Bucknell University Athletics
Bybel, Adams to Compete at ITA All-American Championships
10/2/2015 1:55:00 PM | Men's Tennis
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Two players from the Bucknell men's tennis team are preparing to compete against some of the best players in the country at the ITA All-American Championships, which begin on Saturday and conclude on Monday, Oct. 12. Senior Nick Bybel and junior Bryan Adams will each play in singles competition and will team up to compete in the doubles draw. The event will be held at Tulsa's Michael D. Case Tennis Center for the 11th consecutive year.
Bybel, who is currently ranked 95th in the nation, is already a step ahead of where he was at this same event the last two seasons, when he started in the Pre-Qualifying Draw. He was selected to compete in the Qualifying Draw this year and will need three wins to advance to the Main Draw. All players that reach the quarterfinal round of the Main Draw receive an automatic entry into the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships. Bybel's first match will be played on Monday.
Bybel was the 12th seed in the Pre-Qualifying Draw last season and received a bye in the opening round. He went on to defeat USF's Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz 6-4, 6-4, before falling in three sets to Illinois' Aleks Vukic, who is ranked 41st in the nation this season. Vukic won his next match to advance to the Qualifying Draw, where he won an additional two matches.
Adams is set to make his first appearance at the ITA All-American Championships as he opens play in the Pre-Qualifying Draw on Saturday. He will need to advance through three rounds to make it to the Qualifying Draw. The junior enters the weekend with a 4-4 record after going 2-1 and finishing as the runner-up at the Bison Invite. He is 4-3 against non-Bucknell opponents.
The Qualifying Draw for doubles is scheduled to begin on Monday. Bybel and Adams are 4-1 on the year, with the lone loss coming at Princeton's Ivy Plus Tournament. They are coming off a 2-0 weekend to win the title at the Bison Invite. Over the past two seasons, the duo has posted an overall record of 22-4.
“This will be a big test to see where both Nick and Bryan's singles and doubles games are at,” said Bucknell head coach Craig Schwartz. “I feel that if the guys believe in their ability, they definitely can do some damage down in Tulsa. It definitely is an exciting time for the program to have both our first singles player and doubles team in the qualifying draw for the first time ever.”
Notable past winners of the Saint Francis ITA Men's All-American Singles Championship include: John Isner (Georgia, 2005); James Blake (Harvard, 1998); Bob Bryan (Stanford, 1997) and MaliVai Washington (Michigan, 1988).
Players Mentioned
