Men's Tennis Hosts Duquesne, Travels to Saint Joe's this Weekend

Duquesne (6-6, 1-2 A-10) at Bucknell (8-4, 0-0 PL)
When: Saturday, Mar. 23, 1 p.m.
Where: Central PA Tennis Center, South Williamsport, Pa.
LIVE RESULTS

Bucknell (8-4, 0-0 PL) at Saint Joseph's (5-8, 0-0 A-10)
When: Sunday, Mar. 24, 1 p.m.
Where: SJU Tennis Complex, Philadelphia, Pa.
LIVE RESULTS

Bucknell at a Glance

Fresh off a West Coast trip to California and a strong 6-1 win over Temple in Philadelphia last Sunday, the Bison return home on Saturday to face Duquesne. With inclement weather in the forecast, the match will be played indoors at the Central PA Tennis Center. The Bison will then head back to Philly to take on Saint Joseph's on Sunday.
Last weekend, Bucknell defeated Temple for the first time since 1982. The Owls had won all four meetings since then. The Bison went 1-2 on their SoCal trip, defeating Westmont 5-2 before dropping matches to UC Riverside (4-3) and Loyola Marymount (6-1).
The contest in Riverside was a tight one, with four of the six singles matches extending to three sets. The Highlanders won three of those to take the narrow win.
No. 1 player Amar Tahirovic was victorious in both singles and doubles against Temple. Tahirovic is now 17-5 in singles, including an 8-4 record in the top spot in dual matches, and 20-6 in doubles.
Senior Tim Zelikovsky, the team's lone player older than a sophomore, is now 20-2 in singles and 15-5 in doubles this season. He had his 10-match winning streak snapped at UC Riverside, but he has picked right back up with wins against Loyola Marymount and Temple.
Zelikovsky is now 62-23 in singles and 42-29 in doubles in his career. The 62 singles wins are tied for eighth-most in Bucknell history, and his .729 winning percentage would be 10th-best in team annals.
Oscar Bain Moreno de Vega (18-7), Liam Kilmer (16-5), and Adam Stavrakas (14-8) are also in the midst of outstanding seasons, and freshman Will Robinson (8-2 and 3-0 in duals) has filled in nicely when needed.
Bucknell now has a 105-46 (.695) combined singles record and a 55-28 (.663) doubles mark.
The Bison have won the doubles point in nine of their 12 dual matches, with the only exceptions coming against Delaware, Westmont, and Loyola Marymount.

Duquesne at a Glance/Series History

Duquesne comes in with a 6-6 record after snapping a four-match losing streak with a 4-0 win over Mercyhurst on Tuesday. The Dukes have faced one other Patriot League team, defeating Colgate 7-0 on Feb. 10.
In Atlantic 10 play, Duquesne has a 7-0 win over Fordham and losses to Richmond (4-1) and Davidson (4-2).
Duquesne finished 8-8 last season and dropped a 4-3 decision to Saint Joseph's in the opening round of the A-10 Tournament.
This spring, the Dukes have been strongest in the No. 1 and 5 spots in the lineup. Top man Kaipo Marshall with 7-0 at No. 1 singles after compiling a 19-6 record last season.
Jin Dassanayake is 7-1 in duals this spring, including a 6-0 mark at No. 5 singles.
The top doubles tandem is Alfrendo Vogelaar and Keita Duclos, who are 9-2 at No. 3.
Bucknell and Duquesne first met all the way back in 1929, and since then the Dukes have built an 11-6-1 lead in the all-time series.
The last meeting was a 7-0 Duquesne win in Pittsburgh on Feb. 25, 2017. Bucknell's last win was a 5-2 verdict on March 18, 2012. Evan Zimmer and Gregg Cohenca won the deciding doubles match in a tiebreaker, and Josh Katten, Kyle Rosen, and Gregory Maxson all came back to win their singles matches after dropping the first set, helping the Bison defeat a Dukes team that came in with a 10-3 record.

Saint Joseph's at a Glance/Series History

The Hawks are 5-8 on the season and will be looking to shed a five-match losing streak when Bucknell visits on Sunday.
Saint Joseph's has been idle since falling 4-0 at Penn last Friday. The Hawks are 1-1 against Patriot League teams this season, defeating Lafayette 6-1 after falling to Navy 4-1 in early February.
Othman Bezzaz, a freshman from Morocco, leads the squad with a 12-4 singles record, as of the team's last statistical report, including a 6-3 mark at No. 3. Saint Joe's also has a winning ledger at No. 2 singles, where Ernesto Ruy is 4-3 and Bezzaz 1-0.
There were a few Bucknell-Saint Joseph's matchups at the Villanova Invitational last fall. In Singles, Adam Stavrakas defeated Ruy 7-6, 3-6, 10-4, and Brendan McDonald was a 7-5, 6-0 winner over Justus Agbo. In doubles, McDonald and Stavrakas fell 6-3 to Ruy and Agbo.
Bucknell leads the all-time series with Saint Joseph's 21-2, although the Hawks have won the last two, both by 4-3 margins. The teams first met in 1958.
Saint Joe's wins came in 2022 in South Williamsport and in 2021 in Philadelphia. Bucknell's last series win was a 5-2 scoreline at home in 2020.

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