Bucknell University Athletics
Men's Tennis to Conclude League Play at Lehigh on Wednesday
4/15/2014 4:17:00 PM | Men's Tennis
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell men's tennis team will look to conclude Patriot League play on a high note on Wednesday when it makes the short trip to Bethlehem for a 3:30 p.m. match at Lehigh. The Bison, who earned a 5-2 win over Lafayette on Saturday, are currently 3-14 overall and 2-3 in conference action, and a victory over the Mountain Hawks would give them back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
“After a nice win against Lafayette, we are really feeling good about our match versus Lehigh,” said interim head men's tennis coach Craig Schwartz. “I think the guys are ready to go out and do whatever is necessary to get the win. We worked really hard on our doubles this week, and I think that is where we need to show up. When we have played this team in the past, whoever gets the doubles point typically wins the match.”
Bucknell comes into the match on the heels of a busy weekend of action, as the squad lost a tight contest to Temple in non-conference play on Saturday before taking the win over Lafayette on Sunday. Sophomore Nick Bybel, who was selected as the Bison Athlete of the Week on Monday, was 4-0 on the weekend, combining with senior Aidan Lynch for two wins at No. 1 doubles and extending his winning streak to seven with his pair of victories at the top singles spot. The sophomore, who is undefeated in Patriot League play, also broke the program record for single-season singles wins on Sunday, improving to 25-9 on the season.
While the Leopards took the doubles point from the Bison on Sunday with wins at No. 2 and No. 3, Bucknell took five of the six singles matches to earn the team victory. In addition to Bybel, freshman Bryan Adams, junior Octavio Canibe, senior Kyle Rosen and junior Jonathan DeFrancesch all triumphed in their individual matches. Rosen is now tied for 11th in program history in all-time singles victories (51-56) and is 23rd in all-time victories (73-81), while Canibe is 24th on the singles list (42-39) and 23rd in the all-time standings (75-70).
Bucknell and Lehigh have met 78 times since 1921, with each squad winning 39 of those matches. The Bison have experienced more success in recent years, defeating the Mountain Hawks in eight of their last ten matches, but the two teams split a pair of contests last year. Bucknell earned a 4-3 victory in the regular season, while Lehigh took the 4-3 win in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals last April.
The Mountain Hawks are currently ranked fourth in the conference with a 1-1 record, but they are still scheduled to play Navy, Lafayette and Loyola in addition to Wednesday's match against Bucknell. Lehigh most recently earned a 6-1 win over Colgate on Saturday, but was defeated by the same margin when visited by Army on April 5.
After Wednesday's contest, the Bison will play one final dual match at Bloomsburg on April 22 before heading to West Point for the Patriot League men's tennis tournament from April 24 to 27.
Players Mentioned
