Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Tennis Travels to Brown for Northeast Intercollegiate
9/17/2009 8:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Sept. 17, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. – With one weekend of play under its belt, Bucknell men's tennis will look to continue its fall tournament success at the Northeast Intercollegiate hosted by Brown Sept. 18-20 in Providence, R.I. The Bison will face a number of schools from conferences such as the Ivy League, Northeast Conference and BIG EAST in addition to Patriot League foe Colgate in the double-elimination tournament.
Bucknell collected a number of top-10 finishes at the 2008 Northeast Intercollegiate, including a pair of victories from Mark Malloy (Bronxville, N.Y./Hackley School) who won the No. 2 singles and the No. 2 doubles while teamed up with Zach Hascoe (Greenwich, Conn./Brunswick). Gregg Cohenca (Purchase, N.Y./Rye Country Day School) and Jonathan Brenner also won the first flight doubles in Providence.
With the year officially in full swing, below is a more in-depth season outlook:
Bucknell is coming off a 2008-09 season in which it played in its third consecutive Patriot League Tournament semifinal, but despite graduating their top three players in Daniel Bednarek, Brenner and Ryan Sandburg, the Bison have not lost ground heading into 2009-10. They return a solid core from last year's squad and welcome four additions with the power to contribute early.
Although early success is always a positive, it is not always a given. Head coach Rebecca Helt and the Bison will have some work to do through the fall tournament season to find out who exactly will step up and fill those vacated roles from last year.
“It's too early to really see who's going to move from down low and really make a bigger impact,” said Helt, who is beginning her eighth year with the men's squad. “One of the key components that we're looking for is to match up our doubles teams, so we're moving people around, trying some different combinations.”
The Bison always hope to finish on top as the season culminates in the Patriot League Tournament. Postseason success would taste extra sweet this year as Bucknell is hosting the league championships April 23-25. Helt is cautiously optimistic when predicting how her men's team will fit into the Patriot League mix in 2010.
“Because we're so young and the make-up of our team going into this year is going to be drastically different than last year it's really going to be hard to say (where the men will finish in the league),” explained Helt. “I think middle to top half of the conference would be a good outlook on that.”
The home-court advantage in April will hopefully work in the Bison's favor, especially since the Bucknell Tennis Courts were resurfaced over the summer.
“It's awesome to be out there. The courts are just excellent,” Helt praised. “I do think that the guys like playing at home. I know that they have a lot of friends and support, so that's going to help. They can stay here and have focused practices right up until the day we play. I think that's going to benefit their performance.”
Those Patriot League Championships are still a long way off and in the meantime Bucknell will spend its days solidifying its lineup. One integral spot that will certainly see some changes is the No. 1 singles position. The Bison have had the benefit of some strong No. 1s over the years. The most recent Bucknellian to fill that position was graduate Sandburg who finished his career in the Orange and Blue last year with the program records in doubles (87) and total (150) victories. That leaves some big shoes for current Bison Anton Kovic (Montreal, Quebec/Milton Academy (Mass.)) to fill. The junior played primarily at the No. 2 singles last spring. Head coach Rebecca Helt knows Kovic will be up to the challenge of following in the footsteps of the winningest players in Bucknell history, but it won't be easy.
“We're going to miss the level of our previous No. 1s as far as Ira Reibeisen and Ryan Sandburg,” said Helt, who is entering her eighth season coaching the men. “We're going to be looking for Anton Kovic to step up into that No. 1 spot and be able to compete at that spot because it's going to be tough.”
Kovic is one of just three upperclassmen for the Bison in the new campaign along with the team's co-captains senior Hascoe and junior Malloy. Hascoe suffered through injuries last spring, but the Connecticut native is sure to produce as he regains his health. Despite his limited playing time, Hascoe still ranks among the best in Bucknell history with 44 doubles wins (ninth all-time) and 89 total wins (10th).
Malloy returns as the squad's lone all-league performer from last year. He finished the season 23-8 in singles and 17-13 in doubles, making him the only player other than Sandburg to have a winning record in both and giving him the highest winning percentage (.656) of all Bison. Malloy will spend the fall season studying abroad, and Bucknell eagerly awaits his return from his Semester at Sea.
To ease some of the pressure on the small group of veterans, the Bison will have to call on their youth. They have plenty as seven student-athletes are sophomores or younger. That number is deceptive in terms of experience, however. Sophomores Gregory Maxson (Mt. Pleasant, S.C./Hotchkiss) and Clark Bogle (Hingham, Mass./Thayer Academy) both put up solid 2008-09 seasons. Maxson was 14-5 in singles, including 4-0 at No. 4. Bogle finished strong in his first year in the Orange and Blue. The walk-on earned the winning point against Lehigh in last year's Patriot League Tournament, helping Bucknell to a 4-2 first-round victory.
Cohenca is a talented sophomore who made a strong start to his career. The New York native went 13-12 in doubles action and posted his best results in singles at the No. 4 spot last year. Heading into the new season, Cohenca will kook to continue his contributions to the team and move up the ranks after working hard to improve his game in the off-season.
Helt is excited about the depth on the men's side and that is in part due to the strong freshman unit. The newest Bison – Josh Katten (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview JFK), Ryan Maril (Vero Beach, Fla./St. Edward's), Kelly Morque (Rye, N.Y./Rye) and Evan Zimmer (Essex Falls, N.J./West Essex) – have a handful of all-state selections and state championship appearances between them. The promise they have shown in the early days of the season has the Bison coaching staff eager to see how they will fit into the mix as the year progresses.
