The women’s tennis team improved its record with an impressive undefeated match against Lafayette on April 9, moving to 4-0 in the Patriot League for the first time ever. Shortly after, the women fell to Army West Point, but were victorious over LaSalle to move to 4-1 in the conference and 12-6 overall.

“Lafayette was a good win for us and we handled the adversity well since we had to play at an indoor facility. We all stayed focused and executed our shots to finish with a 7-0 Bucknell victory,” Melissa Parks ’17 said.

Contributing to the wins, Maria Cioffi ’16 improved her winning streak to 12 matches after defeating Leopard opponent 6-1, 6-1. Madeline Melch ’18 had an impressive undefeated match, dominating the court with a 6-0, 6-0 shutout over the No. 6 seed. Lisa Jouravleva ’18, Lauren Fishbein ’19, and Michele Urbinati ’17 won at No. 2, 3, and 4, respectively to contribute to the Orange and Blue shutout.

In the doubles matches, Fishbein and Jouravleva seamlessly won the No. 2 seed set. Emilie Bush ’18 and Stephanie Pino ’16 at No. 3, and Urbinati and Cioffi at No. 1 followed in their team’s footsteps with effortless doubles victories over their opponents.

The Bison’s match the following day ended on a different note. With an extremely tough 5-2 loss to Army West Point, the Bison lost their undefeated title in Patriot League play.

Cioffi had one of her first competitive matches against Army opponent. She fell short in the first set, losing 4-6, but then showed her persistence by coming back with two straight set wins 6-4, 10-7. This victory gave Cioffi the record of most all-time singles wins in the Patriot League. She also earned the 5th Quarter Fresh Bison Athlete of the Week award for her efforts against both Lafayette and Army West Point.

In doubles play, Cioffi added another win to her list, winning by a mere 6-4 with Urbinati. Other notable performances include Fishbein’s 6-4, 6-4 win in No. 3 singles.

On April 12, the Bison got their mojo back with a complete shutout over La Salle at home. The doubles matches were the highlight of the day, with Pino and Bush clinching the No. 1 seed and Parks and Mishi Papich ’19 undefeated at No. 2. The victory marked the 200th career win for Bison head coach Rebecca Helt, making her the program’s leader in coaching wins.

In singles play, some other players stepped out of the shadows to collect Orange and Blue victories. Bush shutout her opponent to collect a win at No. 3, and Allie Lane ’18 triumphed her rival 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4. Jorie Fox ’17 had her first victory of the season, winning her sets 6-1, 6-0 in the No. 5 seed. Pino won the No. 1 seed with a 6-0, 6-2 match score.

The Bison hope to continue breaking records and having undefeated matches when they take on Navy and Towson April 16-17.