March 10, 2008

HILTON HEAD, S.C. - The Bucknell men's tennis team opened its spring break week in Hilton Head, S.C., with a 6-1 win against Robert Morris Monday night, moving the Bison to 4-3 on the season while Robert Morris now owns a record of 1-6 in 2008.

Junior Ryan Sandburg (Orange, Calif./Canyon) surpassed 100 career wins with Monday night's match, picking up one singles win and one doubles win to bring his career combined victories total to 101. Additionally, following Monday's match, freshman Mark Malloy (Bronxville, N.Y./Hackley School) leads the Orange and Blue with doubles wins on the season (6) while Malloy, senior Ira Reibeisen (Armonk, N.Y./Rye Country Day-Upper School), freshman Anton Kovic (Montreal, Quebec/Milton Academy (Mass.)), junior Jonathan Brenner (Manhasset, N.Y./Chaminade) and sophomore Zach Hascoe (Greenwich, Conn./Brunswick) each boast a team-high four singles wins in 2008.

Bucknell swept all three doubles matches against Robert Morris. At the No. 1 position, Reibeisen and Sandburg defeated David Pinto and Cyrus Manouchehrian, 8-0. The pair are tied for Bucknell's career doubles victories record, now with 61 each. On the season, Reibeisen and Sandburg are now 4-2 at No. 1. At the No. 2 position Brenner and Kovic topped Mateusz Wodzinski and David Yokitis, 8-1 to bring their season record to 4-2 at No. 2, while Malloy and senior Ben Young (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) went 8-4 over Robert Switzer and Nick Paganetti to bring the duo to 5-2 at No. 3 this season.

In singles, Sandburg played at the No. 1 spot, defeating Pinto, 6-1, 6-1, bringing him to 3-5 on the season (1-1 at No. 1). Hascoe topped Paganetti, 7-3, 7-6 and 7-3 in the tie-breaker at the No. 2 position, bringing his record to 4-4 (2-0 at No. 2), while Brenner went 6-2, 6-3 over Sean Curley, to make his record 4-4 (2-0 at No. 3).

At the No. 4 position, Kovic was defeated by Wodzinski, 6-2, 6-7 (6-8) and 10-5 in the super tie-breaking, making him 4-4 on the season (1-1 at No. 4). Malloy improved to 4-3 this season (3-2 at No. 5) with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Switzer. Rounding out singles play, Young was victorious over Daniel Becker, 6-0, 6-2, taking his season record to 2-0 (No. 6).

Playing in exhibition matches were juniors Daniel Bednarek (Haworth, N.J./Bergen Catholic) and Jamie Watson (Darien, Conn./Darien). Both won their matches, 8-2 and 8-1, respectively.

Bucknell will continue play at Hilton Head, taking on Southern Indiana on Wednesday, March 12, at 8 a.m., and will close out the week with a match against Winston Salem State on Friday, March 14, at 6 p.m.

DOUBLES
1. Ira Reibeisen / Ryan Sandburg def. David Pinto / Cyrus Manouchehrian, 8-0
2. Anton Kovic / Jonathan Brenner def. Mateusz Wodzinski / David Yokitis, 8-1
3. Ben Young / Mark Malloy def. Robert Switzer / Nick Paganetti, 8-4

SINGLES
1. Ryan Sandburg def. David Pinto, 6-1, 6-1
2. Zach Hascoe def. Nick Paganetti, 7-3, 7-6 (7-3)
3. Jonathan Brenner def. Sean Curley, 6-2, 6-3
4. Mateusz Wodzinski def. Anton Kovic, 6-2, 6-7 (6-8) (10-5)
5. Mark Malloy def. Robert Switzer, 6-2, 6-2
6. Ben Young def.Daniel Becker, 6-0, 6-2