Men's Tennis Falls to Colgate in Patriot League Quarterfinals

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Bucknell men's tennis team competed against Colgate in the quarterfinal round of the Patriot League Championships at Lehigh on Friday and fell 4-3 to the fifth-seeded Raiders. The Bison won three singles matches and took one of three in doubles, but their season comes to an end with the narrow loss.

Bucknell fought hard throughout the afternoon, as five of the singles matches went to either a third set or the tiebreaker. Sophomore Nick Mueller, rookie Tim Zelikovsky, and senior Sam Yildirimlar each took their opponents to three sets, and all three came away victorious.

Mueller won 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4 singles against senior Jack Ablon. He ends his first season at Bucknell as the team's singles wins leader at 7-4. Zelikovsky won 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 over junior Nate Romig on court five to finish the spring an even 4-4. Yildirimlar, in his last match with the Bison, earned a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory at No. 6 against Colgate rookie Mike Thomas.

Senior Marwan Abaza and junior Cooper Bradshaw made quick work of their opponents in No. 1 doubles, winning 6-0, but the Raiders would pick up wins at No. 2 and No. 3 to secure the doubles point.

Abaza was defeated in the No. 1 singles position 7-6 (3), 6-2, and Bradshaw fell 6-2, 6-1 in No. 3 singles.

Tied at 3-3, the match came down to No. 2 singles. Sophomore Michael Owen battled to a tiebreaker in the third set, but ultimately suffered the 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4) loss to sophomore Jack Selati.

Bucknell was the third seed in the Patriot League Tournament following a 2-2 league record and a 3-7 overall finish in the regular season.

The Bison will lose both Abaza and Yildirimlar to graduation this spring. The pair combined for 18 singles victories over their final two seasons, which were both shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bucknell returns plenty of youthful experience with a large sophomore class that has made up much of the lineup over the last two seasons.

Colgate will now face top-seeded Navy in the semifinal round on Friday.

MTEN vs. Colgate