Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Tennis Plays Trio of Matches as Patriot League Tournament Awaits
4/11/2011 8:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 11, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell women's tennis will check a few "lasts" off the list when it takes on Lehigh in its final Patriot League regular-season match at 3 p.m. on Tuesday in Bethlehem, Pa. The Bison's last home match is scheduled for the following day as the team hosts Robert Morris at 3 p.m. at the Varsity Tennis Courts. With the 2010-11 campaign winding down, a third and final match for the week is slated for Saturday, April 16 at 1 p.m. at Georgetown.
ABOUT THE BISON
- After splitting its two matches last weekend, Bucknell is looking for its third consecutive season with double-digit wins. The Bison are 8-10 overall this season having finished 15-7 in 2009 and 14-7 in 2010. The last stretch in which Bucknell recorded a double-digit victory total over at least three seasons came from 2001-02 to 2004-05. The team averaged better than 15 wins per season during that four-year period.
- Lauren Lucido (Woodstock, Md./St. Paul's School for Girls) has already achieved her own sort of third consecutive season. With a 6-0, 6-0 win over Lafayette's Allie Serranko on Sunday, the senior improved her season singles record to 20-10, giving her the third straight campaign with at least 20 victories. As a sophomore, she finished 22-6 before closing out at 28-7 as a junior.
- Courtney Casey (Rockville, Md./Georgetown Visitation) and Dara Dwojewski (Chester, N.J./West Morris Mendham) have each set some season highs already. Casey heads into the week with a 15-12 singles record this year. Her previous single-season high for wins came last season when she went 10-3. Entering the season, the junior was 12-8 for her career. Dwojewski recorded 12 wins in both her freshman and sophomore campaigns, and the senior has upped her season-best mark this year with a 14-13 mark in singles. Her doubles record also marks a career high as she is 13-14. Dwojewski's previous best record came as a sophomore when she went 12-8.
- Dwojewski and Elena Vidrascu (Rochester, N.Y./Sutherland) are attempting to become Bucknell's first doubles team in double-figure wins. The tandem is 9-5 together this season.
- Only three Bucknell doubles teams have a winning record at this point in the season. In addition to Dwojewski's and Vidrascu's mark of 9-5, Dwojewski and Lauren Rottkamp (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor) went 4-2 during the fall tournament season but have not played together since October. Dumitrita Iepuras (Chisinau, Moldova/Germantown Friends School) and Lucido are 4-1 as a duo having first partnered up against Navy on March 27.
- Since coming back from their trip through Florida during Spring Break, the Bison are 4-2 as a team. Individually, they are 23-13 (.639) in singles matches and 11-7 (.611) in doubles. In the six matches prior to that stretch, Bucknell is 2-4 as a team with a 13-23 (.361) singles mark and a 6-12 (.333) doubles record.
- Bucknell started the spring 0-14 at the No. 3 singles position. Rottkamp has helped to turn that around in recent matches, winning three of the last four contests at that lineup spot.
ABOUT THE MOUNTAIN HAWKS
- Lehigh is 5-10 overall and 1-1 in the Patriot League. The Mountain Hawks have won four of their last five matches, with the lone loss coming in a sweep against Navy on April 3.
- After going 4-14 overall last season, Lehigh was picked fifth in the 2011 Patriot League Preseason Poll. The Mountain Hawks are without Julie Arthofer, who was named the school's first four-time all-Patriot League selection. Arthofer was named to the league's second team in 2010.
- Bucknell trails in the series with Lehigh, 23-20. Last year's meeting drew the Bison that much closer to taking over the lead, however. Bucknell earned the sweep, winning all nine matches.
ABOUT THE COLONIALS
- Robert Morris enters the week with a 5-9 record with a chance to improve that before making the trip to Lewisburg as the Colonials will play Allegheny on Tuesday. Robert Morris has won three of its last five matches. Its three wins - St. Francis (N.Y.), Saint Francis (Pa.) and Wagner - were all convincing. The Colonials dropped just one match in those three contests, although they only complete doubles play once.
- Carolina Mourao-Teixeira leads the team in singles wins with a 10-6 mark. Playing primarily in the No. 2 position, Mourao-Teixeira is also 4-0 in the Northeast Conference. Robert Morris has just two doubles teams with more than two wins this year - Samantha Alves and Isabella Novella at 4-4, and Carla Limon and Mourao-Teixeira at 5-4.
- Robert Morris closed out its 2010 schedule with a 3-19 overall record. The Colonials were also 1-2 in the NEC.
- Bucknell and Robert Morris have met just twice in series history, and the Bison won both showdowns by a 7-0 score. Bucknell claimed straight-sets decisions in every bout last season. The most convincing finishes came at fifth and sixth singles as Casey defeated Ekaterina Rudneva 6-0, 6-0 and Daria Tuzhikova (Minsk, Belarus/Gymnasium No. 7) was a 6-0, 6-0 winner over Sara Meier.
ABOUT THE HOYAS
- Georgetown has won each of its last six matches, bringing its season record to 9-8. Included in that streak are decisions over Howard (6-1), Connecticut (7-0), Providence (6-0), Longwood (7-0), Rutgers (4-3) and Seton Hall (6-1). The Hoyas will take on BIG EAST foe Pittsburgh on Wednesday before hosting the Bison.
- Leading Georgetown in singles wins this season is graduate student Stephanie Wetmore. Wetmore is 20-9 overall and 12-5 in duals, all of which were played at the No. 1 position. The lineup does not drop off much after Wetmore. The Hoya's primary No. 2 singles player, Lauren Greco, is 16-10 on the year and 11-5 in duals.
- Georgetown won the only previous meeting with Bucknell back in 1999. The Hoyas swept doubles play, giving them a 4-3 win after the two teams split the six singles matches.
LOOKING AHEAD
Bucknell will play its final regular-season match when it makes the short trip to Bloomsburg on Tuesday, April 19. Match time is set for 4 p.m. The Bison will then prepare for the Patriot League Tournament April 22-24 in Annapolis, Md.
