Men's Tennis Hosts Delaware Saturday in South Williamsport

Delaware (0-0) at Bucknell (0-2)
When: Saturday, Jan. 21, 1 p.m.
Where: Central PA Tennis Center, South Williamsport, Pa.

Bucknell at a Glance

Bucknell plays its first home dual match of the 2023 spring season on Saturday against Delaware on the indoor courts at the Central PA Tennis Center. This is the first of three home matches scheduled to be played in South Williamsport, although the facility will remain as the team's indoor backup in the event of inclement weather throughout the spring.
The Bison got two matches under their belts last week in Fort Myers, Fla. The squad turned in a number of very competitive matches for a mid-January weekend against two southern teams, but Bucknell fell to Florida Gulf Coast (6-1) and Southern Miss (5-2).
No. 1 man Harrison Gold, coming off an All-Patriot League season a year ago, started his spring campaign in impressive fashion by winning both of his singles matches and splitting two doubles matches alongside Nick Mueller. Gold beat FGCU's Magnus Johnson in three sets last Saturday, and then he came back a day later for a straight-set win over Shamirul Shahril of Southern Miss.
Tim Zelikovsky posted a three-set win over Taras Ignatiuk of Southern Miss at No. 5 singles.
Freshman Amar Tahirovic, playing in the No. 2 singles position, lost both of his matches in three sets last weekend.
Bucknell competed in five fall tournaments, posting a combined 42-37 singles record and a 21-15 doubles ledger.
Tahirovic led the Bison with nine singles wins in the fall. He went 9-3 in tournament action, including a 3-0 record at the Villanova Invitational and a 5-0 mark against Patriot League opponents.
Owen (8-5), McDonald (6-4), Zelikovsky (4-3), Mueller (3-1), and Bain Moreno de Vega (3-2) all had winning singles records in the fall.
Mueller and McDonald teamed up for a perfect 6-0 doubles record in the fall, winning three each at the Bucknell and Villanova Invitationals.

Delaware at a Glance

The Blue Hens are making their 2023 spring debut after playing five fall tournaments.
Bucknell and Delaware were matched up in a mini-flight at the River City Open at Richmond back in October. The Blue Hens won all four singles matches, with two extending to third sets, and the two teams split two doubles matches. Michael Owen and Oscar Bain Moreno de Vega defeated James Wilkinson and Daniel Krulig, 8-7.
Wilkinson, a graduate student from England, was an All-CAA selection last season after finishing 24-11 at No. 1 singles and 14-7 in doubles.
The Blue Hens are coming off a very good 2021-22 season in which they finished 15-9 overall, including a nine-match winning streak to close out the regular season. Delaware was the No. 3 seed at the CAA Championship, the highest in program history, and advanced to the semifinal before falling 4-1 to UNC Wilmington.
Bucknell and Delaware are former conference rivals in both the Middle Atlantic Conference and East Coast Conference. Bucknell leads the all-time series 28-26-1 dating back to 1933.
Delaware rallied for a 4-3 victory in last year's match, which was played indoors in Elkton, Md. The Bison won the doubles point and picked up singles wins from Michael Owen and Tim Zelikovsky in the 3-4 spots, but the Blue Hens took the other four singles tilts.