Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
USTA Tournament
Bybel One of Five Bison into Semis at Flushing Meadows
9/20/2013 10:57:00 PM | Men's Tennis
FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. -- Fourth-seeded Nick Bybel advanced to the A Singles semifinals with a pair of straight-set victories, and he is one of five Bucknell singles players alive in the main draws after the first day of play at the USTA Men's College Invitational at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Octavio Canibe won twice to get into the semifinals in the C Singles flight, and Scott Bernstein, Aidan Lynchand Jordan Lieb all moved into the semis at F Singles. In doubles, Bernstein and Chris Tortora won their opening-round match to get to the quarterfinals in the No. 3 Doubles draw.
Bybel opened up with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Duk Young Park of Morgan State, and then he defeated Dana Parziale of Bryant 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. Up next for Bybel is top-seeded Victor Pugliese of Monmouth.
Canibe cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 win over Monmouth's Jason Rothstein, then had a good tussle with Carlos Carrera of St. Peter's in the quarters. Canibe dropped the first set but came back to win the second 6-3, then he won a third-set super tiebreaker 10-6. Canibe will play second-seeded Oliver Welch of Bryant in the semis.
There will be plenty of Orange and Blue in the F Singles draw. Bernstein is the No. 3 seed in that flight, and he was dominant in his two matches on Friday. He bested Jorge Rodriguez del Rey Rojas of St. Peter's 6-0, 6-4 in the first round and Marist's Aviel Malka 6-4, 6-1 in the quarters. Next up is Plamen Avuski of St. Francis, who upset the No. 1 seed in the flight in the first round.
Lynch and Lieb will face each other on Saturday. Lynch won a three-setter over Lukas Whalley of St. Peter's, then downed John Bogdanovich of Sacred Heart 6-3, 6-1.
Both of Lieb's victories came in third-set super tiebreakers. He rallied from a set down to knock off second-seeded Jacob Solly of Marist, then he outlasted AJ Aziz of Boston College, 10-4 in the third.
At No. 3 Doubles, Bernstein and Tortora posted an 8-5 win over Fabian Valdiviezo and Lukas Whalley of St. Peter's. Kyle Rosen and Jonathan DeFrancesch had a first-round bye in that flight and will also play in the quarterfinal round on Saturday morning.
Play continues through Sunday at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, which is site of the U.S. Open.
Players Mentioned
