Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Men's Tennis to Tangle with Mount St. Mary's, Villanova
3/26/2013 8:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 26, 2013
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Doubles continued to be a strong point for Bucknell men's tennis and the Bison will look to keep that going when they host Mount St. Mary's and Villanova this week. Mount St. Mary's will make the first stop, playing Bucknell (7-5) on Wednesday with Villanova following on Thursday. Both matches are scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Varsity Tennis Courts and wins in both would five Rebecca Helt her 100th as Bucknell's men's head coach.
With cold weather wreaking havoc on the schedule last week, Bucknell flipped some play around and ended up relying on doubles to clinch the victory against George Mason. Octavio Canibe and Aidan Lynch pulled out a 9-7 victory against the Patriots, giving the Bison the 4-3 team decision. Canibe and Lynch are 4-2 when playing together in duals with their only losses coming against nationally ranked Princeton and perennial Patriot League power Navy.
The Canibe/Lynch pairing is one of five used by the Bison this spring. All five duos have at least a .500 record, while Nick Bybel and Josh Katten have partnered for a 7-5 record. Bybel, Katten and Lynch each have seven doubles wins this spring to lead the team. In addition to his work with Canibe, Lynch is also 2-0 when playing with Ryan Marcil and 1-1 with Chris Tortora. As a team, Bucknell is 20-14 in doubles duals.
Bybel was the only Bison to go 4-0 in matches last weekend, most recently securing wins at both No. 1 doubles (8-6) and singles (6-4, 7-6 (4)) against Navy. Bybel is the first Bison to earn a victory at first singles against the Mids since at least 1956. He currently shares the team lead in singles wins with a 15-6 record. Katten (15-7) and Evan Zimmer (15-12) are also at the top of the list.
Looking to move up a different list is Kyle Rosen. The junior has a career singles record of 37-36. Two more victories will give him sole possession of 22nd all-time at Bucknell, making him the fourth current Bison among the top 25 along with Katten, Zimmer and Kelly Morque.
The Bison will be looking to get Helt her 100th career win as the men's head coach when they take on Villanova and Mount St. Mary's. Helt kicks off the week with a 98-133 record.
Mount St. Mary's is 8-5 on the year having lost four of its last five matches. The squad returns Mike Salomon from last year when he was named First Team All-Northeast Conference. This year Salomon is 10-3 at third singles in dual play.
Bucknell has a 14-2 all-time advantage over Mount St. Mary's, including a 6-1 win in 2011. Although it has been nearly two years since they have met in a dual, the two squads are still familiar with each other having met at each other's invitationals this fall. The Bison went 2-5 in singles and 2-2 in doubles against The Mount.
Bucknell and Villanova also met this fall at the Saint Joseph's Invitational and again the Bison were on the short end of the record. The Bison's record stood at 2-3 in singles and 0-2 in doubles. Bybel and Zimmer accounted for the lone wins.
While the Wildcats had the advantage in the fall, the Bison lead 9-6 in the all-time series. Bucknell's last duals win against Villanova came in 2006, and they fell to the Wildcats 5-2 last spring. The Bison won two of three doubles matches but could get just one singles win from Zimmer down the stretch. Play was close, however. Gregg Cohenca, Josh Katten and Kyle Rosen all lost in three sets.
Bucknell will return to Philadelphia on April 2 to take on Saint Joseph's, this time in a dual. The Bison also have Colgate (April 6) and Binghamton (April 7) on tap for next week.
