Men's Tennis Makes Spring Debut with Duals at James Madison, No. 13 North Carolina

Friday, January 21

Harrisonburg, Va.

5 p.m.

Bucknell University

James Madison

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Men's Tennis Makes Spring Debut with Duals at James Madison, No. 13 North Carolina

1/20/2022 11:04:00 AM | Men's Tennis

Bucknell (0-0) at James Madison (0-0)
When: Friday, Jan. 21, 5 p.m.
Where: East Campus Tennis Courts, Harrisonburg, Va.
Live Results: JMUSports.com

Bucknell (0-0) at #13 North Carolina (0-0)
When: Sunday, Jan. 23, 12 p.m. (Note: updated to a single match after originally scheduled to play twice)
Where: Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Streaming: PlaySight
Live Results: GoHeels.com

Bucknell at a Glance

Bucknell head coach Bruce Myers has put together a challenging spring dual-match schedule, and the Bison dive right in this weekend with a match at James Madison on Friday, followed by a doubleheader at 13th-ranked North Carolina on Sunday.
The Bison competed in four fall tournaments, including their own annual event to get the season started. Bucknell also visited Bloomsburg, Binghamton, and Richmond.
Junior Nick Mueller, a Winchester, Va., native, will pass right through his hometown on I-81 on the way to Harrisonburg. Mueller enjoyed a terrific fall campaign, posting a team-best 8-1 record. Seven of those wins came in straight sets, and his only loss came in the final at the River City Open at Richmond. Mueller was also Bucknell's top player last spring, going 7-4 in duals.
Also returning to his home state this weekend is Mooresville, N.C., native Ryan Jurist. The lone senior on Bucknell's roster, Jurist returned to the squad after taking last season off. He won his first match this fall at the Bucknell Invitational before suffering an injury. He returned at Richmond in October and dropped a couple of marathon matches to close out the fall season.
Myers, now in his sixth season as Bucknell's head coach, also has some ties to the Virginia/North Carolina area. He is a 1993 graduate of Randolph-Macon, where he was a three-year team captain and two-time All-ODAC honoree. He also previously served as head men's and women's tennis coach at Randolph-Macon, head women's coach at Longwood, and head men's and women's coach at North Carolina A&T.
Sophomore Tim Zelikovsky and freshman Nicolas Gruning both posted 6-3 records in the fall. Gruning won the first three, and six of the first seven, matches of his career.
Junior Michael Owen teamed with Zelikovsky for a 3-0 doubles record in the fall.
In addition to this challenging start, Bucknell has upcoming non-conference matches against the likes of Michigan State, Toledo, Dartmouth, and Cornell.
Navy will serve as the host of the 2022 Patriot League Championship, Apr. 29-May 1.

James Madison at a Glance

The Dukes posted an 8-8 record in dual matches last spring and lost to UNCW in the Colonial Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals.
This will be James Madison's first official dual match of 2022, but the Dukes have already competed this winter. They competed against College of Charleston, Liberty, and Youngstown State at the Liberty Spring Hidden Dual last weekend in Lynchburg.
Holden Koons (11-8), a York, Pa., native, and Oscar Hernandez (9-6) have been JMU's top singles players in tournament action, dating back to the fall.
Koons and William Karpinski have a team-best 7-4 doubles record.

North Carolina at a Glance

The Tar Heels are ranked No. 13 in this week's ITA coaches' poll.
North Carolina finished last season ranked sixth nationally with a 21-4 record after reaching the final 16 at the NCAA Tournament. That team also won the 2021 ITA Indoor Team national championship. The Tar Heels return three seniors and five key players from that squad.
Brian Cernoch is currently the No. 60 ranked singles player in the nation in the ITA rankings, while the doubles tandem of Casey Kania and Logan Zapp are ranked 20th.
Sunday's matches against Bucknell will be the Tar Heels' first duals of the spring, although the team was in action last weekend at the MLK Invitational in Atlanta.

Next Up

Bucknell will play a pair of matches in East Lansing, Mich., on Saturday, Jan. 29. The Bison will face Toledo at 2 p.m., followed by host Michigan State at 6 p.m.

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