McDonald Ties Bucknell’s All-Time Doubles Wins Record as Men’s Tennis Downs Johns Hopkins 5-2

Sunday, February 15

South Williamsport, Pa.

1 p.m.

Bucknell University

Johns Hopkins

McDonald Ties Bucknell’s All-Time Doubles Wins Record as Men’s Tennis Downs Johns Hopkins 5-2

2/15/2026 5:02:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – On a day when senior Brendan McDonald tied a 17-year-old school record, it was freshman Tyler Bush who prevailed in a third-set tiebreaker at No. 3 singles to clinch Bucknell's 5-2 win over Johns Hopkins on Sunday at the Central PA Tennis Center. Bucknell won its fourth straight dual match to improve to 6-2 on the season, this one coming against the 11th-ranked team in Division III.

McDonald teamed with Oscar Bain Moreno de Vega for a 7-6 (7-4) win over Dylan Blenkiron and Brian Yi at No. 1 doubles. It was McDonald's 87th career doubles victory, equaling Ryan Sandburg's team record that has been in the books since 2009.

🚨 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐓 🚨

Brendan McDonald just teamed with Oscar Bain for a 7-6 (7-4) win over JHU at 1 doubles. That's Brendan's 87th career doubles victory, which ties Ryan Sandburg's school record that has been in the books since 2009. Congrats, Brendan! #rayBucknell pic.twitter.com/Sus42KkW8L
— Bucknell Men's Tennis (@Bucknell_MTEN) February 15, 2026

The Blue Jays, who made it to the NCAA DIII Tournament quarterfinals last season, won the other two doubles matches to take the point, meaning Bucknell needed to win at least four of the six singles matches without First Team All-Patriot Leaguers Amar Tahirovic and Adam Stavrakas in the lineup.

The Bison showed off their depth, winning five of the six, including three where they dropped the first set. Bain and Will Robinson posted straight-set wins on Courts 4 and 5 to get Bucknell going. Robinson's win was his seventh in a row. At No. 6, Nelson Alapi lost the first set to Joshua Kim in a tiebreaker, won the second set at love, and then Kim had to retire due to injury.

The Bison needed one more win from the top half of the lineup, but Johns Hopkins won the first set in all three of those tilts. Bush came back to win the second set from Dylan Blenkiron 6-2, and then the two combatants held serve throughout the third set. The tiebreaker was level at 3-3 until Bush won four straight points to take the clinching match.

Liam Kilmer, playing in the No. 1 spot for the first time, dropped his first set to DIII singles quarterfinalist Chakor Rajendra, but the Bison junior picked up a huge service break at 5-4 to win the second set, then he rolled 6-0 in the third.

Bucknell heads to Philadelphia next weekend to take on Saint Joseph's on Saturday at 6 p.m. and Drexel on Sunday at 11 a.m.