Men's Tennis Set to Take on Pair of MEAC Foes

Saturday, February 18

Washington, D.C.

1 p.m.

Bucknell University

Howard

Photo by: Melissa Dudek -- UVA

2/16/2023 10:42:00 AM | Men's Tennis

Bucknell (2-4) at Howard (1-3)
When: Saturday, Feb. 18, 2 p.m.
Where: Washington Tennis & Education Foundation - East Capitol Campus, Washington, D.C.

Coppin State (0-2) at Bucknell (2-4)
When: Sunday, Feb. 19, 12 p.m.
Where: Central PA Tennis Center, South Williamsport, Pa.

Bucknell at a Glance

Bucknell brings a two-match winning streak into this weekend's duals with Howard and Coppin State out of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
The Bison were last in action last Friday at Saint Francis (Pa.) and came away with a 6-1 victory. Bucknell won the doubles point and then added singles wins in each of the top five spots in the lineup. Harrison Gold, Michael Owen, and Nick Mueller were all winners in both singles and doubles.
Gold and Brendan McDonald clinched the doubles point and improved to 4-0 together at No. 1 this spring.
Dominant straight-set singles wins from Gold (No. 1) and Owen (No. 3) set up Amar Tahirovic to clinch the team victory with a three-set win at No. 2 singles.
Tahirovic also picked up the clinching point in Bucknell's 5-2 win over Drexel the previous weekend, and he leads the team with 12 singles wins. The freshman is 12-6 in his debut campaign.
Owen also reached double figures in singles wins with his 6-1, 6-2 victory against the Red Flash.
Bucknell has been much improved in doubles in recent weeks and have now earned the doubles point in three straight duals. McDonald (13-3), Gold (9-3), and Mueller (8-2) all have impressive doubles records this season, including the fall tournament slate.
Bucknell competed in five fall tournaments, posting a combined 42-37 singles record and a 21-15 doubles ledger.

Howard at a Glance

The Bison are 1-3 in spring duals, with the lone win a 4-3 verdict over crosstown rival UDC on Feb. 10. Howard's losses have come at the hands of Saint Francis (Pa.) (4-3), Temple (7-0), and Lehigh (4-0).
Marcel Dawson (No. 2), Hassimiyou Dieng (No. 3), and Pierce Westbrook (No. 6) were singles winners in the victory over UDC.
Dawson is 2-2 at No. 2 singles and 2-2 at No. 1 doubles alongside Justin Cadeau.
Cadeau was a First Team All-MEAC selection last season, when the Bison went 6-8 overall and 3-2 in conference play. Howard was the No. 3 seed for the MEAC Tournament and advanced to the semifinals before suffering a 4-0 loss to No. 2 Morgan State.
Bucknell and Howard were scheduled to meet last season, but the match was rained out. The only other dual between the two sides came all the way back on March 25, 1979. Howard was a 6-3 winner in Lewisburg.

Coppin State at a Glance

Coppin State has played twice this spring, dropping 7-0 decisions to Temple and Saint Joseph's in Philadelphia last weekend.
The Eagles are looking to improve on a 1-13 season a year ago. Their lone win was a 4-3 edging of Norfolk State. Coppin State was eliminated from the MEAC Tournament by North Carolina Central in the first round.
Bucknell and Coppin State have met just once previously, a 6-1 Bison win on Apr. 2, 2017.

Up Next

Following this weekend's action, the Bison will take on Siena next Friday, Feb. 24 at the Hershey Racquet Club. Bucknell won a 4-3 thriller against the Saints last season, with Nick Mueller, Tim Zelikovsky, and Ink Chen all winning clutch three-set singles matches.