Men's Tennis Travels to Drexel, Navy this Weekend

Bucknell (12-5, 2-1 PL) at Drexel (11-7, 2-3 CAA)
When: Saturday, Apr. 13, 1 p.m.
Where: Vidal Courts, Philadelphia, Pa.
LIVE RESULTS

Bucknell (12-5, 2-1 PL) at Navy (24-13, 3-2 PL)
When: Sunday, Apr. 14, 11 a.m.
Where: USNA Tennis Courts, Annapolis, Md.
LIVE RESULTS

Bucknell at a Glance

The Bison are down to two weeks and four dual matches remaining in the 2024 regular season, and they will play two of those on the road this weekend. Bucknell visits Drexel in a non-league clash on Saturday and then travels to Annapolis to take on Navy on Sunday. The latter is a rematch of last season's Patriot League Tournament semifinal match, which Navy came from behind to win 4-3.
The Bison have won five of their last six to improve to 12-5 on the season. In Patriot League play, Bucknell has beaten Colgate (7-0) and Loyola (6-1) and lost 4-2 to first-place Boston University.
All nine teams qualify for the Patriot League Tournament, which will be played at Army in two weeks.
Bucknell swept all six singles matches in straight sets in last Sunday's 6-1 win at Loyola. The Bison conceded two games or fewer in nine of the 12 sets.
Bucknell typically starts a young lineup that features a freshman, four sophomores, and a senior. The two reserves are also freshmen, as Tim Zelikovsky is the only player on the roster older than a sophomore.
Amar Tahirovic leads the team from the No. 1 position in both singles and doubles. In singles, Tahirovic is 12-5 in duals and 21-6 overall, including the fall tournament schedule. He is also 24-7 in doubles, including a 9-4 record in dual matches with partner Brendan McDonald.
Zelikovsky is in the midst of an outstanding senior season playing in the bottom half of the lineup. He is now 25-2 on the full season and 16-1 in dual matches. He is also 17-8 in doubles, including a 10-5 mark with freshman Liam Kilmer at No. 3.
Kilmer is now 20-5 in singles and 19-7 in doubles this season.
Zelikovsky is now 67-23 in singles and 46-30 in doubles in his career. The 67 singles wins are sixth-most in Bucknell history, and his .744 winning percentage would be 10th-best in team annals. Zelikovsky's 25 singles wins this season are fourth-most in team history.
Sophomores Oscar Bain Moreno de Vega (22-8) and Adam Stavrakas (17-9) are also enjoying outstanding seasons, and freshman Will Robinson (9-2) has filled in nicely when needed. Freshman Ethan Esclamado picked up a win at No. 6 singles in his first career dual match start at Loyola.
Bucknell now has a 129-51 (.717) combined singles record and a 64-34 (.653) doubles mark.

Drexel at a Glance/Series History

The Dragons are 11-7 on the season and 2-3 in the tough Coastal Athletic Conference. Drexel will host Saint Joseph's on Thursday before hosting Bucknell. The Dragons are coming off a 4-3 loss at Monmouth last Saturday
Alan Jesudason has an 8-7 record at No. 1 singles.
Hussein El Tawil is riding a seven-match winning streak and has a team-best 18-11 record on the full season, playing in the top half of the lineup. Alex DeSousa and Will Burridge have 15 wins apiece, and Egor Kirakosov has a stellar 14-4 record.
The top doubles tandem of Jesudason and De Dousa is 13-5 on the season.
This will be the eighth all-time meeting between the Bison and Dragons. Bucknell leads the series 4-3.
Bucknell won last year's matchup 5-2 at the Central PA Tennis Center, avenging a 7-0 loss from the previous season. Amar Tahirovic's three-set win over Daniel Dudockin at No. 2 singles clinched the verdict.

Navy at a Glance/Series History

Navy is 24-13 overall and 3-2 in the Patriot League. The Midshipmen have a 16-player roster, which allows them to send separate teams to play different opponents on the same date, hence the 37-match season to date.
Last weekend, Navy's top squad defeated Georgetown 4-3, but its second group was stunned by Holy Cross by a 4-3 count in Worcester. The Midshipmen have league wins over Lehigh, Lafayette, and Loyola, and they also have a 4-2 loss to Boston University.
Sasha Panyan, the reigning Patriot League Player of the Year, is 12-7 at No. 1 singles in dual matches and 15-13 overall on the season.
Herrick Legaspi has a team-best 22-7 singles record.
Panyan and Luke Garner at 9-5 at No. 1 doubles.
This will be the 50th all-time meeting between Bucknell and Navy, and the Bison are still searching for their first-ever win in the series.
Bucknell did come close twice last season, however. In the regular-season matchup in Lewisburg, Navy pulled out a couple of three-setters on the way to a 5-2 win. A few weeks later in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals, Gavin Seagraves had to come from 0-5 down in the third set at No. 4 singles to give the top-seeded Mids a 4-3 win, as the Bison fell just a few points away from becoming the first No. 5 seed ever to reach the final.

Next Up

Bucknell finishes up the regular season with home matches against Lehigh and Lafayette next weekend. The Bison will be hosting Alumni Weekend, and then Tim Zelikovsky will be honored on Senior Day prior to Sunday's match against the Leopards.

Men's Tennis Travels to Drexel, Navy this Weekend

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Oscar Bain Moreno de Vega

Ethan Esclamado

Liam Kilmer

Brendan McDonald

Will Robinson

Adam Stavrakas

Amar Tahirovic

Tim Zelikovsky

Men's Tennis Travels to Drexel, Navy this Weekend

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Oscar Bain Moreno de Vega

Ethan Esclamado

Liam Kilmer

Brendan McDonald

Will Robinson

Adam Stavrakas

Amar Tahirovic

Tim Zelikovsky

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