Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Women's Tennis Caps Off Regular-Season League Slate at Lehigh
4/15/2013 8:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 15, 2013
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell women's tennis will play its final regular-season Patriot League match of the year when it makes the trip to Lehigh on Tuesday. Starting at 3 p.m. in Bethlehem, Pa., the Bison (7-11, 2-2 PL) will be looking to extend their winning streak over the Mountain Hawks (5-13, 2-3 PL) to nine matches. A victory would also keep Bucknell in the top three in the final standings heading into the Patriot League Tournament.
Bucknell has just two regular-season matches remaining on its schedule. Wednesday's bout with Robert Morris has been canceled. That gives the Bison free reign to focus on tomorrow's Patriot League meeting with the Mountain Hawks. Bucknell has not lost to Lehigh since the 2006 season, deadlocking the all-time series record at 23-23. The Bison won twice last year, 5-2 in the regular season and 4-0 in the conference tournament.
Tuesday's outcome will affect this year's Patriot League Tournament. The winner will gain the No. 3 seed, while a loss will drop Bucknell to the No. 4 seed thanks to its head-to-head win against Colgate. The Patriot League Tournament will be played out at West Point, N.Y., April 26-28.
The Bison kept their Patriot League record at .500 last week, splitting with Army and Lafayette. Most individuals also split, including Maria Cioffi and Elena Vidrascu in doubles. The duo is 3-1 in conference matches with its only loss coming 8-5 to the Black Knights. They are the only Bison doubles team with more than one Patriot League win this spring.
Cioffi and Vidrascu have been racking up the wins on the doubles court throughout the year. Overall, they are 17-8 together. The only other tandem with more than five wins is Jen Bush and Stephanie Pino at 6-7. Cioffi and Vidrascu area also 7-5 this spring, again putting them in rare company. Pino and Lydia Colvin are the only other team with more than one spring victory, entering the week at 2-5 together.
On the singles court, Pino has won five of her last seven matches. That stretch improves the freshman's season record to 16-11 and bumps her up to a tie for second-most wins on the team. Cioffi leads the Bison with a singles record of 21-12, while Vidrascu is 16-17. During her recent run, Pino has logged wins against Mount St. Mary's, Villanova, Saint Joseph's, Colgate and most recently Lafayette.
Like Bucknell, Lehigh comes into Tuesday with two wins in its last five matches. The Mountain Hawks' most recent match was a 6-1 loss to Navy on Sunday. Both of Lehigh's conference wins were sweeps, coming at the expense of Holy Cross and Lafayette. They also lost 7-0 to Army and 5-2 to Colgate.
Tuesday won't be the first time the Bison and Mountain Hawks have seen each other this year. Bucknell played at the Lehigh Invitational in the fall and went 4-1 in singles and 2-4 in doubles against its league foe. Cioffi and Vidrascu won two very close matches against Jenai Bilimoria and Abby Farrell by a score of 9-8 both times. Cioffi also took down Farrell in singles in another tight one, 5-7, 6-4, 11-9.
With the cancelation of Bucknell's match with Robert Morris, the Bison will return to the court after Lehigh against Bloomsburg. It will be the final regular-season and home match for the Orange & Blue. The match is set for 4 p.m. on April 24 at the Varsity Tennis Courts.
