Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Tennis Gears Up for Patriot League Play with Mount St. Mary's, George Mason Before Challenging Navy this Weekend
3/21/2011 8:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 21, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. - After a full week of play in Orlando, Fla., Bucknell tennis will continue its full schedule with three matches this week, starting with Mount St. Mary's at 3 p.m. on Tuesday at the Varsity Tennis Courts. The Bison will then hit the road again for a showdown with George Mason in Fairfax, Va., on Saturday (11 a.m.), followed by their Patriot League opener at Navy on Sunday (10 a.m.) in Annapolis, Md.
MEN'S NOTEBOOK
- With a 3-1 mark in Orlando, Fla., last week, the men's squad has now won six of its last seven matches. That streak brings the Bison's record to 6-5 this spring, giving them a nice boost since starting the dual season 0-4. Last week, Bucknell defeated South Dakota State (5-2), NJIT (5-2) and Boston University (4-3). The lone loss came 6-1 to Liberty.
- Clinching the narrow victory over Boston was a four-hour, three-set match by Josh Katten (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview JFK). Katten came back from a 6-2 first-set loss to the Terriers' Jarred Pendleton to win the final two frames in tiebreakers.
- Mark Malloy (Bronxville, N.Y./Hackley School) had less success against Boston, falling in three sets. The loss ended the senior's six-match winning streak in singles and handed him his first loss at the No. 5 position. Malloy is now 5-1 in dual matches at fifth singles.
- Gregg Cohenca (Purchase, N.Y./Rye Country Day School) and Malloy saw their share of success together in doubles play. The duo went 3-4 on the week, bringing their record to 12-6 when paired together. That includes a 7-1 mark in tournament play and a 5-5 record in duals.
- Evan Zimmer (Essex Fells, N.J./West Essex) finished his Spring Break trip a combined 6-2. That includes a 3-1 mark when partnering with Anton Kovic (Montreal, Quebec/Milton Academy (Mass.)) at No. 1 doubles. Both of Zimmer's losses came against Liberty.
- Several Bison continued to climb the all-time program record lists, while one added his name for the first time. Heading into the late stages of his final season, Malloy is tied for fourth with Asher Salam in combined victories (108-54), fifth in singles victories (57-22) and seventh in doubles (51-32). Kovic is tied with Salam for fifth in doubles victories (53-53) and 14th in combined wins (81-101). Cohenca is 16th in doubles wins (40-34) and tied for 19th in combined wins (73-75). New to the list is Katten who, with a 54-43 combined record partway through his sophomore season, is tied for 34th.
- Bucknell opens its week with a non-conference dual against Mount St. Mary's, which is 4-8 on the season. That includes a 1-8 in spring duals. In the Mount's last five matches, the lone victory came against the District of Columbia, 4-3.
- Mount St. Mary's boasts a young team with seven of its 11 roster members being freshmen or sophomores. The team's top three singles players - Matthew Blake, Mike Salomon and Mike Zabetakis - are all underclassmen.
- Bucknell is 13-2 all-time against Mount St. Mary's, and the Bison have not lost a match to the Mount in more than a decade. When the squads met last year, Bucknell came away with a 6-1 victory. Most of the matches went smoothly in favor of the Orange and Blue, but Zimmer fought back from an early deficit at No. 6 singles. Then a freshman, Zimmer finally defeated Blake, 3-6, 6-3, 10-7.
- George Mason enters the week with a 4-7 record but will host Loyola (Md.) and Mount St. Mary's before welcoming the Bison on Saturday. The Patriots are 2-3 in their last five matches, including a 7-0 loss to Lehigh.
- Bucknell and George Mason have met just once in 1989. The Bison won that matchup, 8-1, to improve their record to 4-0. The contest could have easily been a sweep for the Orange and Blue. Bucknell's only loss to the Patriots came as Reynold Harbin defeated Jerome Charlier 6-7 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.
- Bucknell will open Patriot League play against Navy on Sunday. The Midshipmen are 12-7 in duals so far this year after winning five of their last seven matches.
- Navy, which was picked first in the 2011 Patriot League Preseason Poll, is the defending champions having defeated Army for the title last spring. All four of the Mids' All-Patriot League selections return for another campaign, including first-team honorees Owen Bullard and Jeremy New, and second-team members Nicholas Gutsche and Marcus Rebersak.
- Bucknell is 0-33 all-time against Navy, but the Bison achieved a milestone of sorts when the teams met in the 2010 regular season. Bucknell took the doubles point of the Mids for the first time in series history thanks to wins from Kovic and Kelly Morque (Rye, N.Y./Rye) at first doubles and Zimmer and Katten at third. The Bison had less success in the tournament, falling by a score of 4-0 to end the season. Katten and Zimmer again earned a doubles victory together, but the Mids proved too dominant.
WOMEN'S NOTEBOOK
- The women's squad finished .500 in Orlando last week, bringing its dual record to 4-8. The week started with victories over South Dakota State (6-1) and Marist (6-1) but ended with losses to North Dakota (6-1) and Drake (4-3).
- Lauren Lucido (Woodstock, Md./St. Paul's School for Girls) went a perfect 4-0 at singles. The toughest test for the senior came against North Dakota where she needed extra time to defeat Stephanie Pestis. In the end, however, the match still went in Lucido's favor, 6-4, 2-6, 10-5.
- Dara Dwojewski (Chester, N.J./West Morris Mendham) recorded a combined record of 6-2 in Orlando. Three of those wins came with Elena Vidrascu (Rochester, N.Y./Sutherland) at third doubles. The duo is 5-3 together this year with all of their pairings coming in dual matches. The two first teamed up at Saint Francis (Pa.) and won 8-1.
- Four Bison have reached double-digit wins totals in singles this year, and a fifth is looking to join that list in the near future. Lucido leads the group with a 15-9 record, which includes matches in both tournament and dual play. Courtney Casey (Rockville, Md./Georgetown Visitation) sits at 12-10, while Dwojewski is 10-11 and Dumitrita Iepuras (Chisinau, Moldova/Germantown Friends School) is 10-14. With her recent success, Vidrascu is now 9-9 in singles action.
- Lauren Rottkamp (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor) became the latest Bucknellian to break on to a program record list. The senior was already a top-20 player in singles - she now has a career record of 42-40 to rank 16th - and she is currently tied for 30th in combined victories at 50-55.
- Already in the program's top 20 are Lucido, Iepuras and Dwojewski. Lucido is tied for second with Nada Curcic and Veronica Brown in singles, having posted a 79-35 record. She is also third in doubles (75-34) and combined wins (154-69). Iepuras ranks 10th in singles victories (56-29) and 13th in combined wins (84-59). Dwojewski is 15th in combined (78-93), tied for 16th in doubles (37-47) and 18th in singles (41-46) wins.
- Mount St. Mary's opens the week with an 8-5 record. The team has won three of its last five matches, including South Dakota State (4-3), Bethune-Cookman (5-2) and District of Columbia (6-1). Four players have seven or more singles wins in dual action. Among them is Emily Bucholz, who is 7-6 at the top of the lineup.
- Bucknell is 12-1 in the series against Mount St. Mary's. The Bison won 5-2 when they met last spring, but the two teams have gone up against each other since then when the Mount came to the Bucknell Invitational in September. Bucknell was 2-2 in singles and 1-1 in doubles against Mount St. Mary's, mostly in the early rounds.
- George Mason has started its season with a 14-9 record overall and is already 0-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Patriots recently returned from Springfest in Hilton Head, S.C., where they went 3-2. Victories came against Savannah State (7-0), Siena (7-0) and Concordia (6-0). Prior to their meeting with Bucknell on Saturday, George Mason will take on Mount St. Mary's.
- Both of George Mason's all-conference players return in 2010. Kiersten Pappas and Lindsay Gray were third-team selection last season, and the duo is 10-3 in dual doubles this year.
- Although the Bison and Patriots don't have much history against each other in duals - Bucknell leads the series 2-1 since first meeting in 1985 - the teams saw each other recently at the Bucknell Invitational in October. Bucknell won all three singles matches against George Mason, but the Patriots were 2-0 against the Bison in doubles.
- Navy is 14-9 already this spring after winning three of its last five matches. During their most recently stretch, the Mids defeated Coppin State (6-0), Long Island (5-2) and Stonehill College (6-3). Before hosting Bucknell, Navy will take on Loyola (Md.), Morgan State and Colgate this week.
- Bucknell and Navy were tied for second in the 2011 Patriot League Preseason Poll. Both teams finished with 57 points, but the Midshipmen had three first-place votes while the Bison had none. Navy returns both of its All-Patriot League performers from a year ago in Emani Decquir and Brittney Boucher.
- Bucknell is 2-0 against Navy, which started its varsity program last year. When the squads met in the regular season, the Bison swept doubles and handled the Mids easily in singles play. Navy played it closer in the Patriot League Tournament where it was seeded third to Bucknell's No. 2. Bucknell again won the doubles point, but this time with just two out of three matches going its way. The Bison finished with a 4-1 win overall to advance to the Patriot League Championship against Army.
LOOKING AHEAD
Bucknell will wrap up the month of March by hosting Villanova at 3 p.m. on March 30. The matchup will be the last one out of the Patriot League for two weeks.
