Men's Tennis Takes on Pair of New York State Teams

Bucknell (4-4) vs. Siena (4-3)
When: Friday, Feb. 24, 7 p.m.
Where: Hershey Racquet Club, Hershey, Pa.

Bucknell (4-4) at St. Bonaventure (3-5)
When: Sunday, Feb. 26, 1 p.m.
Where: SBU Fitness Center, Olean, N.Y.

Bucknell at a Glance

The red-hot Bison men's tennis squad brings a four-match winning streak into a weekend series against two teams from New York State. Bucknell will take on Siena on Friday night in Hershey in a rematch of the Bison's dramatic 4-3 win over the Saints last year, and then they will head to St. Bonaventure for a Sunday-afternoon tilt.
Bucknell swept a pair of MEAC foes last weekend to level its record at 4-4 on the season. The Bison were dominant in a 6-1 road win over Howard and a 7-0 blanking of Coppin State in South Williamsport.
The Bison have made big strides in doubles this spring and have now taken the doubles point in five straight duals. Bucknell has won its last seven matches at No. 1 doubles, with Harrison Gold and freshman Brendan McDonald claiming five of those verdicts. McDonald and Nick Mueller won at No. 1 against Coppin State and are now 7-0 together dating back to the fall season.
McDonald (15-3), Mueller (10-2), and Gold (10-3) all have double-digit doubles wins on the full season.
Another freshman, Amar Tahirovic, leads the team with a 14-6 singles record. That includes a 5-3 mark in dual matches, primarily at the No. 2 spot. Michael Owen (11-9) has also reached double figures in singles wins with an 11-9 record after two impressive performances last weekend.

Siena at a Glance

The Saints improved to 4-3 in dual matches this spring with a 7-0 blanking of Lafayette last Friday. Siena has also beaten Holy Cross, Binghamton, and LIU, with its losses coming at the hands of Dartmouth, Brown, and Boston College.
Siena has garnered three of the last four MAAC Player of the Week honors, with grad student Tomas del Olmo claiming this week's award after winning at No. 2 singles and No. 3 doubles in convincing fashion against Lafayette.
Dante Russo and Edward Vo have also been honored by the MAAC this spring.
Siena was picked second in the 2023 MAAC preseason poll, just behind Fairfield. The Saints were the No. 2 seed in last year's MAAC Tournament but were knocked off by No. 3 Quinnipiac by a 4- 3 margin to finish the season 14-9.
Bucknell and Siena had a few head-to-head matchups during the fall season. Russo won a third-set super tiebreak 10-7 over Harrison Gold in the final of the top flight at The Haggerty Championships at Binghamton in September. Michael Owen and Gui Padilha split a pair of doubles matches at that event, beating del Olmo and JP Davila 6-3 before falling 7-5 to Max Acri and Marvin Oberli in the flight final.
Bucknell is 5-0 all-time against Siena in a series that dates back to 2012. Last year's clash in Latham, N.Y., was a thriller. The Bison trailed 3-1 before Nick Mueller, Ink Chen, and Tim Zelikovsky all fought back to win after dropping the first set. Zelikovsky's 6-7, 6-3, 10-2 verdict at No. 4 singles was the clincher. Gold's win over Russo at No. 1 was his first Bucknell victory.

St. Bonaventure at a Glance

The Bonnies have beaten Mercyhurst (6-1) and Saint Francis (Pa.) (7-0) on the last two Sundays to get to 3-5 on the spring. They also have a Patriot League win over Loyola, followed by five straight losses against quality opponents in Navy, Cleveland State, Xavier, Davidson, and Virginia Tech.
Earlier this week, freshman Archie Graham was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week after winning in the top flight in both singles and doubles against Saint Francis. Graham is 4-3 in singles and 4-0 in doubles with Rasmus Egehus this spring.
This will be the first meeting between the Bison and Bonnies in 10 years. St. Bonaventure leads the all-time series 9-5 dating back to 1994.
Bucknell won the most recent meeting 5-2 in Olean on Feb. 17, 2013. Kyle Rosen clinched the victory for the Bison at No. 5 singles, and Nick Bybel (1), Evan Zimmer (3), and Jonathan DeFrancesch were also straight-set singles winners.

Up Next

Following this weekend's action, the Bison will play at home on three straight days from March 3-5, beginning with the first Patriot League match of the season against Loyola. Fordham and Marist follow on the next two afternoons.
All three of those matches are set to be played outdoors on campus, with the Central PA Tennis Center a backup location in case of inclement weather.

Men's Tennis Takes on Pair of New York State Teams

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ink Chen

Brendan McDonald

Nick Mueller

Michael Owen

Amar Tahirovic

Tim Zelikovsky

Men's Tennis Takes on Pair of New York State Teams

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ink Chen

Brendan McDonald

Nick Mueller

Michael Owen

Amar Tahirovic

Tim Zelikovsky

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