Tahirovic Named Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Joined by Stavrakas on Academic All-PL Team
5/9/2025 3:30:00 PM | Men's Tennis
LEWISBURG, Pa. – More postseason honors poured in for the Bucknell men's tennis team's standout duo of Amar Tahirovic and Adam Stavrakas, this time in recognition of their hard work away from the courts. Tahirovic was announced as the 2025 Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and Stavrakas joined him on the six-man Academic All-Patriot League Team.
Tahirovic, who last week was also named Patriot League Player of the Year after leading the Bison to their first league title since 1991, is a repeat honoree on the Academic All-PL squad, and he is the first Bison in 18 years to earn the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award in men's tennis. The only other Bucknell players to win the league's top scholar-athlete honor were Ira Reibeisen in 2007 and Mark McGuire in 1995.
This is the seventh time in league history – and fifth year in a row -- that the same player captured both the Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.
Bucknell was the only team to land two players on the Academic All-PL squad, and this is the first time the Bison have had two honorees since Anton Kovic and Evan Zimmer both made it in 2011. Bucknell has had at least one honoree in all but one season since then.
Tahirovic, who is ranked No. 89 nationally in the ITA singles listings, is a double major in business analytics and German. He is fluent in three languages -- English, German, and Bosnian – and he was the recipient of the Charles F. White Prize for Student-Athletes last fall. Earlier this week, Tahirovic received the Bison Club Award as Bucknell's most outstanding athlete from all sports in 2024-25.
Tahirovic, who plays No. 1 singles and doubles for the Bison, has earned First Team All-Patriot league honors in each of his first three seasons at Bucknell. The Stuttgart, Germany native went 33-3 in singles this season, including an unblemished record against Patriot League foes. In fact, his only three losses were 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.
At last week's NCAA Championship at Virginia, Tahirovic dropped his first set to fourth-ranked Rafael Jodar but then had a set point in the second set when the Cavaliers clinched the victory. Earlier in the Day, Tahirovic and Brendan McDonald had a 5-2 lead over the No. 23 pair of Keegan Rice and James Hopper when the doubles point was clinched.
Tahirovic was dominant in the Patriot League Tournament, winning his three No. 1 singles matches in straight sets with only seven games conceded. He had not dropped a set since March 11 at Elon until facing Jodar, the reigning U.S. Open Junior champion and ACC Rookie of the Year, in Charlottesville last weekend.
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 finished 35-3 on the season with a 24-match winning streak that will carry over into next season. At the NCAA match at Virginia last week, he took the second set from Rice and was 2-all in the third when the match was clinched.
Stavrakas 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.
Off the court, Stavrakas is an economics major with a 3.77 GPA. Last year, he completed an internship as an equity analyst at Pantelakis Securities, a leading brokerage firm in his native Athens, Greece.
Bucknell finished the season with a 19-7 record, tying the school mark for wins in a season. In addition to the postseason honors for Tahirovic and Stavrakas, head coach Jason Cohen was selected as the 2025 Patriot League Coach of the Year.
Bucknell swept the two tennis Scholar-Athletes of the Year honors, as Whitney King was selected on the women's side. It is only the sixth time in Patriot League history and the first time since 2008 that the same school earned both the men's and women's Scholar-Athlete awards in the same season.
Men's Tennis Scholar Athlete - Amar Tahirovic, Bucknell
Men's Tennis Academic All-League
Alan Ton, Army West Point
Amar Tahirovic, Bucknell
Adam Stavrakas, Bucknell
Josh Israel, Colgate
Marc Blekhman, Lehigh
Aniketh Ayinala, Navy
Tahirovic, who last week was also named Patriot League Player of the Year after leading the Bison to their first league title since 1991, is a repeat honoree on the Academic All-PL squad, and he is the first Bison in 18 years to earn the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award in men's tennis. The only other Bucknell players to win the league's top scholar-athlete honor were Ira Reibeisen in 2007 and Mark McGuire in 1995.
This is the seventh time in league history – and fifth year in a row -- that the same player captured both the Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.
Bucknell was the only team to land two players on the Academic All-PL squad, and this is the first time the Bison have had two honorees since Anton Kovic and Evan Zimmer both made it in 2011. Bucknell has had at least one honoree in all but one season since then.
Tahirovic, who is ranked No. 89 nationally in the ITA singles listings, is a double major in business analytics and German. He is fluent in three languages -- English, German, and Bosnian – and he was the recipient of the Charles F. White Prize for Student-Athletes last fall. Earlier this week, Tahirovic received the Bison Club Award as Bucknell's most outstanding athlete from all sports in 2024-25.
Tahirovic, who plays No. 1 singles and doubles for the Bison, has earned First Team All-Patriot league honors in each of his first three seasons at Bucknell. The Stuttgart, Germany native went 33-3 in singles this season, including an unblemished record against Patriot League foes. In fact, his only three losses were 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.
At last week's NCAA Championship at Virginia, Tahirovic dropped his first set to fourth-ranked Rafael Jodar but then had a set point in the second set when the Cavaliers clinched the victory. Earlier in the Day, Tahirovic and Brendan McDonald had a 5-2 lead over the No. 23 pair of Keegan Rice and James Hopper when the doubles point was clinched.
Tahirovic was dominant in the Patriot League Tournament, winning his three No. 1 singles matches in straight sets with only seven games conceded. He had not dropped a set since March 11 at Elon until facing Jodar, the reigning U.S. Open Junior champion and ACC Rookie of the Year, in Charlottesville last weekend.
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 finished 35-3 on the season with a 24-match winning streak that will carry over into next season. At the NCAA match at Virginia last week, he took the second set from Rice and was 2-all in the third when the match was clinched.
Stavrakas 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.
Off the court, Stavrakas is an economics major with a 3.77 GPA. Last year, he completed an internship as an equity analyst at Pantelakis Securities, a leading brokerage firm in his native Athens, Greece.
Bucknell finished the season with a 19-7 record, tying the school mark for wins in a season. In addition to the postseason honors for Tahirovic and Stavrakas, head coach Jason Cohen was selected as the 2025 Patriot League Coach of the Year.
Bucknell swept the two tennis Scholar-Athletes of the Year honors, as Whitney King was selected on the women's side. It is only the sixth time in Patriot League history and the first time since 2008 that the same school earned both the men's and women's Scholar-Athlete awards in the same season.
Men's Tennis Scholar Athlete - Amar Tahirovic, Bucknell
Men's Tennis Academic All-League
Alan Ton, Army West Point
Amar Tahirovic, Bucknell
Adam Stavrakas, Bucknell
Josh Israel, Colgate
Marc Blekhman, Lehigh
Aniketh Ayinala, Navy
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