Saturday, April 20
Syracuse, N.Y.
2:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
4
vs
3
Bucknell
Lehigh outlasts Bucknell to advance to Patriot League final
4/21/2013 3:21:00 AM | Men's Tennis
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – For the second time in three years, the Lehigh men's tennis team will play for a Patriot League title as the Mountain Hawks outlasted Bucknell 4-3 Saturday in a Patriot League semifinal at Drumlins Country Club. The match came down to No. 6 singles where junior Timur Chernykh rallied from a set down to defeat Octavio Canibe in straight sets.
Lehigh improves to 17-5 with the win as the Mountain Hawks avenged a 4-3 loss to Bucknell last Monday in Lewisburg, Pa. The Bison fell to 14-8 with the loss. The No. 2 seeded Mountain Hawks will face No. 4 seed Navy, which upset rival and top seed Army 4-3 in Saturday's first semifinal.
After getting swept in doubles play on Monday, Lehigh battled back to take two of three matches on Saturday. Lehigh's top team of junior Mark Goldberg and sophomore Mitchell Petersen won 8-4 over Aidan Lynch and Evan Zimmer. Bucknell posted a win at No. 3 singles as Canibe and Kelly Morque won 8-3 over Krentz and Gilman. The decisive doubles match was at the No. 2 flight where senior Matt Savran and freshman Jeremy Kochman won a tiebreak 7-3 against Nick Bybel and Josh Katten to take the match 9-8.Savran extended Lehigh's lead in singles play with a convincing 6-1, 6-1 win over Katten at the No. 4 flight, but Bucknell answered with straight set wins at No. 1 and No. 3 singles. Bybel defeated Goldberg 6-2, 7-5 at No. 1 while Zimmer won 6-2, 6-4 at No. 3.
Senior Andrew Krentz gave Lehigh a 3-2 lead with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Kyle Rosen at No. 5 singles, but the Bison tied the match at 3-3 when Morque rallied from a set down to defeat Gilman 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.
The berth in the finals came down to sixth singles, where Chernykh dropped the first set 2-6. He needed a tiebreak to win the second set 7-6 before prevailing 6-4 in the third to send the Mountain Hawks to the Patriot League finals for just the second time in school history. Lehigh fell 4-2 to Army in 2011 after outlasting Navy 4-3 in an epic semifinal inside the Lewis Tennis Center.
Sunday's Patriot League championship match is set for noon from Drumlins Country Club. Lehigh defeated Navy 5-2 on April 13 at the Ulrich Varsity Courts. The Mountain Hawks are looking to win their first ever Patriot League men's tennis title. Navy is the defending tournament champion.
Lehigh 4, Bucknell 3
Doubles
1. Petersen/Goldberg (LU) def. Lynch/Zimmer (BU) 8-4
2. Savran/Kochman (LU) def. Bybel/Katten (BU) 9-8 (3)
3. Canibe/Morque (BU) def. Krentz/Gilman (LU) 8-3
Singles
1. Nick Bybel (BU) def. Mark Goldberg (LU) 6-2, 7-5
2. Kelly Morque (BU) def. Ben Gilman (LU) 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
3. Evan Zimmer (BU) def. Mitchell Petersen (LU) 6-2, 6-4
4. Matt Savran (LU) def. Josh Katten (BU) 6-1, 6-1
5. Andrew Krentz (LU) def. Kyle Rosen (BU) 7-5, 6-3
6. Timur Chernykh (LU) def. Octavio Canibe (BU) 2-6, 7-6, 6-4
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