Men's Tennis Ranked No. 7 in Final ITA Northeast Region Poll; Tahirovic, Stavrakas Ranked in Singles
6/4/2025 11:21:00 AM | Men's Tennis
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's tennis team capped off a championship season with a No. 7 ranking in the ITA Northeast Region. Juniors Amar Tahirovic and Adam Stavrakas both appeared in the final Northeast Region singles rankings, and Tahirovic finished the campaign ranked No. 87 nationally.Â
Ivy League programs Columbia, Princeton, and Penn finished at the top of the Northeast Region team rankings, followed by St. John's, NJIT, Monmouth, Bucknell, Buffalo, Drexel, and Penn State. The Bison finished the 2024-25 season with a 19-7 record, tying the program record for dual-match wins. The last of those was Bucknell's first-ever victory over Navy in the championship match of the Patriot League Tournament, giving the Bison their first conference title since 1991 and their first-ever in the team-format era, which dates back to 1994.Â
The ITA ranks the top 20 players in each region, and Tahirovic finished No. 7 and Stavrakas No. 11. The top six contained three players from Columbia, including NCAA singles champion Michael Zheng, two from Princeton, and one from Penn State. Tahirovic went 1-1 this season against Penn State's Loren Byers, who was ranked fourth in the region and 56th nationally. That was one of only three losses all year for the Bison co-captain, who finished 33-3 and earned Patriot League Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.Â
Stavrakas, the Patriot League Tournament MVP, finished 35-3 on the season with a 24-match winning streak that will carry over into next season. Stavrakas went 24-0 in spring dual matches, including a 9-0 mark against Patriot League foes.
Bucknell played in the NCAA Tournament for the first time and dropped a hard-fought match to fourth-ranked Virginia, which advanced all the way to the quarterfinals before falling 4-3 to defending champion TCU. Tahirovic and Brendan McDonald led 5-2 at No. 1 doubles when the point was clinched. Stavrakas was level at one set apiece at No. 2 singles, and Tahirovic had a set point in the second set to draw even with No. 4 Rafael Jodar when the match was clinched.Â
There were no seniors on this year's Bucknell team, so the entire roster returns in 2025-26 along with talented incoming freshman Tyler Bush from Staten Island, N.Y.
Ivy League programs Columbia, Princeton, and Penn finished at the top of the Northeast Region team rankings, followed by St. John's, NJIT, Monmouth, Bucknell, Buffalo, Drexel, and Penn State. The Bison finished the 2024-25 season with a 19-7 record, tying the program record for dual-match wins. The last of those was Bucknell's first-ever victory over Navy in the championship match of the Patriot League Tournament, giving the Bison their first conference title since 1991 and their first-ever in the team-format era, which dates back to 1994.Â
The ITA ranks the top 20 players in each region, and Tahirovic finished No. 7 and Stavrakas No. 11. The top six contained three players from Columbia, including NCAA singles champion Michael Zheng, two from Princeton, and one from Penn State. Tahirovic went 1-1 this season against Penn State's Loren Byers, who was ranked fourth in the region and 56th nationally. That was one of only three losses all year for the Bison co-captain, who finished 33-3 and earned Patriot League Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.Â
Stavrakas, the Patriot League Tournament MVP, finished 35-3 on the season with a 24-match winning streak that will carry over into next season. Stavrakas went 24-0 in spring dual matches, including a 9-0 mark against Patriot League foes.
Bucknell played in the NCAA Tournament for the first time and dropped a hard-fought match to fourth-ranked Virginia, which advanced all the way to the quarterfinals before falling 4-3 to defending champion TCU. Tahirovic and Brendan McDonald led 5-2 at No. 1 doubles when the point was clinched. Stavrakas was level at one set apiece at No. 2 singles, and Tahirovic had a set point in the second set to draw even with No. 4 Rafael Jodar when the match was clinched.Â
There were no seniors on this year's Bucknell team, so the entire roster returns in 2025-26 along with talented incoming freshman Tyler Bush from Staten Island, N.Y.
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