Bucknell University
Navy
Bucknell Women's Tennis Advances to Patriot League Championship with 4-1 Win Over Navy
4/17/2010 8:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 17, 2010
HAMILTON, N.Y. – Bucknell women's tennis advanced to its sixth consecutive Patriot League Championship, defeating No. 3 Navy 4-1 in the semifinals in Hamilton, N.Y., on Saturday afternoon. The second-seeded Bison (13-6) earned the opportunity to play top-seeded Army at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow for the league title.
Tania Varela (Quito, Ecuador/Alliance Academy) and Lauren Lucido (Woodstock, Md./St. Paul's School for Girls) opened play with an 8-2 victory over Emani Decquir and Brittney Boucher at No. 1 doubles. Dumitrita Iepuras (Chisinau, Moldova/Germantown Friends School) and Daria Tuzhikova (Minsk, Belarus/Gymnasium No. 7) completed the doubles point for the Bison by defeating Lindsay Olsen and Julie Dias 8-2 at the No. 3 position.
The win for Lucido and Varela is their 18th straight together, which builds on the program record they set in the team's win over Lafayette yesterday. Varela eventually claimed a piece of the longest singles winning streak in Bucknell history by defeating Decquir, 6-3, 6-1, at the No. 1 position. The Bison senior has now won 17 straight, tying her with Sara Allen at number one on the list.
Lauren Rottkamp (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor) clinched Bucknell's fourth point of the day and guaranteed the team's trip to the championship match with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Olsen at No. 6 singles.
Setting the stage for Rottkamp's heroics was Lucido, who also won at singles. Lucido defeated Boucher 6-1, 6-3 at second singles.
Bucknell also led in two matches before the contest was decided. Iepuras had come back from a one-set deficit and led Stefanie Ton 4-2 in the third set at No. 3 singles. Dara Dwojewski (Chester, N.J./West Morris Mendham) also had the edge on Natalie Houle, 6-3, 1-1, at fifth singles.
The Bison will take on the Black Knights in the championship match for the sixth straight year. Army has a 6-0 edge in those contests, but Bucknell gave the Black Knights a run for their money in their most recent regular-season meeting. The Bison fell in a close 4-3 match earlier this month.
Bucknell 4, Navy 1
Doubles:
1. Tania Varela/Lauren Lucido (B) def. Emani Decquir/Brittney Boucher (N) 8-2
2. Stefani Ton/Dyuti Das (N) ahead Carlin Calcaterra/Courtney Casey (B) 7-3 DNF
3. Dumitrita Iepuras/Daria Tuzhikova (B) def. Lindsay Olsen/Julie Dias (N) 8-2
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2 DNF
Singles:
1. Tania Varela (B) def. Emani Decquir (N), 6-3, 6-1
2. Lauren Lucido (B) def. Brittany Boucher (N), 6-1, 6-3
3. Dumitrita Iepuras (B) ahead Stefanie Ton (N), 3-6, 6-2, 4-2 DNF
4. Dyuti Das (N) def. Carlin Calcaterra (B), 6-1, 6-4
5. Dara Dwojewski (B) ahead Natalie Houle (N), 6-3, 1-1 DNF
6. Lauren Rottkamp (B) def. Lindsey Olsen (N), 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 4, 2, 1, 6, 3 & 5 DNF
