Men's Tennis Visits Saint Mary's Wednesday, Hosts Chestnut Hill Saturday

Bucknell (9-4) at Saint Mary's (1-5)
When: Wednesday, March 15, 5 p.m. ET
Where: Timothy Korth Tennis Complex, Moraga, Calif.

Chestnut Hill (5-2) at Bucknell (9-4)
When: Saturday, March 18, 2 p.m.
Where: Varsity Tennis Courts, Lewisburg, Pa.

Bucknell at a Glance

The Bison put their nine-match winning streak on the line on Wednesday when they take on Saint Mary's as part of a Spring Break trip to California. Bucknell was also scheduled to play UC Santa Cruz on Monday, but that match was rained out. The Bison return home to face Chestnut Hill on Saturday, and then it's all Patriot League matches the rest of the way.
This nine-match winning streak is the team's longest since opening the 1998 season with 15 straight wins on the way to a 19-2 season.
This is tied for the sixth-longest winning streak in team history. The longest was a 23-game stretch in 1970 and 1971. Bucknell went 14-0 and won the Middle Atlantic Conference title in 1970, and then won its first nine matches in 1971 before falling 5-4 to Penn State. That was the only loss of the 1971 season, as the squad rebounded to finish 13-1 and claim a third straight MAC title.
This year's group is coming off a 3-0 weekend of home matches, which included a 6-1 win over Loyola in the first Patriot League encounter of the season. The Bison followed the win over Greyhounds with a 5-2 verdict over Fordham and a 6-1 win over Marist. Last Sunday's match against the Red Foxes was the first home outdoor contest of the season.
The Bison are getting good contributions from up and down the lineup and have been especially strong in doubles. The squad is a combined 24-9 in dual-match doubles and has taken the doubles point in each of the last 10 duals.
Freshman Brendan McDonald is a stellar 20-3 in doubles on the full season, including fall tournament play. He is 11-1 in duals with 11 straight wins, including 8-0 at No. 1 doubles playing alongside Harrison Gold (7-0) and Nick Mueller (1-0). Gold and Mueller are both 12-3 in doubles on the season.
Freshman Amar Tahirovic has the team's best singles record at 17-7. He is 8-4 in dual matches, including a 4-1 record at No. 1 and 4-3 at No. 2.
Mueller, who won all six of his matches in convincing fashion last week, is riding an eight-match singles winning streak and is now 11-3 on the season. All eight of those wins have come in straight sets by a combined game score of 96-36. His last loss came against Southern Miss on Jan. 15.
Michael Owen is also coming off a perfect 6-0 weekend, claiming all of his singles and and doubles matches against Loyola, Fordham, and Marist.
First-year head coach Jason Cohen is back in California this week. Prior to his appointment at Bucknell, Cohen was head coach at Caltech for the previous four seasons.

Saint Mary's at a Glance/Series History

This will be the first-ever meeting between the Bison and Gaels.
Saint Mary's is 1-5 in dual matches this spring, but the losses have come against quality opponents in No. 12 Stanford (7-0), Cal (7-0), Sacramento State (4-3), Weber State (4-3), and BYU (4-0).
Last weekend's scheduled appearance at the Golden Gate Invitational was washed out, so this will be the Gaels' first official competition since the Feb. 18 match against BYU.
James Watt was named to the Preseason All-West Coast Conference Team. A 6'9" graduate student from New Zealand, Watt was an Honorable Mention All-WCC selection last season after finishing 20-16 overall and 5-3 in league duals. He won the A Singles flight at the UCSB Fall Classic last October, and he teamed with Thibaud Maxant to advance to the semifinals of the ITA Super Regionals in doubles.

Chestnut Hill at a Glance/Series History

The Griffins are a strong Division II program competing out of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. They finished 11-6 overall and 7-1 in the CACC last season. Chestnut Hill fell to top-seeded Jefferson 4-2 in the CACC Tournament final and then advanced to the NCAA East Regionals, where it fell to third-seeded Queens College. It was the program's seventh NCAA bid in the last nine seasons.
This year's squad is 5-2 in dual matches, with both losses coming to Jefferson in Philadelphia. Chestnut Hill has a 5-2 win over Loyola from the Patriot League, and most recently it handled UDC 6-1 on March 9. The Griffins are slated to play road matches at Queens on Wednesday and Millersville on Thursday before heading to Lewisburg.
Noah Cutting is Chestnut Hill's top player, posting a 5-1 record at No. 1 singles and a 6-1 mark at No. 1 doubles this season.
Cutting and Tom Pitchley were the eighth-ranked doubles team in the ITA East Region doubles rankings coming out of the fall season. They were also both ranked in the top 15 in singles.
Bucknell is 1-1 all-time against Chestnut Hill. The Bison won 8-1 in 2015, led by wins from Nick Bybel at No. 1 singles and doubles.
Last season, the Griffins won 4-3 in Hershey against a depleted Bison lineup that was missing its two top two players in the lineup in Harrison Gold and Nick Mueller. Michael Owen (1), Tim Zelikovsky (2), and Charlie Nordahl (6) all won singles matches for the Bison.

Up Next

Following this week's matches, Bucknell has two weeks off before heading to Syracuse for Patriot League duals against Colgate (March 31) and Boston University (Apr. 1).
The final home match of the season will be on Saturday, Apr. 8 against Navy. The Bison will celebrate Senior Day prior to the match against the Midshipmen.

Men's Tennis Visits Saint Mary's Wednesday, Hosts Chestnut Hill Saturday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brendan McDonald

Nick Mueller

Charlie Nordahl

Michael Owen

Amar Tahirovic

Tim Zelikovsky

Men's Tennis Visits Saint Mary's Wednesday, Hosts Chestnut Hill Saturday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brendan McDonald

Nick Mueller

Charlie Nordahl

Michael Owen

Amar Tahirovic

Tim Zelikovsky

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