Tag: tennis

By Rob Duffy

Managing Editor

Kyle Rosen ’14 and Scott Bernstein ’14 defeated two teammates to win Flight B doubles and three Bison made the finals in singles as the men’s tennis team had a strong outing at the UConn Invitational last weekend. The women’s team also sent two doubles pairs to the quarterfinals in the Eastern Championships in West Point, N.Y.

Rosen and Bernstein’s victory came by an 8-5 decision against Gregg Cohenca ’12 and Mark Mallory ’11 on Saturday. Rosen and Bernstein made the finals following 8-4 victories in the semifinals and second round, and an 8-1 first-round victory on Friday.

“I am very excited for the kind of doubles Kyle and I are playing,” Bernstein said. “Our strategy is to be smart and aggressive, and at the same time to have fun on the court. Our chemistry is becoming stronger and we understand each other’s games better with every match.”

Rosen and Bernstein have quickly clicked as a doubles team. At the same time, the all-Bison final showcases the strength of the program.

“Scotty and I work very well together on court and have a certain dynamic when we play that, I think, is very rare to find with a team that has been together for such a short amount of time,” Rosen said. “It’s also great to me that we ended up playing our own teammates in the final because it goes to show how well Bucknell did in the tournament this weekend.”

In singles play, Bernstein and Kelly Morque ’13 secured another all-Bison final in Flight C. Morque defeated an opponent from UConn in two sets to reach the finals. After losing the first set to his opponent from Bryant University 5-7, Bernstein won the second 6-0 and the third 10-6. The tournament was suspended due to darkness before the final could be played.

Evan Zimmer ’13 lost in the finals of Flight B singles, falling victim to a 10-7 third-set tiebreaker against UConn’s Dave Adams. The final was nearly another all-Bison matchup, as Adams took Josh Katten ’13 deep into a third-set tiebreaker before finally prevailing, 17-15.

At the Eastern Championships, the Bison women’s doubles teams of Dumitria Iepuras ’12 and Elena Vidrascu ’14 and Courtney Casey ’12 and Lauren Rottkamp ’11 each made it to the quarterfinals before losing by decisions of 8-3, Casey and Rottkamp against the tournament’s fourth-seeded pair.

“I believe that the team is doing very well,” Iepuras said. “I can see an improvement every weekend and I am confident that we will keep up the good work till the last Patriot League match this year.”

This weekend, both teams will return home to compete in the Bucknell Invitational, which begins today and continues all weekend.

By Joyce Novacek

Contributing Writer

The men’s and women’s tennis teams opened their seasons with impressive appearances at their respective tournaments last weekend. The men earned two singles titles in the Northeast Intercollegiate in Providence, R.I., while the women claimed two titles in the Bucknell Invitational.

For the men’s team, Scott Bernstein ’14 and Kelly Morque ’13 each won their singles draws and finished the weekend undefeated in singles play.

Bernstein defeated Marist’s Jacob Solley in straight sets to earn his first career title in his debut tournament.

After losing the first set in the Indigo Draw 6-3, Morque came from behind to win the second set and clinched his first tournament title by defeating Norman Gelman from Bryant in a 10-6  tiebreak.

“The team’s mentality going into the weekend was to compete hard and have fun,” Morque said. “Obviously it feels great to win the title, but I know at the same time that it’s just the beginning of the season and there’s still a lot of work to be done.”

Elena Vidrascu ’14 won the Flight C Singles Draw for the women’s team in her tournament debut. Dumitrita Iepuras ’12 and Courtney Casey ’11 also won their singles back draws. Dara Dwojewski ’11 and Lauren Rottkamp ’11 won a doubles title by default.

Vidrascu finished the weekend undefeated in singles play, going 4-0 in the tournament. She defeated Maddie Bittner of Duquesne two sets in a row to earn her title.

In the Flight A Singles Back Draw, Iepuras ultimately overcame Lauren Clifton of Hofstra in a super tiebreak, defeating Clifton 11-9.

Casey defeated teammate Jennie Ciotti ’13 in straight sets to win the Flight C Singles back draw.

“It was very exciting winning my first title, especially because I wasn’t that confident with my match play coming into the tournament,” Vidrascu said. “I felt as if my level progressed with each match that I played, and towards the end I had a pretty good rhythm, especially with my serve.”

She also partially attributed her win to the support of her teammates.

“I was tight playing my first match in doubles and singles, but soon after I loosened up. I think it was the atmosphere of the tournament … just being with my teammates helped with keeping things fun and relaxed, not stressful or anything,” she said.

This weekend, the men’s team heads to Connecticut for the UConn Invitational and the women’s team travels to West Point to compete in the Eastern Championships, hosted by Army.