Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Tennis Eyes Patriot League Foes at Saint Joseph's Invitational
9/20/2012 8:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Sept. 20, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. - After some split-squad competition last week, Bucknell men's tennis will reunite at the Saint Joseph's Invitational in a field of a dozen teams on Sept. 21-23 in Philadelphia. Among those looking to ride recent success into the event is Jonathan DeFrancesch (Manhasset, N.Y./Friends Academy), who claimed his first career title last Sunday, and Josh Katten (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview JFK), who recently took over No. 3 in the Bucknell record books for career victories.
DeFrancesch entered the season with a 2-3 record and after three straight wins in Flight B singles at the Mount St. Mary's Invitational last weekend, claimed his first career title. The sophomore played some relatively close matches throughout the event, defeating opponents from Loyola (Md.) and Morgan State each by scores of 6-4, 6-3 and finally Evan Ward of Morgan State 6-4, 6-4 in the championship bout.
Katten had a tougher go of it at the Farnsworth/Princeton Invitational last weekend, but the effort was still enough to make him the third-winningest player in program history. The senior has a career combined record of 119-72. He has some ground to cover if he hopes to catch No. 2 Ira Reibeisen at 145-114. Katten is also fifth all-time at Bucknell in doubles (62-32) and sixth in singles (57-40).
Katten will look to continue his climb on the record lists this weekend at Saint Joseph's. In addition to competing in Flight 3 singles, he is scheduled to team up with classmate Kelly Morque (Rye, N.Y./Rye) in doubles. The two seniors have a lengthy history together, despite going just 1-1 as a duo at Princeton last weekend. In their careers, Katten and Morque are 30-18 together in doubles, giving them the most wins among current Bison doubles teams. Katten and Zimmer are next on that list at 28-8 when playing together during their Bucknell careers.
The experience found in Katten and Morque's partnership is uncommon among most other Bison doubles tandems so far this year. Octavio Canibe (Spring, Texas/The John Cooper School) and Aidan Lynch (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) are the only two to play together twice this fall, although that will change this weekend when Katten and Morque pair up and Nick Bybel (Lancaster, Pa./Hilton Head Christian Academy (S.C.)) teams with Evan Zimmer (Essex Fells, N.J./West Essex). Two new combos will make an appearance this weekend when Canibe/Lynch and DeFrancesch/Rosen take the court.
While the Bison will have a slightly different look this weekend, some of their opponents should be familiar. Among the 11 other teams heading to Philadelphia are Patriot League foes Army and Lafayette. Bybel and Zimmer will not have to wait long to get their first taste in 2012 of the conference competition as they will play the Leopards' Brandon Goldstein and James Oliver in the first round. Katten and Morque have the Black Knights' Rashad Shelton and Ben Davies in their first-round doubles matchup.
After playing in Philadelphia, the Bison will return home for their next challenge. The Bucknell Invitational, which marks their last home event of the fall, is set for Sept. 28-30 at the Varsity Tennis Courts.
