Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Women's Tennis Faces Holy Cross Friday in Patriot League Tournament
4/25/2013 8:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 25, 2013
LEWISBURG, Pa. - After eight months of match play, Bucknell women's tennis will compete in the most important event of the year as it heads to West Point, N.Y., for the Patriot League Tournament April 26-28. The third-seeded Bison will open in the quarterfinals against No. 6 Holy Cross at 3 p.m. on Friday, attempting to make their first championship appearance since 2010.
PATRIOT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, April 26
9 a.m. - No. 4 Colgate vs. No. 5 Lehigh
12 p.m. - No. 2 Navy vs. No. 7 Lafayette
3 p.m. - No. 3 Bucknell vs. No. 6 Holy Cross
Saturday, April 27
10 a.m. - No. 1 Army vs. Colgate/Lehigh
2 p.m. - Navy/Lafayette vs. Bucknell/Holy Cross
Sunday, April 28
1 p.m. - Patriot League Championship
ABOUT THE BISON
- Bucknell defeated Bloomsburg 5-0 in a match shortened by lightning on Wednesday. The victory was the ninth straight over the Huskies and third consecutive overall for the season. That is the longest winning streak of the year for the Bison. The last time they won three in a row was at the end of last spring, when they defeated Lafayette, Robert Morris and Lehigh April 15-20.
- The last time Bucknell won four straight matches was in 2010. The Bison knocked off Lafayette twice, including once in the Patriot League Tournament, Robert Morris and Navy during that stretch. Bucknell also enjoyed a seven-match winning streak that year and won 12 of its last 14 matches.
- With her win against Bloomsburg yesterday, Maria Cioffi extended her personal singles streak to three matches. Stephanie Pino and Christie Schneider also have won each of their last three.
- Cioffi enters the weekend with an overall singles record of 23-12. That is the most since Lauren Lucido went 23-10 during the 2010-11 campaign. Cioffi is also 22-9 in doubles this year. The last time a Bison finished with at least 20 victories in both singles and doubles in the same season was in 2009-10. Lucido was 28-7 in singles and 21-5 in doubles. Tania Varela closed out the same year at 31-6 in singles and 20-8 in doubles.
- Elena Vidrascu is 21-10 in doubles this year. With Cioffi's success, the current Bison duo has given Bucknell its first season with two players at 20-plus doubles victories since 2009-10 when Lucido, Varela and Daria Tuzhikova (20-11) hit the mark.
- Cioffi and Vidrascu are 18-8 when playing together in doubles this year. That is the most victories by a Bucknell tandem since Lucido and Varela went 18-3 together in 2009-10. The last Bison duo to finish with at least 20 doubles wins in a season was Paulina Gamboa and Lucido in 2008-09 as they finished with a record of 20-3.
- In 2011-12, Vidrascu and Iepuras shared the team lead in singles victories with 12 apiece. Three Bison have surpassed that total this year and two more are on the verge of doing so as well. Cioffi leads the group at 23-12, while just behind her is Pino (18-11) and Vidrascu (17-18). Lydia Colvin enters the weekend at 12-15 overall and Jen Bush is 11-14.
- Bucknell went 3-2 against Patriot League foes during the regular season. The Bison lost their matchups with the service academies, falling 7-0 to both Army and Navy. Bucknell won their three remaining matches.
- Cioffi and Vidrascu are 4-1 together in doubles against Patriot League opponents this spring. The lone loss came against Army. No other Bison doubles team has more than one league win. Despite that record, however, Bucknell has won the doubles point in three of five bouts.
- Cioffi and Pino lead Bucknell in Patriot League singles victories. Both freshmen are 3-2 in conference play with Cioffi playing exclusively at No. 2 singles and Pino in the fifth and sixth spots in the lineup.
- In few places are Bucknell's youth and experience more obvious than in its Patriot League Tournament history. Only four Bison have ever competed in the postseason and only Vidrascu has played in more than one tournament. Vidrascu is 2-2 in doubles playing with Tuzhikova and Dara Dwojewski in her career, and 1-2 in singles. Colvin enters this weekend at 1-0 in doubles (with Courtney Casey) and singles, and Elizabeth Morgan is 1-1 in doubles (with Iepuras). The fourth Bison is Schneider who started two singles matches last spring but did not complete either one before the contest was clinched by her teammates.
- Bucknell has been the third seed in the Patriot League Tournament five times since the postseason event went to a team format. The last time was 2011 when it defeated Lafayette and fell to Navy in the semifinals.
- Bucknell is 2-0 in the Patriot League Tournament vs. Holy Cross. Both wins came with the Bison seeded third and the Crusaders sixth. Bucknell won 5-2 in 1996 and 4-0 in 2007.
- Should the Bison defeat the Crusaders on Friday, they will face the winner of the Navy vs. Lafayette match. Bucknell is 1-2 opposite Navy in the postseason and 3-1 against Lafayette.
ABOUT THE FIELD
- No. 1 Army Black Knights (20-6, 6-0 PL): Army did not drop a match during Patriot League play. Even more impressive is that the Black Knights swept their opponent in five of those six matches. The only team to earn a point against Army was Navy, but the Midshipmen still lost 6-1. Army won all nine matches when it played Bucknell in Lewisburg on April 13. Cioffi and Vidrascu came the closest to a win in doubles, but fell 8-5. All six singles bouts were decided in straight sets.
- No. 2 Navy Midshipmen (23-4, 4-1 PL): After earning the No. 1 seed last year, the Mids dropped down to second after their lone league loss against the Black Knights. Navy had a convincing win over Bucknell on March 23 in Annapolis. Bucknell snagged only one victory, an 8-7 (4) win for Cioffi and Vidrascu over Noelle Kaufmann and Erin Snook.
- No. 4 Colgate Raiders (11-5, 2-3 PL): Bucknell claimed its first league win of the year with a 4-3 decision over Colgate in Hamilton on April 6. The Bison won the doubles point thanks to Cioffi/Vidrascu and Bush/Morgan. Pino then clinched the team win with a 6-4, 7-6 decision over Katie Grant at No. 6 singles.
- No. 5 Lehigh Mountain Hawks (5-14, 2-4 PL): Bucknell capped off its regular-season run through the Patriot League with a 5-2 win over Lehigh on April 16. The Bison again won the doubles point after victories from Cioffi/Vidrascu and Colvin/Pino. Cioffi won the decisive match, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 over Abby Farrell at No. 2 singles. Colvin, Pino and Schneider also picked up singles wins.
- No. 6 Holy Cross Crusaders (3-7, 0-2 PL): Bucknell and Holy Cross did not meet during the 2013 regular season. The last time the two squads squared off was in the 2007 Patriot League Tournament
- No. 7 Lafayette Leopards (4-9, 0-5 PL): Bucknell defeated Lafayette 6-1 in Lewisburg on April 14. After claiming the doubles point, the Bison won at second through sixth singles, all in straight sets. The victory for Schneider was the start of her current three-match winning streak.
