Bucknell Tennis to Play at Eastern Championships, UConn Invite

Sept. 24, 2009

LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell tennis enters its third week of the fall tournament season with the women heading to the Eastern Championships hosted by Army and the men traveling to the UConn Invitational on Friday, Sept. 25. Both tournaments continue through Sunday, Sept. 27.

WOMEN'S NOTEBOOK

The 2009 Eastern Championships will feature a 30-team field, including Patriot League foes Army and Colgate.
The women's squad will return to West Point, N.Y., for the Eastern Championships after missing last year's event. The Bison last played the tournament in 2007 with great success in doubles competition. Lauren Lucido (Woodstock, Md./St. Paul's School for Girls) and Tania Varela (Quito, Ecuador/Alliance Academy) won the No. 2 doubles draw as the top seed, defeating Rutgers 8-4 in the final. Carlin Calcaterra (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) and former Bison Paulina Gamboa made it through to the quarterfinals of the No. 1 doubles draw before falling to another duo from Rutgers.
Lucido was named the Damon's Bison Athlete of the Week on Monday. The junior won the Flight A Singles at last weekend's Bucknell Invitational to improve her fall singles record to 6-0. It was also the second consecutive year Lucido took the singles title at the home tournament.
Varela recently passed a career milestone, hitting 102 total victories. The senior's record now stands at 102-44, including 47-20 in singles and 55-24 in doubles, to rank eighth all-time at Bucknell.

MEN'S NOTEBOOK

The Bison men also return to Storrs, Conn., after skipping last year's invitational. The Orange and Blue sent two singles players in former student-athletes Ryan Sandburg and Jonathan Brenner to the semifinals in 2007. Sandburg and Brenner also teamed up in doubles, advancing to the semis before losing to Stony Brook. Ira Reibeisen and current Bison Anton Kovic (Montreal, Quebec/Milton Academy (Mass.)) finished runner-up in the No. 1 doubles draw after losing 8-6 to Stony Brook as well.
Youth has been kind to the Bison this fall as the quartet of freshmen have been putting up some impressive results. Through the first two weekends of their careers, the group that includes Josh Katten (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview JFK), Ryan Marcil (Vero Beach, Fla./St. Edward's), Kelly Morque (Rye, N.Y./Rye) and Evan Zimmer (Essex Falls, N.J./West Essex) has amassed a 24-10 overall record, good for a .706 winning percentage.
Kovic entered the top 30 in Bucknell's all-time victories club last weekend at the Northeast Intercollegiate in Providence, R.I. The junior has a career record of 56-58 (19-30 in singles and 27-28 in doubles), ranking 30th in program history.

UP NEXT
Both the men's and the women's teams will return to Lewisburg for the Bucknell Invitational next week. Play begins Friday, Oct. 2 and runs through Sunday, Oct. 4.

Bucknell Tennis to Play at Eastern Championships, UConn Invite

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