Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
St. Joseph's Invitational
Bucknell Men's Tennis Off to Quick Start at Saint Joseph's Invitational
9/21/2012 8:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Sept. 21, 2012
PHILADELPHIA – Bucknell men's tennis could hardly have asked for a better start to the Saint Joseph's Invitational in Philadelphia on Friday as the Bison went 9-2 in their first round matches. Of those seven opening-day wins, five of them were in singles and the two were over Patriot League foes in doubles. Play resumes tomorrow and continues through Sunday.
Evan Zimmer (Essex Fells, N.J./West Essex), Nick Bybel (Lancaster, Pa./Hilton Head Christian Academy (S.C.)) and Josh Katten (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview JFK) were all three-time winners on Friday. Zimmer defeated Jose Sierra of Saint Joseph's 6-4, 6-4 in Flight 1 singles, while Bybel was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Villanova's Thomas O'Brien in the same flight. The two Bison also teamed up for a quick 8-1 victory over Lafayette's Brandon Goldstein and James Oliver in Flight 1 doubles. They then moved through to the quarterfinals with an 8-3 win over Max Montague and Andreas Urrea of Saint Joseph's.
Zimmer now has 50 career singles wins, tying him for 10th all-time at Bucknell, and 61 career doubles wins, which ranks sixth in program history.
Katten and Kelly Morque (Rye, N.Y./Rye) also collected a pair of doubles wins, first over Patriot League opponents from Army. The Bison claimed an 8-6 win over the Black Knights' Rashad Shelton and Ben Davies to advance to the second round against Hofstra's Ari Richman and Adrien Bailly. Again the Bison came out on top, 8-5.
In singles Katten sailed to a 6-3, 6-0 victory against Kristian Broaddus from Saint Joseph's.
Among Bucknell's other winners were Jonathan DeFrancesch (Manhasset, N.Y./Friends Academy) and Aidan Lynch (La Canada, Calif./La Canada). DeFrancesch's singles victory was his fourth in a row after the sophomore collected his flight title at last weekend's Mount St. Mary's. DeFrancesch defeated La Salle's Dale Fetterman 6-0, 6-1 on Friday. Lynch also knocked an Explorer out of the draw, beating Rob Kasinow 6-4, 6-2.
Action in Philadelphia will pick back up tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.
BUCKNELL RESULTS
Singles - First Round
1: Evan Zimmer (Bucknell) def. Jose Sierra (Saint Joseph's), 6-4, 6-4
1: Nick Bybel (Bucknell) def. Thomas O'Brien (Villanova), 6-3, 6-3
3: Jonathan DeFrancesch (Bucknell) def. Dale Fetterman (La Salle), 6-0, 6-1
3: Josh Katten (Bucknell) def. Kristian Broaddus (Saint Joseph's), 6-3, 6-0
4: Aidan Lynch (Bucknell) def. Rob Kasinow (La Salle), 6-4, 6-2
Doubles – First Round
1: Nick Bybel/Evan Zimmer (Bucknell) def. Brandon Goldstein/James Oliver (Lafayette), 8-1
1: Josh Katten/Kelly Morque (Bucknell) def. Rashad Shelton/Ben Davies (Army), 8-6
2: Devin Bostick/Axel Rebstein (Saint Joseph's) def. Octavio Canibe/Aidan Lynch (Bucknell), 8-4
2: Ryan Peyton/Chris Seitz (Villanova) def. Jonathan DeFrancesch/Kyle Rosen (Bucknell), 8-2
Doubles – Second Round
1: Nick Bybel/Evan Zimmer (Bucknell) def. Max Montague/Andreas Urrea (Saint Joseph's), 8-3
1: Josh Katten/Kelly Morque (Bucknell) def. Ari Richman/Adrien Bailly (Hofstra), 8-5
