Men's Tennis Visits Saint Francis (Pa.) Friday in Ebensburg

Friday, February 10

Ebensburg, Pa.

4 p.m.

Bucknell University

Saint Francis (Pa.)

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Men's Tennis Visits Saint Francis (Pa.) Friday in Ebensburg

2/9/2023 12:51:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Bucknell (1-4) at Saint Francis (Pa.) (2-2)
When: Friday, Feb. 10, 4 p.m.
Where: Ebensburg Tennis Center, Ebensburg, Pa.

Bucknell at a Glance

Less than 24 hours after a tough 4-3 loss to Villanova, the Bison bounced back with a strong 5-2 win over a good Drexel team last weekend at the Central PA Tennis Center in South Williamsport.
Bucknell's first victory of the spring was clinched by freshman Amar Tahirovic, who won a decisive third set from Daniel Dudockin at No. 2 singles. Harrison Gold (1), Nick Mueller (3), and Brendan McDonald (6) also won singles matches against the Dragons, and the Bison earned the doubles point for the second straight day.
In the Villanova match, Michael Owen (4) and McDonald (6) won in straight sets, but Villanova won two three-setters to steal the 4-3 win.
Tahirovic now has a team-high 11 wins on the season, including the fall tournament slate. Owen is next with nine, followed by McDonald with eight after his two wins last weekend.
McDonald was also 2-0 in doubles against Villanova and Drexel, and he has a stellar 12-3 doubles record on the season. That includes a 3-0 mark with Gold at No. 1 doubles this spring.
Gold was selected as the Patriot League Player of the Week on Jan. 24. His 2023 singles debut was a 6-3, 0-6, 6-3 win over Florida Gulf Coast's Magnus Johnson, the two-time Atlantic Sun Player of the Year who was No. 123 in the ITA singles rankings at the time of the match. A day later, Gold posted a straight-set win over Sahmirul Shahril of Southern Miss.
Bucknell competed in five fall tournaments, posting a combined 42-37 singles record and a 21-15 doubles ledger.

Saint Francis at a Glance

The Red Flash opened the spring season with 7-0 losses to Navy and Penn State, but they have since bounced back with a pair of 4-3 wins over Howard and Northeast Conference rival St. Francis Brooklyn.
Saint Francis won the doubles point and then claimed straight-set singles wins in the top three spots to claim the win over the Terriers on Sunday.
Fabio Varella is playing in the No. 1 spot in the lineup, and he also posted a win against Howard.
Adam Kush (11-5) and Matt Kozar (10-4) lead the team in singles wins, including the fall season. The Red Flash have a combined 71-51 singles record and a 31-30 doubles mark.
Saint Francis was a guest at the Bucknell Invitational in the fall. In head-to-head matches involving projected starters, Nick Mueller defeated Varella 6-4, 6-4 in singles, and Mueller and Brendan McDonald defeated Varella and Kush 7-5 in doubles. Michael Owen and Amar Tahirovic lost to that pair in doubles but defeated Zachary Palko and Marc Fuste, 6-3. Tahirovic defeated Fuste 6-4, 6-4 before falling to Kush in a third-set super tiebreaker in the flight final. Tim Zelikovsky was also a three-set winner over Jordi Garcia.
Bucknell is 15-4 all-time against Saint Francis, including a 6-1 win last season in South Williamsport. The Bison won at No. 1-2 doubles and 1-5 singles. All five singles wins came in straight sets, including victories from returning starters Gold, Mueller, Owen, and Zelikovsky.
The two teams first met in 1995. Bucknell won the first 12 and the last three dual clashes, with the Red Flash winning four straight from 2014-18.

Up Next

Following the Saint Francis match, Bucknell plays twice the following weekends against teams from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Bison visit Howard in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Feb. 18, and then return home the next day to face Coppin State.