Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Tennis Continues Fall Run at Georgetown Classic
9/22/2011 8:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Sept. 22, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bison tennis got some strong results at last weekend's season opener winning three titles at the Bucknell Invitational, and they'll look to continue on their march this week at the Georgetown Classic. Tournament action in Washington, D.C., runs Friday through Sunday at the McDonough Outdoor Tennis Complex.
BISON NOTEBOOK
- Despite the teams' success over the years, many of Bucknell's champions last weekend were new to the winner's circle. Freshman Octavio Canibe's (Spring, Texas/The John Cooper School) singles title and fellow rookies Jen Bush (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) and Alyssa McAndrew's (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) doubles win came in their first ever intercollegiate event. Although he is one of Bucknell's winningest current players, junior Evan Zimmer (Essex Fells, N.J./West Essex) earned his first title in doubles with Gregg Cohenca (Purchase, N.Y./Rye Country Day School). Of that group, only Cohenca is a previous winner, having taken a doubles title with Mark Malloy in 2010.
- Among the other current Bison who have claimed tournament victories during their careers are Gregory Maxson (Mt. Pleasant, S.C./Hotchkiss School (Conn.)) with two singles titles, Josh Katten (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview JFK) with one singles title, Kelly Morque (Rye, N.Y./Rye) with three singles titles and Scott Bernstein (Westfield, N.J./Westfield), who won a singles title and a doubles title with Kyle Rosen (Armonk, N.Y./Byram Hills) on the men's side. On the women's side, Dumitrita Iepuras (Chisinau, Moldova/Germantown Friends School (Pa.)) has three singles title, while Elena Vidrascu (Rochester, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland) added her first singles win last fall.
- Nearly all of the Bison's doubles combinations at the Bucknell Invitational were brand new. Out of five men's pairings and five women's pairings, Morque and Katten were the only duo with any history together. After going 2-1 and losing in the final to the first-time pair of Cohenca and Zimmer, the two juniors are 17-9 in their career as a team.
- By winning the Flight B draw, Bush and McAndrew became Bucknell women's tennis' first third doubles champions in four years. Recent graduates Dara Dwojewski and Lauren Rottkamp won by default at last year's Bucknell Invitational, and Paulina Gamboa and Lauren Lucido swept the competition at the tournament in 2008. Lucido finished her career as the program's all-time leader in doubles wins (83-35), while Gamboa is fifth (71-56) and Dwojewski is 12th (43-50).
- Iepuras is looking to hit a career milestone and make her way up the record lists this weekend. The senior has a career combined record of 99-66. One more victory will make her the 10th player in program history, and the fourth since 2009, to reach 100 total wins. Iepuras currently ranks seventh at Bucknell in singles wins (63-33), 18th in doubles wins (36-33) and 10th in combined wins.
- After Iepuras, the women's squad's next winningest player is senior Courtney Casey (Rockville, Md./Georgetown Visitation). With her performance last weekend, she is now tied for 25th in singles (31-23), doubles (26-32) and combined wins (57-55) at Bucknell.
- Cohenca and Maxson also made their debut appearance on Bucknell's all-time singles wins list. Both are tied for 17th with 38 victories. Cohenca is already 11th in career doubles wins (47-38) and 15th in combined wins (85-83). Also moving up the ranks in the record books is Katten, who is 21st in doubles victories (35-21) and 24th in combined (68-50).
- The Bison men proved how strong they can be down the stretch when they went 7-3 in super tiebreaks at the Bucknell Invitational. That stat is a bit misleading, however. Each loss is also considered a win, as those three bouts were Bison vs. Bison matchups.
LOOKING AHEAD
The fall season just got underway, but already the Bison are looking at the final stretch of the campaign. The women's squad has just one more tournament before breaking for the winter. They will host the Bison Quad Sept. 30 through Oct. 2 at the Varsity Tennis Courts. The men's team will also play host at the Bison Quad before making the short trip to Bethlehem, Pa., for the Lehigh Fall Championships Oct. 15-16.
