Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Tennis' Varela Named Patriot League Player of the Month
2/4/2010 7:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 4, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell women's tennis' Tania Varela (Quito, Ecuador/Alliance Academy) was named the Patriot League Player of the Month on Thursday. Varela is coming off a Flight A singles championship at the Cornell Invitational last weekend, giving the senior her first title of the season.
Varela battled through some tough matches at Cornell last weekend, but pulled out a pair of three-set victories in the final two rounds of the tournament that included the host Big Red, Binghamton and Buffalo. With the four wins in Ithaca, Varela earned a 4-1 singles record in the last two weeks.
The spring season opened with a competitive match for Varela at Penn State, where she lost in three sets at the No. 1 singles position. After dropping the opening set 6-0 to the Nittany Lions' Lauren McCarthy, Varela came back to win the second set in a tiebreaker. McCarthy eventually bounced back for a 10-3 win in the super tiebreak.
Varela is 12-5 in singles this season to lead the Bison. This fall, she reached 100 career victories and now has a combined singles and doubles record of 111-53. Varela's wins total ranks her sixth all-time at Bucknell.
The Player of the Month honor is the second of Varela's career, having earned the award in May 2008. Varela is also the second Bison to claim the title as the month's top player this season. Dumitrita Iepuras (Chisinau, Moldova/Germantown Friends School) earned the league's award in October as well.
Due to poor weather, the Bison's match against Radford, originally scheduled for Friday, has been postponed. Bucknell's next match will now be at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 13. The Bison will host Pittsburgh at the West Branch Tennis Club in Williamsport, Pa.
