Men’s Tennis Falls to Navy 4-2 in Patriot League Semifinals

Saturday, April 27

West Point, N.Y.

2 p.m.

Bucknell University

Navy (PL Semifinals)

Photo by: Lianne Garrahan

Men’s Tennis Falls to Navy 4-2 in Patriot League Semifinals

4/27/2024 6:52:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score Photo Gallery

WEST POINT, N.Y. – For the second straight year, the Bucknell men's tennis team saw an outstanding season come to an end with a close loss to Navy in the semifinal round of the Patriot League Tournament. This time the second-seeded Midshipmen prevailed 4-2 over the third-seeded Bison, with Steve Nguyen's three-set win at No. 4 singles the deciding point.

Amar Tahirovic and Liam Kilmer posted a 6-4 win at No. 2 doubles, but Navy took the other two to grab a 1-0 lead in the match.

Tahirovic and Adam Stavrakas were impressive in their straight-set singles wins in the top two spots in the lineup. Tahirovic defeated 2023 Patriot League Player of the Year Sasha Panyan for the second time this season, 6-1, 7-6 at No. 1 singles. Stavrakas dispatched Herrick Legaspi 6-0, 6-4 on Court 2.

Navy received straight-set wins from Luke Garner at No. 3 and Aniketh Ayinala at No. 6, and the Midshipmen led 3-2 with two tight matches remaining on the courts.

Kilmer, a freshman playing in his first Patriot League Tournament, won the opening set from Nguyen at No. 4, and senior Tim Zelikovsky split the first two sets with J.J. Etterbeek at No. 5. That match was 2-1 on serve in the third when Nguyen came from behind to win on Court 4 to clinch the win for Navy.

Bucknell's season ends at 16-7, with the 16 wins the second-most in team history. Navy improved to 28-14 and will play No. 1 seed Boston University in Sunday's final.

With Zelikovsky's match going unfinished, he concludes his senior season with a stellar 29-3 singles record. The 29 wins are second only to Nick Bybel's 38 in 2014-15 in team history. Tahirovic improved to 27-6, and he moved into sole possession of third behind Bybel and Zelikovsky on the single-season chart.

Zelikovsky ends his four-year career with a 71-23 singles mark. The 71 wins rank fifth in team history, and his .755 winning percentage is ninth-best in Bucknell annals. His 115 total wins are tied for 12th-most at Bucknell.