Saturday, February 1
West Point, N.Y.
11 a.m.
Bucknell University
4
at
1
Army
Photo by: Lianne Garrahan
Men's Tennis Delivers First Win over Army Since 1974; Takes Down Fairfield in Thrilling Fashion
2/1/2025 9:59:00 PM | Men's Tennis
WEST POINT, N.Y.– The Bucknell men's tennis team snapped a 34-match losing streak against Army with a 4-1 win on Saturday to kick off a 2-0 day at the Lichtenburg Tennis Center. Bucknell's win over Army marked its first series win since 1974, when the Bison won 5-4. The Bison added to their historic day with a thrilling 4-2 win over Fairfield later in the evening, highlighted by freshman Shiv Singh's clutch win to clinch the match.
Juniors Adam Stavrakas and Oscar Bain Moreno de Vega won both of their doubles matches in the No. 2 spot. The pair are now 4-2 together on the season. Stavrakas also won both of his singles matches for a 4-0 day. Stavrakas leads the team with a 15-3 record in singles matches on the year. Bain moved to 7-4 on the season with a singles win in the Army match.
Likewise, the duo of Amar Tahirovic and Brendan McDonald were 2-0 in their doubles matches. The pair are 8-3 this season and 27-13 in their career together. Tahirovic has a 14-2 record this season in singles matches with a win in the Fairfield match. The junior trailed after one set in his match over Army's Jackson Armistead when the Bison clinched.
The Bison now have a 3-1 record on the season and 1-0 in the Patriot League with the win over Army.
Bucknell 4, Army 1
Bucknell's historic win marked its fourth-ever series victory over Army. The Bison won the first three matches in its history before Army won 34 consecutive matches.
The Bison cleaned up in doubles with quick wins in the No. 1 and No. 2 spots. Tahirovic and McDonald took down Jack Hanna and Vishnu Bodavula 6-1 before Stavrakas and Bain followed suit with a 6-1 win at No. 2. Tahirovic and McDonald previously faced Bodavula and Hanna in the fall at the ITA Conference Masters qualifiers, winning 7-6.
Sophomore Liam Kilmer and freshman Nelson Alapi teamed up in the No. 3 spot. The duo was all square 4-4 in the match when the Bison clinched the doubles point.
Stavrakas, Bain and McDonald all won in straight sets to gather the singles points to clinch the win for the Bison. Stavrakas dominated the first set 6-1 before taking the second 6-3 for the win at No. 2.
Bain battled in a back-and-forth first set with Matias Feoli, winning 6-4 then taking the second set 6-1 in quick fashion. McDonald won swiftly, taking his sets 6-2 and 6-1.
Jack Hanna picked up Army's only point with a singles win at No. 6 over Alapi.
At No. 3, Kilmer won the first set and trailed 4-3 as the Bison clinched. At No. 1, Tahirovic fell 7-6 in the first set as the match ended.
Bucknell 4, Fairfield 2
The Bison continued their momentum with a thrilling win over Fairfield in the evening. The Bison have won all four meetings with the Stags. The last time the two faced off was in 2004.
Tahirovic and McDonald clinched a thrilling win to give the Bison the point in the doubles slate, and Singh delivered the final blow with an exciting win in three sets to clinch the win.
At No. 3, Alapi and Singh fell to Alex Aguiar and Louie Benaibbouche 6-3 to start the doubles slate.
At No. 2, Stavrakas and Bain controlled a tight match, seeing it through for a 7-5 victory. At No. 1, McDonald and Tahirovic held a 5-1 lead before Fairfield's Kostas Kollias and Kacper Krolikowski came back to even the match 5-5. The Bison duo turned it around, taking the final two sets for the 7-5 win and the doubles point.
Benaibbouche quickly leveled the match 1-1 with the first singles win at No. 4. McDonald trailed 3-0 in the first set when he retired in the match.
Stavrakas rattled off another win in the No. 2 slot to cap off a dominant day. Stavrakas defeated Kollias 6-1 and 6-2 in straight sets to five the Bison the advantage.
The matches at No. 1 and No. 4 finished in quick succession with each side taking a point to put the match at 3-2. Tahirovic fought through a 2-0 deficit for a comeback win in the first set over Korlikowski. He then cleaned up with a 6-1 win in the second to give the Bison its third point.
At No. 4, Aguiar defeated Alapi in straight sets, 6-4 and 6-1. With Bucknell leading 3-2, the match came down to Kilmer at No. 3 and Singh at No. 6 with both match-ups heading to a third set.
Zachary Whittington took the first set 6-4 at No. 6 over Singh. Singh built an early lead in the second set, finishing it off 6-3 to send it to a third. Trailing 4-3 in final frame, Singh took the final three games for an electric finish to the match.
Kilmer's match went unfinished as Singh sealed the deal. Kilmer trailed 1-0 in the final set.
Next up, the Bison host Johns Hopkins at 1 p.m. and Rider at 5 p.m. on Saturday at the Central Pennsylvania Tennis Center.
Juniors Adam Stavrakas and Oscar Bain Moreno de Vega won both of their doubles matches in the No. 2 spot. The pair are now 4-2 together on the season. Stavrakas also won both of his singles matches for a 4-0 day. Stavrakas leads the team with a 15-3 record in singles matches on the year. Bain moved to 7-4 on the season with a singles win in the Army match.
Likewise, the duo of Amar Tahirovic and Brendan McDonald were 2-0 in their doubles matches. The pair are 8-3 this season and 27-13 in their career together. Tahirovic has a 14-2 record this season in singles matches with a win in the Fairfield match. The junior trailed after one set in his match over Army's Jackson Armistead when the Bison clinched.
The Bison now have a 3-1 record on the season and 1-0 in the Patriot League with the win over Army.
Bucknell 4, Army 1
Bucknell's historic win marked its fourth-ever series victory over Army. The Bison won the first three matches in its history before Army won 34 consecutive matches.
The Bison cleaned up in doubles with quick wins in the No. 1 and No. 2 spots. Tahirovic and McDonald took down Jack Hanna and Vishnu Bodavula 6-1 before Stavrakas and Bain followed suit with a 6-1 win at No. 2. Tahirovic and McDonald previously faced Bodavula and Hanna in the fall at the ITA Conference Masters qualifiers, winning 7-6.
Sophomore Liam Kilmer and freshman Nelson Alapi teamed up in the No. 3 spot. The duo was all square 4-4 in the match when the Bison clinched the doubles point.
Stavrakas, Bain and McDonald all won in straight sets to gather the singles points to clinch the win for the Bison. Stavrakas dominated the first set 6-1 before taking the second 6-3 for the win at No. 2.
Bain battled in a back-and-forth first set with Matias Feoli, winning 6-4 then taking the second set 6-1 in quick fashion. McDonald won swiftly, taking his sets 6-2 and 6-1.
Jack Hanna picked up Army's only point with a singles win at No. 6 over Alapi.
At No. 3, Kilmer won the first set and trailed 4-3 as the Bison clinched. At No. 1, Tahirovic fell 7-6 in the first set as the match ended.
Bucknell 4, Fairfield 2
The Bison continued their momentum with a thrilling win over Fairfield in the evening. The Bison have won all four meetings with the Stags. The last time the two faced off was in 2004.
Tahirovic and McDonald clinched a thrilling win to give the Bison the point in the doubles slate, and Singh delivered the final blow with an exciting win in three sets to clinch the win.
At No. 3, Alapi and Singh fell to Alex Aguiar and Louie Benaibbouche 6-3 to start the doubles slate.
At No. 2, Stavrakas and Bain controlled a tight match, seeing it through for a 7-5 victory. At No. 1, McDonald and Tahirovic held a 5-1 lead before Fairfield's Kostas Kollias and Kacper Krolikowski came back to even the match 5-5. The Bison duo turned it around, taking the final two sets for the 7-5 win and the doubles point.
Benaibbouche quickly leveled the match 1-1 with the first singles win at No. 4. McDonald trailed 3-0 in the first set when he retired in the match.
Stavrakas rattled off another win in the No. 2 slot to cap off a dominant day. Stavrakas defeated Kollias 6-1 and 6-2 in straight sets to five the Bison the advantage.
The matches at No. 1 and No. 4 finished in quick succession with each side taking a point to put the match at 3-2. Tahirovic fought through a 2-0 deficit for a comeback win in the first set over Korlikowski. He then cleaned up with a 6-1 win in the second to give the Bison its third point.
At No. 4, Aguiar defeated Alapi in straight sets, 6-4 and 6-1. With Bucknell leading 3-2, the match came down to Kilmer at No. 3 and Singh at No. 6 with both match-ups heading to a third set.
Zachary Whittington took the first set 6-4 at No. 6 over Singh. Singh built an early lead in the second set, finishing it off 6-3 to send it to a third. Trailing 4-3 in final frame, Singh took the final three games for an electric finish to the match.
Kilmer's match went unfinished as Singh sealed the deal. Kilmer trailed 1-0 in the final set.
Next up, the Bison host Johns Hopkins at 1 p.m. and Rider at 5 p.m. on Saturday at the Central Pennsylvania Tennis Center.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
#1 Singles Match
12
60
Jackson Armistead / 0 [ARMY]
7UF
#2 Singles Match
12
66
Alan Ton / 0 [ARMY]
14
#3 Singles Match
123
630
Vishnu Bodavula / 0 [ARMY]
34UF
#4 Singles Match
12
66
Matias Feoli / 0 [ARMY]
41
#5 Singles Match
12
66
Daniel Choi / 0 [ARMY]
21
#6 Singles Match
12
02
Jack Hanna / 0 [ARMY]
66
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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