Saturday, October 18
Millersville, Pa.
1 p.m.
Bucknell University
at
Millersville
Women's Tennis Takes on Millersville in First Dual Match of the Year
10/15/2025 12:00:00 PM | Women's Tennis
LEWISBURG, Pa. — Bucknell women's tennis is on the road for its first dual match of the season on Saturday, Oct. 18. The Bison will take on Millersville at 1 p.m. after having three tournaments to start off the year.
Setting the Scene
Opponent: Millersville
When: Saturday, Oct. 18 at 1 p.m.
Where: Millersville, Pa.
Bucknell's Last Time Out:
- On day one, Abby Platt, Mirra Manolov, Mariana Shulman and Summer Even-Esh all went 2-0 in singles play. Platt defeated Eastern Kentucky's Ceylin Ipek 6-2, 6-4 and Dayton's Natalie Osiecki 7-5, 3-6 [10-5]. Manolov defeated UNC Asheville's Avery Sager and Dayton's Mallory Hitchcock in three sets. Shulman defeated Dayton's Haley Klein 6-3, 6-1 and EKU's Zhansaya Bakytzhan in two sets.
- In the Colonial draw, Even-Esh went undefeated in singles. She won her first match over Northern Kentucky's Didi Steenhuis 6-1, 6-4 and her second over EKU's Priya Harris 6-1, 6-4. Even-Esh will next face Caroline Boyle from Dayton on Saturday at noon.
- Jaycie Mair went 1-0 on the day in singles. She won her match against EKU's Mariia Triska 6-3, 6-2.
- Natalie Devraj went 1-1, defeating an NKU opponent in two straight sets and then falling to Izem Olem from EKU. Riley Jennings also went 1-1 as she started singles off with a loss, but bounced back and defeated NKU's Darya Gneidina in a tough three-set battle. Cameron King was another 1-1 singles finisher as she fell in her first match before defeating NKU's Aaditi Bhat 7(7)-6(3), 6-4.
- Tori Allen dropped both her singles matches on the day, and Katherine Purpura fell in her lone singles match.
- In doubles play, the Bison opened up by going 0-4 against Dayton. Bucknell then took on NKU and went 2-2. Shulman and King won their match 6-3, and the doubles team of Mair and Devraj took theirs in a clean 6-0 fashion.
- On day two, the Bison went 2-8 in singles with Riley Jennings defeating Valeria Centeno from UNCA and Natalie Devraj defeating Avery Sager from UNCA.
- In doubles on day two, the Bison went 2-1 against UNCA. Cameron King and Mariana Shulman and Riley Jennings and Abby Platt each won their contests. Bucknell went 0-3 against EKU's doubles teams.
Bucknell at a Glance
- The Bison have played three tournaments so far this fall, one at home and two on the road. Bucknell has been testing out doubles teams in these tournaments in order to finalize the groups heading into the spring season.
- Bucknell women's tennis ended the 2024-25 season with a heartbreaking 4-3 loss in the quarterfinal round of the Patriot League Championships to Lehigh.
- The team landed two players on the All-Patriot League squad; Whitney King earned a first-team nod and Abby Platt earned second-team honors.
- Heading into the 2025-26 season, the Bison have a lot to restructure in their lineup after losing three integral players to graduation in Whitney King, Anna Lajos and Caroline Marcus, who were all in the lineup last season.
- Seniors Abby Platt and Mirra Manolov have been named captains for the 2025-26 season.
- Outside of Platt earning Second Team All-Patriot League last season, she has also found her way onto the record book ahead of her senior season. The Texas native currently ranks 11th in Bucknell history for career doubles victories (60), is tied for 27th in career singles victories (45), ranks 19th in career combined victories (105) and is tied for 10th in single-season doubles victories (22). Last season, Platt went 10-15 in the second spot for singles play. Platt and King were doubles partners and went 18-8 in the one spot. Platt has been doubles partners with King since she first arrived as a freshman in 2022 and will now be looking for a new partner to finish out her career.
- Last season, Manolov went 7-8 overall in singles on courts four and six and finished with an overall 5-3 record in doubles with four different partners.
- Overall, Bucknell returned seven players from last season, despite losing three of their regulars in the lineup. Platt and Manolov were the returning seniors to the squad. The Bison return two juniors to the squad from last season in Tori Allen and Jaycie Mair.
- Allen played across courts two, three and four last year. She went 10-14 overall in singles and 7-11 in doubles with five different partners. Mair competed across courts three, four and five in 2024-25. She went 10-14 in singles and 7-10 in doubles.
- At the sophomore level, Bucknell returned three athletes in Riley Jennings, Natalie Devraj and Cameron King.
- Riley Jennings had a solid freshman campaign as she went 11-3 overall in singles across courts four, five and six. The North Carolina native went undefeated in Patriot League singles with a 6-0 record and was undefeated in court six singles with a 9-0 record. Jennings finished 9-9 overall in doubles with a dual doubles record of 8-7 across courts two and three with three different partners. She ended the 2024-25 season on a seven-match singles winning streak.
- Devraj went 8-3 overall in singles across courts four, five and six. She finished 7-5 overall in doubles on court three with four different partners. Cameron King went 8-2 overall in singles across courts five and six. She finished 11-1 overall in doubles on across courts two and three with five different partners.
- The Bison welcomed a freshman class of three this fall; Summer Even-Esh, Katherine Purpura and Mariana Shulman.
- Even-Esh comes to Bucknell from New Jersey and was a three-time First-Team All-State and one-time Second Team All-State player at Manasquan High School. Individually, she went undefeated in the regular seasons of both 2023 and 2024 and was a two-time first singles Monmouth County Champion, four-time decision champion and four-time Central Jersey Group Two Semifinalist. Throughout high school, she had an overall record of 89-9.
- Purpura joined the Bison from California where she was a two-time league doubles player of the year and earned various awards from Orange County. She was a San Joaquin League Doubles Champion and two-time Orange Coast League Doubles Champion. Throughout high school she garnered over 100 career wins.
- Shulman came to Bucknell from Massachusetts where she was a two-time league MVP. She also was a GCL League Champion and two-time New England Sectional Champion.
A Look Ahead
- The Bison are gearing up next for the Patriot League ITA Conference Masters Qualifiers which will take place in Bethlehem, Pa. from Friday, Oct. 24 through Sunday, Oct. 26.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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/ Women's Tennis
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