Terriers to Open PL Tourney with Bucknell Friday Afternoon
April 28, 2016 | Men's Tennis
PL Championship Central
BOSTON - Seeking its first Patriot League title, the third-seeded Boston University men's tennis team will open the conference tournament against Bucknell on Friday with action slated to begin at 2 p.m. at Lehigh's Ulrich Varsity Courts.
In the event of inclement weather, competition will move indoors to the Lewis Indoor Tennis Center.
The Terriers enter the event at 8-10 with a 3-1 mark against Patriot League competition. They first posted a 7-0 win over No. 9 Holy Cross and later claimed wins against No. 4 Colgate (4-3) and No. 5 Lehigh (4-1). Their lone loss occurred at No. 2 Army (4-1) in the final match of the regular season.
BU will face a Bucknell squad that sits at 13-12 and 2-3 in conference play with losses to Lehigh (4-3), Colgate (4-1) and top-seeded Navy (7-0). The Bison's two wins came against No. 8 Lafayette (7-0) and No. 7 Loyola Maryland (4-3).
Both teams reached the semifinals last year with the Terriers falling to eventualy champion Navy and Bucknell falling to Army. The Bison own a 3-1 series against against BU with victories in 2008, 2009 and 2011. The Terriers won on the road in 2014 for their lone victory.
A 2015 All-PL Second Team honoree, junior Jay Leelavanich leads BU with a 7-7 record at No. 1 singles and team-high six doubles victories with classmate Jake De Vries. Last year in the 4-3 quarterfinals victory over Lehigh, both De Vries and junior Lucas Bombonatti posted singles victories at No. 6 and 5, respectively.
Freshman Satyajit Simhadri owns a team-high nine wins in dual singles action with five coming at No. 4. Senior Stefan Lemire and junior Mario Sandoval have also had solid seasons with six wins apiece.
Bucknell is led by two-time PL Player of the Year Nick Bybel, who owns a 17-4 singles record. Andrei Vituic is the other player with double-digit wins at 12 with eight coming at No. 4 singles.
The winner of Friday's match will face either No. 2 Army or No. 7 Loyola on Saturday at 2 p.m.
2016 Patriot League Men's Tennis Tournament Schedule
Thursday, April 28 - First Round
#8 Lafayette vs. #9 Holy Cross, 3 p.m.
Friday, April 29 - Quarterfinals
#1 Navy vs. #8/#9 winner, 10 a.m. (9 a.m. if indoors)
#4 Colgate vs. #5 Lehigh, 10 a.m. (12 p.m. if indoors)
#3 Boston University vs. #6 Bucknell, 2 p.m. (3 p.m. if indoors)
#2 Army West Point vs. #7 Loyola Maryland, 2 p.m. (6 p.m. if indoors)
Saturday, April 30 - Semifinals
1/8/9 winner vs. 4/5 winner, 10 a.m.
2/7 winner vs. 3/6 winner, 2 p.m.
Sunday, May 1 - Championship
Patriot League Championship, 12 p.m.
Players Mentioned
