Bucknell Tennis to Face Off Against Georgetown, Duquesne This Weekend

Feb. 18, 2010

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell tennis again has a busy weekend schedule as the men's squad will open play on Friday with a 4:30 p.m. match with Georgetown in Bethlehem, Pa., before both Bison teams challenge Duquesne on Saturday. The showdown with the Dukes is slated for a 1 p.m. start at the West Branch Tennis Club in Williamsport.

MEN'S NOTEBOOK

Bucknell heads into the weekend with a 1-3 dual record after splitting its last two matches. The Bison won 6-1 over Saint Francis (Pa.) on Friday and fell 7-0 at Penn State on Sunday. Against the Red Flash, the Bison swept the doubles matches, each by a score of 8-4. Anton Kovic (Montreal, Quebec/Milton Academy (Mass.)) and Gregg Cohenca (Purchase N.Y./Rye Country Day School) won at first and second singles, respectively. Evan Zimmer (Essex Fells, N.J./West Essex), Clark Bogle (Hingham, Mass./Thayer Academy) and Gregory Maxson (Mt. Pleasant, S.C./Hotchkiss) also claimed victories.
With a pair of wins against Saint Francis, Kovic moved into sole possession of 26th on Bucknell's all-time total victories list. The junior is 62-66 in his career and needs just three more wins to tie Jim Lackritz (1970-72) for 25th on the ledger.
At 2-2 in doubles this spring, Bogle and Josh Katten (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview JFK) are the only Bison with more than one win. The duo has 8-4 wins over opponents from Penn and Saint Francis in 2010. Bogle and Katten are 3-2 overall having won at the Bloomsburg Invitational in mid-September.
Katten is looking to be the first Bison with double-figure wins in singles this year. The freshman in 9-7 in his first campaign, but only 1-3 this spring. Classmate Kelly Morque (Rye, N.Y./Rye) has his eye on double-digit victories as well after working his way to an 8-6 doubles tally. Morque has had three partners throughout the year, working with Katten (5-2), Ryan Marcil (Vero Beach, Fla./Saint Edward's) (1-0) and Zimmer (2-4).
Georgetown, the Bison's Friday opponent, is 2-2 this year with its most recent decision ending on the losing side of a 7-0 sweep at Maryland. The Hoyas' wins so far have come over Campbell (3-2) and James Madison (3-2) at the VCU (4+1). David Tillem and doubles team Bryan Miller and Andrew Bruhn came away with wins in each match. Miller and Bruhn are 3-1 this spring as a doubles team.
Bucknell is just 3-8 all-time against Georgetown despite the two teams first meeting in 1936. They last played at the Towson Invitational in September 2002 with the Hoyas coming away with a 4-1 win. The Bison's lone win came from Nick Denefrio at the No. 2 singles position.
Duquesne comes into the weekend 3-5 and like the Bison, the Dukes have a Friday match scheduled against James Madison. Duquesne's wins this year have come against Carnegie Mellon (6-3), Detroit Mercy (6-1) and Wright State (5-2), although it most recently lost 6-1 to George Washington last week. The Dukes return two of their three All-Atlantic 10 selections from a year ago in Mark Maciuch and Jeremy McClelland.
Bucknell is 5-5 in previous meetings against Duquesne. When the Bison and Dukes met last season, Duquesne claimed the 5-2 victory. Cohenca and former Bison Daniel Bednarek each won their singles matches, while Zach Hascoe (Greenwich, Conn./Brunswick) and Mark Malloy (Bronxville, N.Y./Hackley School) earned Bucknell's lone win in doubles.

WOMEN'S NOTEBOOK

The Bison struggled in their second dual match of the year, taking a 6-1 defeat to Pitt last Saturday. Lauren Lucido (Woodstock, Md./St. Paul's School for Girls) claimed Bucknell's lone point in the contest, but she was not the only Bison to earn a win. Dumitrita Iepuras (Chisinau, Moldova/Germantown Friends Academy) and Daria Tuzhikova (Minsk, Belarus/Gymnasium No. 7) also won at No. 3 doubles. The Bison are now 0-2 this spring.
Iepuras and Tuzhikova have proved to be a strong doubles duo. They are now 2-0 since teaming up this spring and are the only Bison to have .500 records in doubles this year. After finishing her freshman year 3-5 in doubles, Iepuras has improved to 5-5 this season. Tuzhikova is 6-6.
With her singles win over Pitt's Adela Aprodu last weekend, Lucido became the third Bison with double-digit singles victories this year. With 10 wins, she joins Tania Varela (Quito, Ecuador/Alliance Academy) and Iepuras who have already tallied 12 and 11 victories, respectively.
Lucido also moves into sole possession of 11th on Bucknell's career singles wins list. The junior is 46-24, and needs just one more victory to tie Karen Stagliano (1988-91) for 10th all-time.
Duquesne is already 2-3 this spring with team wins over Wright State and George Washington. Those victories came in convincing fashion as the Dukes swept both opponents. Like its men's squad, the Duquesne women have two of its three all-conference selections returning in 2009-10. Rachel McGowan and Zena Williams combined for 65 total wins last year.
Bucknell is 8-4 all-time against Duquesne, and that record improved last year when the Bison pulled out a 4-3 victory in Pittsburgh. With the team score tied at 3 apiece, Ashley Globerman came back for a three-set win at No. 6 singles. The recent graduate split the first two sets then won the final five games of the third to improve Bucknell's record. Varela, Lucido and Iepuras also won their singles matches.
Several players from each team have already met this season. Duquesne competed at the Bucknell Invitational last September with varying results. The Dukes were 3-2 over the Bison in singles matches, although Lucido got the final work in the Flight A draw. Lucido defeated Williams and Ana Mungo in the final two rounds to take the title. Duquesne also won both its doubles matches against Bucknell at the tournament.

LOOKING AHEAD
Both squads will be back in action next weekend with the men heading to Ithaca, N.Y., to take on Binghamton at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27. The women will take to the court a day later, facing Penn at 12 p.m. on Feb. 28 in Philadelphia.

Bucknell University Athletics

Bucknell Tennis to Face Off Against Georgetown, Duquesne This Weekend

Related News

Related Videos