Bucknell University Athletics
Men's Tennis Opens Four-Match Week at Home on Wednesday and Thursday
3/17/2015 11:57:00 AM | Men's Tennis
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell men's tennis kicks off a busy week with its first home matches of the season. The Bison will host Mount St. Mary's on Wednesday and Rider on Thursday, before traveling to compete at Saint Joseph's and at Chestnut Hill on Saturday.
The Bison enter the week with a record of 5-6, already a two win increase from last season. They are coming off a 2-3 showing last week in Florida, which included wins over Hampton and St. Cloud State and losses to Bethune-Cookman, Southern Mississippi and Creighton.
Junior Nick Bybel was named both the Patriot League Player of the Week and the Bison Athlete of the Week after going 5-0 in singles and 3-1 in doubles last week. He has upped his season record to 26-3 with nine straight wins. With one more victory, he will break his own team record for wins in a season. Bybel also has a chance to take over the top spot on the program's career wins list this week. He is 74-21 during his three seasons with the Bison, just two shy of tying Ira Reibeisen (2004-08) for the record.
Senior Octavio Canibe looks to crack the top-10 list in singles wins this week. He is 52-55 during his career and is just two victories shy of tying Asher Salam (2002-06) for 10th on the list.
Playing anywhere from No. 2 to No. 4, freshman Daniel Wright has posted an 8-2 record during the spring. He has played the majority of the matches at No. 4, where he is 5-1, but is also 1-0 at No. 2 and 2-1 at No. 3.
Joining Bybel and Wright with winning records this spring are freshmen Ben Gerber (4-3), Maxwell Kane (6-5) and William Szamosszegi (3-2). In doubles play, Bybel and Adams have teamed up for all 10 matches and have posted a record of 8-2.
Mount St. Mary's enters Wednesday's match with a record of 6-3, including a 1-0 mark in the Northeast Conference. Bucknell has won each of the past two meetings with The Mount, winning 4-3 in 2014 and 5-2 in 2013. Bybel and Canibe had singles wins in both of those matches.
Rider enters the week at 1-10 overall, including losses to the Patriot League's Army and Lafayette. Saint Joseph's is 5-4, and Division II Chestnut Hill is 4-4, including a 5-2 win over Division I La Salle.
Players Mentioned
