Saturday, May 3
Charlottesville, Va.
1 p.m.
Bucknell University
0
at
4
Virginia (NCAA First Round)
Men’s Tennis Drops Hard-Fought Match to Virginia at NCAA Championship
5/3/2025 4:33:00 PM | Men's Tennis
RESULTS
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – With a handful of close matches still in progress at the time of clinch, fourth-ranked and seventh-seeded Virginia advanced with a 4-0 victory over Bucknell on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship at the Boar's Head Resort.
The No. 1 doubles pair of Amar Tahirovic and Brendan McDonald had a 5-2 lead over Keegan Rice and James Hopper when the Cavaliers (21-7) cinched the point. Rice and Hopper are ranked 23rd nationally in doubles.
Virginia won all six opening sets in singles, but the Bison settled in and performed much better in the second sets. Adam Stavrakas leveled his No. 2 singles match with Rice with a 6-3 decision in the second set, and then they were 2-all in the third.
Tahirovic, ranked 89th nationally in singles, had the tall task of taking on fourth-ranked Rafael Jodar, the 2024 U.S. Open Junior champion and 2025 ACC Freshman of the Year. Jodar won the first set 6-2, but Tahirovic had a set point up 6-5 in a second-set tiebreaker when the match was clinched.
Liam Kilmer was locked up in a back-and-forth second set with Hopper at No. 3 singles. Hopper led 6-5 at clinch.
Mans Dahlberg provided the clinching point with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Brendan McDonald at No. 5, and the Cavaliers also picked up singles wins from Jangjun Kim (4) and Stiles Brockett (6).
With their matches left incomplete, Stavrakas (24) and Tahirovic (15) will enter their senior seasons with long winning streaks intact. Stavrakas finished the season with a 35-3 singles record, and Tahirovic ended up 33-3. They are only the second and third Bison ever to win 30 matches in a season.
Bucknell finishes up a championship season with a 19-7 record. The 19 wins tied the 1998 squad for the most in team history. The Bison captured their first Patriot League title since 1991 and played in the NCAA Team Championship for the first time.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – With a handful of close matches still in progress at the time of clinch, fourth-ranked and seventh-seeded Virginia advanced with a 4-0 victory over Bucknell on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship at the Boar's Head Resort.
The No. 1 doubles pair of Amar Tahirovic and Brendan McDonald had a 5-2 lead over Keegan Rice and James Hopper when the Cavaliers (21-7) cinched the point. Rice and Hopper are ranked 23rd nationally in doubles.
Virginia won all six opening sets in singles, but the Bison settled in and performed much better in the second sets. Adam Stavrakas leveled his No. 2 singles match with Rice with a 6-3 decision in the second set, and then they were 2-all in the third.
Tahirovic, ranked 89th nationally in singles, had the tall task of taking on fourth-ranked Rafael Jodar, the 2024 U.S. Open Junior champion and 2025 ACC Freshman of the Year. Jodar won the first set 6-2, but Tahirovic had a set point up 6-5 in a second-set tiebreaker when the match was clinched.
Liam Kilmer was locked up in a back-and-forth second set with Hopper at No. 3 singles. Hopper led 6-5 at clinch.
Mans Dahlberg provided the clinching point with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Brendan McDonald at No. 5, and the Cavaliers also picked up singles wins from Jangjun Kim (4) and Stiles Brockett (6).
With their matches left incomplete, Stavrakas (24) and Tahirovic (15) will enter their senior seasons with long winning streaks intact. Stavrakas finished the season with a 35-3 singles record, and Tahirovic ended up 33-3. They are only the second and third Bison ever to win 30 matches in a season.
Bucknell finishes up a championship season with a 19-7 record. The 19 wins tied the 1998 squad for the most in team history. The Bison captured their first Patriot League title since 1991 and played in the NCAA Team Championship for the first time.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3
#1 Singles Match
123
260
Rafael Jodar / 0 (4/-) [VA]
66UF
#2 Singles Match
1234
1620
Keegan Rice / 0 [VA]
632UF
#3 Singles Match
123
150
James Hopper / 0 [VA]
66UF
#4 Singles Match
12
13
Jangjun Kim / 0 [VA]
66
#5 Singles Match
12
32
Mans Dahlberg / 0 [VA]
66
#6 Singles Match
12
03
Stiles Brockett / 0 [VA]
66
Order of Finish:
4,6,5
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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