LORETTO, Pa. – Saint Francis University men's and women's tennis are set for four total matches this weekend. Women's tennis will host three matches on Saturday, Feb. 4 against Bucknell and Bloomsburg and its first Northeast Conference match against St. Francis Brooklyn on Sunday, Feb. 5 all at the Ebensburg Tennis Center. Men's tennis also hosts St. Francis Brooklyn on Sunday, Feb. 5 at the Gorilla House Gym.
 
Women's Tennis Quick Hits
The Red Flash enter the stretch of three matches over the weekend with a 1-2 record after a 5-2 win over Binghamton in the fall season accounting for their only victory. In a 6-1 loss to start the spring season against Navy, Valeria Vinces recorded the only Saint Francis match win with a 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 win in No. 4 singles. In the 2022-23 season, Kelly Dowuona and Bente Vandeputte lead Saint Francis with eight singles wins each. Dowuona also leads the team with nine doubles wins, followed by Anoek Pruijmboom's eight.
 
Scouting Bucknell
Bucknell enters Saturday's 11 a.m. match with a 2-4 record and are 0-3 during the spring season. During the spring, the Bison took 7-0 losses to Rutgers and Boston University and a 4-2 loss at Rhode Island. Bucknell's two wins came in the fall season 4-3 over Davenport and 5-2 over Grand Valley State.
 
All-Time vs. Bucknell
Bucknell owns a 7-3 advantage over Saint Francis since the first meeting in 2011. The Bison are on a current four-match winning streak, which included a 6-1 victory last season. In the 2022 meeting, Pruijmboom was the only Red Flash player to record a singles victory with a 6-1, 6-1 win in the No. 3 match over Tyne Miller.
 
Scouting Bloomsburg
Bloomsburg enters Saturday's 4 p.m. match with an 0-1 record after a 7-0 loss to Chestnut Hill College on Sept. 14. The match on Saturday marks Bloomsburg's first of the 2023 spring season.
 
All-Time vs. Bloomsburg
Saturday's match marks the first head-to-head meeting between Saint Francis and Bloomsburg. The Red Flash have participated in the fall Bloomsburg Invitational the past two seasons. In the fall tournament, Bloomsburg's Nicole Ilkovic defeated Vandeputte 2-4, 3-5, Miyake defeated Luana Bernardi 4-0, 4-0 and Jessie Thepsouvan defeated Juliana Kim 4-1, 4-0.
 
Scouting St. Francis Brooklyn
The Terriers enters the weekend with an 0-3 record in the spring after 7-0 losses against Monmouth and Georgetown and a 4-2 loss against Drexel. During the loss against Drexel, St. Francis Brooklyn won both of its matches by forfeit. The Terriers face Duquesne on Friday ahead of Sunday's match.
 
All-Time vs. St. Francis Brooklyn
Saint Francis owns a 14-1 all-time record over St. Francis Brooklyn, but the Terriers won the most recent meeting 4-3 last season. Prior to the 2022 loss, Saint Francis won its 14 matches in a row between 2008-19 by a combined 78-5 match difference. No current Saint Francis players played in a match against the Terriers prior to the 2022 season.
 
Men's Tennis Quick Hits
Saint Francis earned its first victory of the season 4-3 over Howard on Thursday. Fabio Varella clinched the win for Saint Francis with a 7-5, 6-1 victory in No. 1 singles. Saint Francis' other three wins were 6-4, 6-4 in No. 3 singles by Adam Kush, 6-4, 6-3 in No. 5 singles by Christian Banti and 6-2, 6-0 in No. 6 singles by Andrew Teixeira.
 
Scouting St. Francis Brooklyn
The Terriers enter the weekend with an 0-3 record after 6-1 losses at Georgetown and Navy and a 4-0 loss at Drexel. The Terriers face Youngstown State and Duquesne prior to Sunday's match against Saint Francis. In the match against Georgetown, St. Francis Brooklyn earned the doubles point with a victory by Jan Godfrey Sano and Habib Stambouli and Lucas Fiox Sotos and Matheus Paiva. Against Navy, Javier Servera Latorre won a singles match 6-4, 7-6.
 
All-Time vs. St. Francis Brooklyn
Saint Francis holds a 12-3 all-time advantage over St. Francis Brooklyn, though the Terriers defeated the red Flash twice in the 2022 spring season. St. Francis Brooklyn defeated Saint Francis 6-1 in the regular season last year before a 4-0 win in the NEC Tournament. Prior to the 2022 season, Saint Francis won 11 straight matches between 2010-18.
 
Next
Men's tennis is set to host Bucknell on Friday, Feb. 10, while women's tennis travels to Penn State on Saturday, Feb. 11.