Bucknell University Athletics
Tahirovic Named Patriot League Player of Year, Cohen PL Coach of Year, Stavrakas First Team All-League
4/25/2025 3:30:00 PM | Men's Tennis
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell's Patriot League champion men's tennis team earned two major awards on Friday, as the league revealed its 2025 postseason awards. Junior Amar Tahirovic was selected as the Patriot League Player of the Year and was joined on the All-Patriot League First Team by classmate Adam Stavrakas. Head coach Jason Cohen was chosen by his peers as Patriot League Coach of the Year.
Tahirovic becomes Bucknell's second Patriot League Player of the Year, following in the footsteps of Nick Bybel, who won it in back-to-back years in 2014 and 2015. Cohen is Bucknell's second Coach of the Year and the first since Bob Hammerlee in 1997. Since the Patriot League began its current First and Second Team model for postseason awards in 2003, this is the first time the Bison have had two First Team selections in the same season.
Tahirovic, who plays No. 1 singles and doubles for the Bison, has now earned a First Team nod in each of his first three seasons at Bucknell. The Stuttgart, Germany native is 33-3 in singles this season, including an unblemished record against Patriot League foes. In fact, his only three losses are to Penn State's No. 1 player Loren Byers at the ITA Regionals in the fall; to Notre Dame's Sebastian Dominko in the quarterfinals of the ITA Conference Masters; and to the No. 1 ranked player in Division III, Advik Mareedu of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. He avenged that loss to Byers with a three-set win in the Bucknell-Penn State dual match on Jan. 26.
Tahirovic was dominant in the Patriot League Tournament, winning his three No. 1 singles matches in straight sets with only seven games conceded. He has not dropped a set since March 11 at Elon
Tahirovic entered the ITA Men's Singles Rankings for the first time this spring. He has been ranked as high as No. 84 and is currently 85th heading into next week's NCAA Tournament. Bybel was the last Bison to be ranked during the spring season. He rose as high as No. 95 as a senior in 2016. Tahirovic is Bucknell's highest-ranked player in at least the last 35 years.
With a career singles record of 83-18, Tahirovic ranks second to Bybel (112) on Bucknell's all-time list. His 68 career doubles wins are tied for ninth-most in team history, and his 151 combined wins are third-most behind Bybel (192) and Josh Katten (155).
Tahirovic and Stavrakas have formed a potent 1-2 punch at the top of the Bison lineup, as neither lost a match in Patriot League play. Stavrakas is now 35-3 on the season with a 24-match winning streak that dates back to the fall season. One of those three losses came to his own teammate – Tahirovic – in the final of the Patriot League qualifier for the ITA Conference Masters in October.
He went 24-0 in spring dual matches, including a 9-0 mark against Patriot League foes. In his three Patriot League Tournament wins, he allowed more than one game in only one of the six sets, and he earned the Joe Abrahamson Award as the PL Tournament MVP.
Bybel went 38-3 in 2014-15, and until Stavrakas and Tahirovic both did it this year, that had been the only 30-win season in team history.
Cohen has done a remarkable job crafting the Bison into a Patriot League title contender in his three years at the helm. He took over a program that was on a run of six straight losing seasons, and over the last three campaigns Bucknell has compiled records of 15-8, 16-7, and 19-6. This year's 19 wins have tied the school record, set in 1998, and the Bison captured their first conference title since 1991. This was the team's first since the league adopted a team format for the postseason tournament in 1994.
The PL title win over Navy was the 50th win for Cohen at Bucknell, by far the most for any coach in program history in their first three seasons.
The Bison will be headed to the NCAA Tournament as a team for the first time, and they will find out their first-round destination on Monday.
2025 Patriot League Men's Tennis Major Awards
Player of the Year - Amar Tahirovic, Bucknell
Doubles Team of the Year- Luke Garner/Jake Young, Navy
Rookie of the Year- Jose Murariu, Lehigh
Coach of the Year- Jason Cohen, Bucknell
First Team All-League
Jackson Armistead, Army West Point
Amar Tahirovic, Bucknell
Adam Stavrakas, Bucknell
Marc Blekhman, Lehigh
Herrick Legaspi, Navy
Luke Garner, Navy
Second Team All-League
Alan Ton, Army West Point
Gabe Brown, Boston University
Ezequiel De La Plaza, Holy Cross
Arman Gandhi, Lafayette
Jose Murariu, Lehigh
Sean Jeager, Lehigh
Tahirovic becomes Bucknell's second Patriot League Player of the Year, following in the footsteps of Nick Bybel, who won it in back-to-back years in 2014 and 2015. Cohen is Bucknell's second Coach of the Year and the first since Bob Hammerlee in 1997. Since the Patriot League began its current First and Second Team model for postseason awards in 2003, this is the first time the Bison have had two First Team selections in the same season.
Tahirovic, who plays No. 1 singles and doubles for the Bison, has now earned a First Team nod in each of his first three seasons at Bucknell. The Stuttgart, Germany native is 33-3 in singles this season, including an unblemished record against Patriot League foes. In fact, his only three losses are to Penn State's No. 1 player Loren Byers at the ITA Regionals in the fall; to Notre Dame's Sebastian Dominko in the quarterfinals of the ITA Conference Masters; and to the No. 1 ranked player in Division III, Advik Mareedu of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. He avenged that loss to Byers with a three-set win in the Bucknell-Penn State dual match on Jan. 26.
Tahirovic was dominant in the Patriot League Tournament, winning his three No. 1 singles matches in straight sets with only seven games conceded. He has not dropped a set since March 11 at Elon
Tahirovic entered the ITA Men's Singles Rankings for the first time this spring. He has been ranked as high as No. 84 and is currently 85th heading into next week's NCAA Tournament. Bybel was the last Bison to be ranked during the spring season. He rose as high as No. 95 as a senior in 2016. Tahirovic is Bucknell's highest-ranked player in at least the last 35 years.
With a career singles record of 83-18, Tahirovic ranks second to Bybel (112) on Bucknell's all-time list. His 68 career doubles wins are tied for ninth-most in team history, and his 151 combined wins are third-most behind Bybel (192) and Josh Katten (155).
Tahirovic and Stavrakas have formed a potent 1-2 punch at the top of the Bison lineup, as neither lost a match in Patriot League play. Stavrakas is now 35-3 on the season with a 24-match winning streak that dates back to the fall season. One of those three losses came to his own teammate – Tahirovic – in the final of the Patriot League qualifier for the ITA Conference Masters in October.
He went 24-0 in spring dual matches, including a 9-0 mark against Patriot League foes. In his three Patriot League Tournament wins, he allowed more than one game in only one of the six sets, and he earned the Joe Abrahamson Award as the PL Tournament MVP.
Bybel went 38-3 in 2014-15, and until Stavrakas and Tahirovic both did it this year, that had been the only 30-win season in team history.
Cohen has done a remarkable job crafting the Bison into a Patriot League title contender in his three years at the helm. He took over a program that was on a run of six straight losing seasons, and over the last three campaigns Bucknell has compiled records of 15-8, 16-7, and 19-6. This year's 19 wins have tied the school record, set in 1998, and the Bison captured their first conference title since 1991. This was the team's first since the league adopted a team format for the postseason tournament in 1994.
The PL title win over Navy was the 50th win for Cohen at Bucknell, by far the most for any coach in program history in their first three seasons.
The Bison will be headed to the NCAA Tournament as a team for the first time, and they will find out their first-round destination on Monday.
2025 Patriot League Men's Tennis Major Awards
Player of the Year - Amar Tahirovic, Bucknell
Doubles Team of the Year- Luke Garner/Jake Young, Navy
Rookie of the Year- Jose Murariu, Lehigh
Coach of the Year- Jason Cohen, Bucknell
First Team All-League
Jackson Armistead, Army West Point
Amar Tahirovic, Bucknell
Adam Stavrakas, Bucknell
Marc Blekhman, Lehigh
Herrick Legaspi, Navy
Luke Garner, Navy
Second Team All-League
Alan Ton, Army West Point
Gabe Brown, Boston University
Ezequiel De La Plaza, Holy Cross
Arman Gandhi, Lafayette
Jose Murariu, Lehigh
Sean Jeager, Lehigh
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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