Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Tennis Springs into Dual Action Saturday with Saint Francis
2/1/2013 7:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 1, 2013
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Winter hibernation is over for Bucknell men's tennis, which will open its 2013 dual campaign by hosting Saint Francis (Pa.) at 1 p.m. on Saturday at West Branch Tennis Club in Williamsport, Pa. The Bison are undefeated in 12 meetings with the Red Flash, who have already begun their spring season with three losses.
It has been more than a year since Saint Francis took a point off of Bucknell in a dual match. Although some matches were close and the Red Flash earned a win at No. 2 doubles, the Bison won last year's meeting 7-0. First and third doubles both went the way of the Bison by a score of 9-7 before the Orange & Blue swept singles play. Kyle Rosen and Josh Katten had the toughest time with their opponents, going three sets before coming home with the win.
Katten continued his singles success throughout the spring in 2012, eventually finishing the duals schedule with a team-best 15 wins. He was also a member of the team's winningest doubles tandem in duals play, partnering with Evan Zimmer for an 11-1 record.
Katten and Zimmer are both back in 2012-13 along with fellow senior and co-captain Kelly Morque. The trio combined for 23 singles victories and had a hand in 23 doubles victories during fall tournament play. Zimmer shares the team high in wins with Jonathan DeFrancesch with nine apiece in singles, while Morque's 13-3 record is best on the team in doubles.
During the fall, Bucknell claimed four singles titles and two doubles titles in tournament play. Morque contributed to each of the doubles championships, teaming with Octavio Canibe for the Bucknell Invitational title and Aidan Lynch for the final win at the Bucknell Quad. Morque concluded the first half of this season having gone 6-1 when playing with Canibe, 4-0 with Lynch and 3-2 with Katten.
Bucknell's senior trio has firmly established itself in the program record books. Katten, Morque and Zimmer all rank among the top 15 in singles, doubles and combined wins. They also have a shot at moving even farther up the lists this weekend. Katten (61-42) needs one more win to tie Mark Malloy for third all-time in singles. One more doubles win will tie Katten (69-36) with former teammate Gregg Cohenca for second on that list as well. Zimmer (66-32) can move up one spot to fifth with another doubles win, while one for Morque (57-43) will also move him into a tie for eighth with his former teammate, Anton Kovic.
After this weekend's match to shake off the rust, Bucknell will get right down to business with a pair of contests in Pittsburgh Feb. 8-9. The Bison will take on Carnegie Mellon at 6 p.m. on Friday, followed by Duquesne at 2 p.m. on Saturday. It will be more than six weeks before Bucknell will get a look at its first Patriot League opponent, however. The Bison, which were voted fourth in the league's preseason poll last month, will open against Navy on March 23 at Annapolis, Md.
