad/Kouznetsov (U) def. Pikus/Saperstein (B) 8-3
MEN'S SINGLES: 1) Josef Novotny (U) def. Gerald DiChiara (B) 6-4, 6-2 2) Nick Denefrio (B) def. James Tyler (U) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 3) Mikhail Kouznetsov (U) def. Asher Salam (B) 6-2, 6-2 4) Joe Menezes (B) def. Djan Gusmao (U) 6-4, 4-6, (10-6) 5) Mike Keller (U) def. Matt Pikus (B) 6-2, 6-1 6) Mehrban Iranshad (U) def. Aaron Saperstein (B) 6-1, 6-4
Team Records: Bucknell: 8-10. UMBC: 6-5.
WOMEN'S DOUBLES: 1) Brown/Curcic (B) def. Kaasalainen/Khvalina (U) 8-3 2) Lim/Pedergnana (U) def. Mills/Sichko (B) 8-1 3) Berthod/Gaskin (B) def. Anderson/Fonseca (U) 8-4
WOMEN'S SINGLES: 1) Tia Kaasalainen (U) def. Veronica Brown (B) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 2) Ale Pedergnana (U) def. Rheanna Gaskin (B) 6-1, 6-0 3) Nadezda Curcic (B) def. Aimee Lim (U) 6-2, 6-4 4) Lana Khvalina (U) def. Tanya Sichko (B) 6-0, 6-4 5) Adriana Fonseca (U) def. Samantha Berthod (B) 6-1, 6-1 6) Liz Anderson (U) def. Chelsea Mills (B) 4-6, 6-4, (10-8)
Team Records: Bucknell: 15-4. UMBC: 10-4.
