Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Saint Joseph's
Men's Tennis Edged by Saint Joseph's, 4-3
3/20/2021 10:26:00 PM | Men's Tennis
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Bucknell men's tennis team played its first road match of the season on Saturday and narrowly fell 4-3 at Saint Joseph's in a nail-biting match that came down to the last singles match of the day. Bucknell won one of three doubles matchups and picked up three of six singles matches, but it wasn't enough as the Hawks remained undefeated on the season, while Bucknell fell to 1-4.
The Bison began the day on a high note by winning the No. 1 doubles spot, as Michael Owen and Cooper Bradshaw continued to have good chemistry and defeated Saint Joseph's Nathan Perrone and Eshan Kanetkar, 7-5. The Bison duo is now 3-1 in the top doubles flight this season.
After Nick Mueller and Sam Yildirimlar fell in No. 2 doubles, Per Astrom and Guillermo Torres took the Saint Joseph's No. 3 duo to the tiebreaker before falling 7-6 (3) and surrendering the doubles point.
After missing a couple weeks, Marwan Abaza returned to his spot in No. 1 singles and lost 6-1, 6-1 to Perrone, who remains unbeaten in the top spot this spring. It was Bucknell's first loss in top-flight singles. The Bison also dropped the No. 2 singles spot, but captured the next three to tie the match at 3-3. Cooper Bradshaw won 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3, Nick Mueller won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4, and Torres won 6-3, 6-3 at No. 5.
Playing in the No. 6 spot was Yildirimlar, who took his opponent, senior Sam Sauter, to three sets before falling 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the match's final decision.
Bradshaw and Torres both earned their first singles wins of the season, while Mueller improved to 3-1 with his victory.
The Bison are on the road again on Saturday to face Temple in Philadelphia, Pa. at 4 p.m. on March 27. Bucknell then hosts the Owls in Hershey, Pa. on Sunday.
Players Mentioned
