LEWISBURG, PA – With a team that features 10 freshmen and sophomores, Bucknell women’s tennis looks forward to another early fall tournament with a trip to the Mount St. Mary’s Invitational this weekend. The Bison claimed runner-up finishes in four of five draws at last week’s season opener and will look to continue that success as play in Emmitsburg, Md., begins Friday and continues through to Sunday’s finals.
Of the Bison’s four championship match appearances at the Bucknell Quad last weekend, three of them involved freshmen and the fourth came from a sophomore. Maria Cioffi (Williamsport, Pa./South Williamsport) and Stephanie Pino (Berwyn, Pa./The Episcopal Academy) played for a title together in doubles, knocking out teammates Elena Vidrascu (Rochester, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland) and Lydia Colvin (Cleveland, Ohio/Orange) along the way, only to be ousted themselves by Meghan Hahn and Olivia Ott of Loyola (Md.), 8-1. Cioffi went on to fall to Hahn in the Flight A singles final, while Pino fell in the Flight B final.
Claudia Silvers (Hartford, Conn./Kingswood Oxford School) advanced to her first career final with straight-sets wins over Loyola and Saint Francis (Pa.) in the first two rounds. The sophomore now has two singles victories in her first tournament of the year, equaling her total from last season when she went 2-2 in the fall with limited match time.
Cioffi got the better of her elder teammate Vidrascu in both the doubles and singles draws. Cioffi was a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Vidrascu in the semifinals, but Vidrascu was the one to move up the Bucknell record lists by the end of the weekend. The junior co-captain cracked the top 25 for the first time in her career and is now tied for 23rd in doubles with a career record of 28-32. She is also 27th all-time in program history in combined victories at 57-60. Three more wins will make her the 26th Bison to reach the 60 plateau.
Bucknell’s youth become obvious with a look at individuals’ career records. Only three Bison – Vidrascu, Elizabeth Morgan (Charlottesville, Va./St. Anne’s-Belfield School) and Daria Tuzhikova (Minsk, Belarus/Gymnasium No. 7) – have reached double digits in singles wins and only four others have hit double figures in career combined victories. Those numbers can be explained partly by a simple lack of match play. Only Vidrascu and Tuzhikova have even played in more than 100 career matches.
The Bison have one more chance this fall to make some noise on their home courts and that will come on the heels of the Mount St. Mary’s event. The Bucknell Invitational is scheduled for Sept. 21-23 at the Varsity Tennis Courts.
