Bucknell University Athletics
Senior Men to Represent Bison Tennis at ITA Regional Championships
10/17/2012 8:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Oct. 17, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell men's tennis will take to the court one last time in 2012 when Kelly Morque, Josh Katten and Evan Zimmer head to Charlottesville, Va., for the ITA Regionals Oct. 18-22. Katten and Zimmer were the Bison's automatic qualifiers into the main draws, while Zimmer will attempt to join Morque in the main singles draw after qualifying rounds begin on Thursday.
Katten and Zimmer have had quite a bit of experience playing together over their Bucknell careers. The duo is 8-3 together this fall but 33-10 in their careers. That includes an 11-1 mark last spring leading up to Zimmer's appearance in the NCAA Championships. Zimmer enters the weekend ranked sixth at Bucknell in career doubles victories. With a 66-31 record, half of the senior's doubles wins have come when paired with Katten.
Katten kicks off his weekend in a tie for third all-time at Bucknell with 69 career doubles wins. That total makes up more than half of his combined wins with the Bison. The senior is third in program history with a career record of 130-77. Zimmer is just behind him in fourth at 119-63. After a successful run at the Lehigh Invitational last weekend, Zimmer moved up that list from seventh place for one of the biggest jumps of the season.
Zimmer and Katten are coming off a pair of back-to-back wins at last week's Lehigh event. The Bison duo defeated Loyola (Md.) 8-3 before knocking off the Mountain Hawks 8-4 on their own court.
Zimmer had less luck in singles at Lehigh. Although he easily defeated his opponent from Loyola 6-1, 6-1, he had a much tougher time against Mitchell Peterson of Lehigh, falling 6-3, 4-6, (10-6).
The ITA Regionals, which is being hosted by the University of Virginia, will begin on Thursday for Zimmer. With Morque taking the team's automatic singles bid, Zimmer must reach at least the quarterfinals of the qualifying rounds in order to advance to the main draw. Zimmer is 7-5 in singles this fall.
Morque opens his tournament with a 5-8 singles record. His best streak of the season came when he won three straight matches to take the consolation bracket title at the Saint Joseph's Invitational. Since then, however, the senior has lost each of his last four singles bouts.
The last time the Bison men competed at the ITA Regionals, Anton Kovic and Ryan Sandburg competed in doubles while Sandburg was the team's representative in singles. Kovic and Sandburg defeated St. John's 8-5 in the first round before falling 8-6 in the second round to Penn. On the first day of competition, Sandburg dropped a three-set decision to Harvard in singles. Sandburg ultimately finished his career ranked first all-time at Bucknell in doubles wins (87-50) and second in singles (63-64). His 150 combined victories is also a program record.
The regional event is the last of the 2012 season for Bucknell, which will then begin preparations for the spring dual season. The Bison will return to the court on Feb. 2, 2013 when they host Saint Francis (Pa.).
