Men's Tennis Travels to Villanova, Hosts Saint Joseph's This Weekend

Bucknell (5-2) at Villanova (0-5)
When: Saturday, Feb. 22, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Bryn Mawr Racquet Club, Bryn Mawr, Pa.
LIVE RESULTS

Saint Joseph's (2-8) at Bucknell (5-2)
When: Sunday, Feb. 23, 1 p.m.
Where: Central PA Tennis Center, South Williamsport, Pa.
LIVE RESULTS

Bucknell at a Glance

The Bucknell men's tennis team continues a busy February stretch with two more matches this weekend. Bucknell travels to Villanova on Saturday then hosts Saint Joseph's on Sunday at the Central Pennsylvania Tennis Center.
The Bison have played great in recent matches, winning four of its last five to get to a 5-2 record. The only losses were a 5-2 verdicts against Penn State and its most recent match against Drexel.
Drexel snapped Bucknell's four-match winning streak last weekend with a 5-2 final. Adam Stavrakas and Amar Tahirovic continued their tear in dual matches with more wins over the weekend, but the Bison were bested in the rest of their matches.
Tahirovic earned Patriot Player of the Week honors on Tuesday, marking the fourth consecutive week a Bison has won the award. Stavrakas earned the two most recent awards while Tahirovic collected his first of the season on Jan. 28.
Tahirovic is 16-2 in all singles matches and 5-0 in duals, where he joins Stavrakas in those top two positions. Stavrakas is now 18-3 in singles this season, including a perfect 7-0 in dual matches. He has won twice in the No. 1 spot in the lineup and four times at No. 2. Stavrakas is also 11-3 in doubles.
Nelson Alapi (11-6) and Brendan McDonald (10-5) have also reached double figures in wins.
As a team, Bucknell is a combined 98-32 (.754) in singles and 36-26 (.581) in doubles over the full season. The Bison are 24-12 in singles in dual matches, and they have yet to lose in the top two spots in the lineup.
McDonald leads the team with 14 doubles wins against only five losses. McDonald teamed up with Tahirovic for a 7-5 win the No. 1 doubles spot against Drexel.
Bucknell's 4-1 win over Army on Feb. 1 snapped a 34-match losing streak to the Black Knights dating back to 1974.
The highlight of the fall was Bucknell's pair of wins at the Patriot League ITA Conference Masters qualifier at West Point. The tournament served as a mini Patriot League individual championship, with each team entering two singles players and one doubles unit. Tahirovic won a three-set match from teammate Stavrakas in the singles final, and Tahirovic and McDonald won the doubles title.
Those wins advanced them to the ITA Conference Masters event in Georgia, where top players from every Division I conference had a chance to automatically qualify for the NCAA Individual Championships. After two straight-set wins, Tahirovic lost to Notre Dame's Sebastian Dominko in the quarterfinals, leaving him just one win shy of the NCAA bid. Tahirovic and McDonald won their opening-round doubles match before getting eliminated by the top seed from Mississippi State.
Tahirovic, only a junior, has already climbed to seventh place on Bucknell's career singles wins list with 66. His 114 combined singles and doubles victories are now tied 14th all-time with Octavio Canibe '15.

Villanova at a Glance/Series History

The Wildcats are 0-5, looking for its first win of the spring season.
Villanova went 7-16 last season, ending with a 4-0 loss to DePaul in the first round of the Big East Tournament.
This year, the Wildcats are 3-24 in singles in dual matches and 6-20 in doubles in dual matches.
Bucknell is 13-8 all-time against Villanova with its last match coming in 2022-23. The Bison fell 4-3 in that match, but have taken two of the previous three meetings dating back to 2007-08.
At the ITA Northeast Regional in October, Nelson Alapi won a three-setter over William Monahan in the round of 64.

Saint Joseph's at a Glance/Series History

The Hawks are 2-8 to start the spring. The Hawks defeated Illinois State on the road 4-3 back in January and most recently defeated Jefferson 4-1 in its last match.
Saint Joseph's has had a tough schedule to start the season. The Hawks have fallen to quality opponents in Northwestern, Notre Dame, Penn and Drexel.
Bucknell and Saint Joseph's have had a handful of matches take place from the fall. At the Navy Invitational, Alapi defeated Matthew Cizmarik in straight sets. Liam Kilmer and Will Robinson teamed up to defeat Cizmarik and Hector Fullone 6-2 in doubles.
At the ITA Northeast Regional in October, Tahirovic defeated Ernesto Ruy in straight sets.
In dual matches, Bucknell is an outstanding 22-2 all-time against the Hawks, with the first meeting coming all the way back in 1958. Both of the Hawks wins over the Bison have come in two of the last three meetings. The Bison snapped a two-match losing streak to Saint Joseph's with a 5-2 win last season.
In Bucknell's win last season, Stavrakas and Oscar Bain Moreno de Vega teamed up for a doubles win along with Kilmer and Tim Zelikovsky for the doubles point. Tahirovic, Kilmer and Robinson all picked up singles wins in the match.

Next Up

After this weekend's action, the Bison head out west for the Pacific Coast Doubles Tournament from Feb. 28 to March 2 in La Jolla, California. The Bison then head to Claremont for a dual match with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Sunday, March 2.

Men's Tennis Travels to Villanova, Hosts Saint Joseph's This Weekend

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Nelson Alapi

Oscar Bain Moreno de Vega

Liam Kilmer

Brendan McDonald

Will Robinson

Adam Stavrakas

Amar Tahirovic

Tim Zelikovsky

Men's Tennis Travels to Villanova, Hosts Saint Joseph's This Weekend

Related News

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Nelson Alapi

Oscar Bain Moreno de Vega

Liam Kilmer

Brendan McDonald

Will Robinson

Adam Stavrakas

Amar Tahirovic

Tim Zelikovsky

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