Bucknell University
NJIT
Men's Tennis Suffers 5-2 Loss to NJIT
3/14/2021 8:32:00 PM | Men's Tennis
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Bucknell men's tennis hosted NJIT at the Central PA Tennis Center on Sunday for its third match of the season and fell 5-2 against the Highlanders. The Bison picked up two singles wins and came out on top in one of three doubles matches. With the loss, Bucknell moves to 1-2 on the season, while NJIT remains unbeaten at 3-0.
"It was a tough one today. Credit to NJIT. They competed very well," said head coach Bruce Myers. "Without Marwan Abaza and Tim Zelikovsky, we knew we were fighting uphill."
Playing at No. 1 singles for a second consecutive match for the Bison was sophomore Michael Owen. Owen, who earned Patriot League Player of the Week honors last week, won by retirement on Sunday after leading his opponent 6-2, 2-6, 3-1. Owen improved to 2-1 in singles on the season with the victory.
Also earning a singles point for the Bison was junior Nick Mueller, who improved to 2-1 in his first season with the Bison. Mueller won 6-3, 7-5 in the court three spot, defeating NJIT's Amine El Kholti. In his first action of the season, sophomore Per Astrom battled it out with NJIT sophomore Ammar Fekry, going three sets before eventually falling 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in a gutsy effort on court six.
Bucknell, which has been dominant in doubles play of late, won just one of the three matchups. Mueller teamed up with sophomore Guillermo Torres to defeat El Kholti and Adrian Tudor 7-5.
"Nick and Michael continued to play well, and full marks to Per for a three-set match in his first action in a long time," said Myers.
Bucknell returns to play next weekend when it travels to Saint Joseph's on Saturday for the first road match of the spring season. The Bison won 5-2 over the Hawks last February.
Players Mentioned
