Men's Tennis to Send Eight to Richmond's River City Open

Setting the Scene
What: 2025 River City Open, hosted by Richmond
Teams: Bucknell, Richmond, Hampton, James Madison, Navy, William & Mary
Dates: Friday-Sunday, Oct. 3-5
Where: Westhampton Tennis Complex, Richmond, Va.

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Bucknell at a Glance
• Bucknell heads to Richmond's River City Open this weekend for its first full-squad tournament of the fall. The Bison will have eight players in action: Nelson Alapi, Oscar Bain Morengo de Vega, Liam Kilmer, Brendan McDonald, Will Robinson, Shiv Singh, Adam Stavrakas, and Amar Tahirovic. All eight will also play doubles, with pairings consisting of Tahirovic/McDonald, Stavrakas/Bain, Kilmer/Robinson, and Alapi/Singh.
• Tahirovic and Stavrakas both competed at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., last week. Tahirovic earned a bye into the main draw and dropped two hard-fought matches to opponents from TCU and Baylor, the latter in three sets. Stavrakas started in the pre-qualifying round and fell to opponents from Florida and Wake Forest. The Bison tandem were the only two Patriot League players in the field.
• Bucknell returns virtually its entire roster from last year's Patriot League championship team. The list of returnees is headlined by Tahirovic, the 2025 Patriot League Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and Stavrakas, the Patriot League Tournament MVP and First Team All-PL honoree. Those two, along with Bain and McDonald, comprise one of the most accomplished senior classes in program history. That quartet has combined for 248 singles wins and 249 doubles wins over the last three years.
• Tahirovic is No. 43 in the ITA men's singles rankings. He starts the season with 83 career singles wins, second-most in team history behind Nick Bybel's 112. Stavrakas ranks 10th with 62 wins, and Bain is 16th with 54.
• Fourth-year head coach Jason Cohen took his team on a 12-day European tour over the summer. The group visited Spain, France, Monaco, and Italy. One of the highlights was a training session at the famed Monte Carlo Country Club.
• Last year's championship was Bucknell's first since claiming the 1991 Patriot League title. That was the league's inaugural season, and the men's tennis championship was decided by an individually flighted tournament. The 2025 crown was the team's first in the Patriot League's team-format era, and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament was the first in team history.
• Bucknell defeated Navy 4-1 in the PL championship match. It was the team's first win over the Midshipmen in 53 all-time meetings.
• Bucknell sent four players to the River City Open last fall. Alapi went 3-0 in singles, while Kilmer and Robinson both went 2-1.

A Look Ahead
• Up next are two ITA tournaments later this month. Bucknell is playing in the ITA Northeast Regional at Princeton Oct. 16-19. That will be followed by the Patriot League qualifier for the ITA Conference Masters at Lehigh Oct. 24-26.

Men's Tennis to Send Eight to Richmond's River City Open

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Players Mentioned

Nelson Alapi

Liam Kilmer

Brendan McDonald

Will Robinson

Shiv Singh

Adam Stavrakas

Amar Tahirovic