EBENSBURG, Pa. (Feb. 25, 2011) – Bucknell best the Saint Francis men's tennis team 6-1 on Friday at the Ebensburg Tennis Center, despite a spate of close matches brought on by close matches up and down the lineup.

“Despite the fact that we have been working to pick up our doubles, our men still struggle picking up the doubles point,” said Red Flash head coach Paul Tobin. “This puts a lot of stress on having to pick up four singles wins.”

The Flash duo of Elahn Pogue (St. Catherines, Ontario/West Park) and Nathaniel Fleming got off to their usual hot start with an 8-7 (7-5) victory over Anton Kovic and Evan Zimmer.

“Elahn and Nat pulled off another magic act when they won 7-5 in the tiebreaker.” Tobin remarked.

Unfortunately, the momentum from that opening win didn't carry on through the other two doubles matches, as the Bison took both to claim their first point of the match.

Pogue, again, set the standard in singles play, downing Kovic, 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 1 spot. Bucknell, however, rebounded to win the next five matches, despite some battles by the Flash.

Most notably, Fleming was on the short end of a 7-5, 7-6 (6-2) decision at he No. 3 spot and Stephen Kowalski (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East) fell at No. 4 singles, 6-2, 7-6.

“In singles, the men pushed themselves and I was happy to see some pretty tight sets,” said Tobin. “I feel good about what I am seeing. We're going to do well against conference schools next month.”

Saint Francis returns to action on March 5, when it visits James Madison.


Bucknell 6, Saint Francis 1
Doubles
1. Elahn Pogue (St. Catherines, Ontario/West Park)/Nathaniel Fleming (SFU) def. Anton Kovic/Evan Zimmer (BU), 8-7 (7-5)
2. Josh Katten/Kelly Morque (BU) def. Youlian Natchev (Sofia, Bulgaria/Rovel College)/Kirby Mendes (Unionville, Ontario/Niagara Academy of Tennis) (SFU), 8-2
3. Scott Bernstein/Kyle Rosen (BU) def. Stephen Kowalski (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East)/Andres Rosa (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Colegio la Piedad) (SFU), 8-3

Singles
1. Elahn Pogue (St. Catherines, Ontario/West Park) (SFU) def. Anton Kovic (BU), 6-3, 6-4
2. Gregg Cohenca (BU) def. Youlian Natchev (Sofia, Bulgaria/Rovel College) (SFU), 6-3, 6-1
3. Kyle Rosen (BU) def. Nathaniel Fleming (SFU), 7-5, 7-6 (6-2)
4. Mark Malloy (BU) def. Stephen Kowalski (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East) (SFU), 6-2, 7-6
5. Chris Tortora (BU) def. Andres Rosa (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Colegio la Piedad) (SFU), 6-2, 4-0, default
6. Gregory Maxson (BU) def. Kirby Mendes (Unionville, Ontario/Niagara Academy of Tennis) (SFU), 6-0, 6-2