Bucknell University Athletics
Women's Tennis Opens Patriot League Play with Two Matches this Week
4/1/2015 4:33:00 PM | Women's Tennis
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell women's tennis opens Patriot League play with a pair of matches this week, starting at home against Lafayette on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. The Bison will hit the road for a match at Colgate on Saturday at 10 a.m.
The Bison appear to be hitting the conference portion of their schedule at the right time. They have won three straight matches to improve to 4-9 on the season. The results of those three matches haven't been close, with the Bison out-scoring their opponents 18-3.
Freshman Lisa Jouravleva leads a trio of Bucknell players with a winning streak of at least three matches in singles. She is 9-4 during the spring and unbeaten in the past four singles contests. She hasn't lost in singles since falling to Northern Illinois' Cristina Alvarez on March 10.
Senior Maria Cioffi and freshman Madeline Melch have both won three consecutive matches. Cioffi is 5-6 on the season and hasn't lost since the team's trip to Florida. Melch hasn't lost since the spring trip either, running her record to 4-7.
Junior Stephanie Pino has held down the top spot at No. 1 doubles with success as of late. She has recorded a victory in each of the past three matches, teaming with Jouravleva against St. Cloud State and with Cioffi against Mount St. Mary's and Villanova.
Lafayette is 2-7 overall and 1-2 in the Patriot League. The Leopards beat Holy Cross before falling to Loyola (Md.) and Army in conference play. Colgate is 5-9 overall and 1-1 in conference play, including a win over Holy Cross and a loss to Loyola (Md.).
Bucknell won both of its matches against Lafayette and Colgate last season, defeating the Leopards 6-1 and the Raiders 4-0.
Players Mentioned
