Bucknell University
NateRentals Binghamton Championships
Men's Tennis Set to Compete at NateRentals Binghamton Championships this Weekend
9/21/2023 3:39:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Setting the Scene
What:Â NateRentals Binghamton Championships
Teams:Â Bucknell, Army, Binghamton, Buffalo, Colgate, Cornell, Le Moyne, Niagara, Siena
Dates: Friday, Sept. 22 to Sunday, Sept. 24
Where:Â Lane-Starke Tennis Center, Binghamton, N.Y.
Tournament Details
Format:Â Eight flighted singles draws with round-robin doubles play
Bucknell at a Glance
• The Bison head to Binghamton for their third tournament of the fall campaign, with all eight players entered. Competitors from nine schools will be in action this weekend, including Patriot League rivals Army and Colgate.
• Bucknell is off to an outstanding start this fall. In two events – the Bucknell Invitational and Villanova Invitational – the team has combined for a 32-6 record in singles and a 16-4 record in doubles.
• Four Bison are still unbeaten in singles play, with Amar Tahirovic, Oscar Bain Moreno de Vega, Tim Zelikovsky, and Liam Kilmer all sporting 5-0 records. Adam Stavrakas (4-1) and Will Robinson (3-1) both have just one loss.
• In doubles, the tandems of Tahirovic/Bain and Kilmer/Zelikovsky are also 5-0, while the all-freshman tandem of Robinson and Ethan Esclamado is 4-1.
• Bucknell's last action came at Villanova two weeks ago. That event featured a unique format where two-man pairs played best-two-of-three pods consisting of a doubles match and one singles match each. Bucknell won seven of its eight pods, and all told went 18-6 across all of its singles and doubles matches.
• The pairings of Tahirovic/Bain (Blue Draw), Kilmer/Zelikovsky (White Draw), and Robinson/Esclamado (Wildcat Draw) all advanced to the finals, which were subsequently rained out on the final day of the tournament.
• Second-year head coach Jason Cohen's squad is coming off an outstanding spring, when it finished 15-8 overall and 4-3 in the Patriot League. Bucknell was just a few points away from advancing to the Patriot League Tournament final. After knocking off Lehigh in the quarterfinals, the Bison had top-seeded Navy on the brink in the semis, but the Midshipmen rallied to pull out a 4-3 verdict.
• Bucknell's 2023-24 roster features just one senior in Zelikovsky and the other seven players are all sophomores and freshmen.
• Three of the four sophomores were regulars in the Bucknell lineup last season, including Tahirovic, who earned First Team All-Patriot League honors. Tahirovic led the team with a 23-9 singles record while playing from the top two spots in the lineup. He went 14-6 in dual matches and 8-2 at No. 1 singles. He became Bucknell's first freshman all-leaguer since Nick Bybel in 2013.
A Look Ahead
• Bison will be back in action at the ITA Regionals in Lynchburg, Va. The five-day event gets started on Oct. 11.
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Players Mentioned
