Nick Bybel Represents Bucknell at ITA All-American Championships

TULSA, Okla.- This past weekend, the men's tennis team played at home in the Bucknell Tournament, but they were one player short. Junior Nick Bybel spent the weekend in Tulsa at the ITA All-American Championships.

This is the second year in a row that Bybel was invited to Oklahoma for the tournament. Last year, he won in the first prequalifying round and was defeated in the second round. His goal going into this tournament was to make it further than he did last year, and he succeeded.

Coach Craig Schwartz was confident in Bybel's ability to compete with the top tennis players in the country. He said the junior is playing the best tennis of his collegiate career.

"Nick has been playing incredible tennis and we owe a lot of it to his determination and hard work,” Schwartz said. “I believe that the vast improvement of his physical strength is the reason he has taken his game to the next level. He is more than ready to compete against the best players on a regular basis, and he proved that this past weekend.”

Bybel received a bye in the first prequalifying round of play and was named a number 12 seed. On Saturday, he performed in the second round of the tournament and faced Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz from the University of South Florida. Bybel defeated his first opponent, 6-4, 6-4.

In round three on Sunday, Bybel went up against University of Illinois' Aleks Vukic. In recent weeks, Vukic had beaten opponents from University of Georgia and N.C. State who were ranked #17 and #99 in the country, respectively.

The final match was a close one, but Bybel fell to Vukic, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4. In the third set of match play, Bybel was down 5-1 and kept the competition going by bringing the score back to 5-4. Vukic held on, though, and was awarded a spot in the next round (which he went on to win).

Overall, Bybel was very proud of his performance.

“I had my sights on doing better this year than I did last year, and that is exactly what I accomplished,” Bybel said. “It would have been nice to make it through the prequalifying round, but losing in the third round to a very strong opponent is nothing to be disappointed about. It was a tough loss, but I am looking forward to the remainder of the fall season, and seeing what the spring has in store for us.”

This weekend, the Bison will travel to Charlottesville to compete in the Virginia Fall Classic. With one more victory in singles or doubles, Bybel will have 100 career wins at Bucknell.