Women's Tennis Opens Patriot League Play at Boston U.; Faces Merrimack

Friday, February 20

Boston, Mass,

4 p.m.

Bucknell University

Boston University

Women's Tennis Opens Patriot League Play at Boston U.; Faces Merrimack

2/17/2026 11:39:00 AM | Women's Tennis

LEWISBURG, Pa. — Bucknell women's tennis is gearing up for a road weekend and its start of conference play as it takes on Patriot League foe Boston U. on Friday, Feb. 20 at 4 p.m. and the has a non-conference match against Merrimack on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 11:45 a.m.

The Bison are entering the matches 4-3 overall after dropping both of their matches last weekend to Temple and Saint Francis. Bucknell is currently on a three-match losing streak.

Bucknell (4-3) at Boston U. (3-5, 1-0 PL)

When: Friday, Feb. 20 — 4 p.m.
Where: Boston, Mass.

Bucknell (4-3) at Merrimack (1-5)

When: Saturday, Feb. 21 — 11:45 a.m.
Where: North Andover, Mass.

Bucknell's Last Time Out:

The Bison went 0-2 on the weekend with losses to Saint Francis (5-2) and Villanova (3-4).
On Friday, Bucknell women's tennis won the doubles point, but ultimately fell to Saint Francis after going 1-5 in singles competition. Abby Platt and Riley Jennings defeated Reagan Mangan and Helena Lynn 6-3 on court one, Jaycie Mair and Summer Even-Esh defeated Gaby Almanza and Kelly Dowoana on court two and Cameron King and Natalie Devraj defeated Emma Marais and Sophia Cunningham 6-4 on court three. In singles play, Mirra Manolov was the lone Bison to earn a win as she defeated Mangan 6-3, 5-7, 10-7. Platt fell to Chichkina on court one 1-6, 3-6.
On Saturday, the Bucknell women's tennis team's match came down to the third set in the No. 2 singles match, but Villanova came away with a 6-3 win in the set to take a 4-3 win on Saturday afternoon at the Central PA Tennis Center.

Bucknell at a Glance

Mirra Manolov leads the Bison in singles wins this year with 10.
The doubles team of Abby Platt and Riley Jennings leads the team in doubles wins with six.
Overall in doubles play with an assortment of different partners, Cameron King holds the most Bison wins with 11.
Most recently, Bucknell went 0-2 with losses to Saint Francis and Villanova. Mirra Manolov went 2-0 in her singles matches on courts four and five.
So far this spring season, the Bison have defeated Saint Francis, Mount St. Mary's and Mercyhurst. Bucknell has fallen to Temple, Saint Francis and Villanova.
At the ITA Conference Masters Championship, Abby Platt made it to the quarterfinal round, Riley Jennings was eliminated in the round-of-16 and the doubles group of Platt and Jennings lost in their quarterfinals match.
Bucknell played in one dual match in the fall with the Bison coming out on top of Millersville 5-2, winning all doubles matches and four-of-six singles matches.
The Bison played three tournaments in the fall, one at home and two on the road. Bucknell tested out doubles teams in the fall tournaments in order to finalize the groups heading into the spring season.
Bucknell women's tennis ended the 2024-25 season with a heartbreaking 4-3 loss in the quarterfinal round of the Patriot League Championships to Lehigh.
The team landed two players on the All-Patriot League squad; Whitney King earned a first-team nod and Abby Platt earned second-team honors.
Heading into the 2025-26 season, the Bison had to restructure their lineup after losing three integral players to graduation in Whitney King, Anna Lajos and Caroline Marcus, who were all in the lineup last season.
Seniors Abby Platt and Mirra Manolov have been named captains for the 2025-26 season.
Outside of Platt earning Second Team All-Patriot League last season, she has also found her way onto the record book ahead of her senior season. The Texas native currently ranks 11th in Bucknell history for career doubles victories (60), is tied for 27th in career singles victories (45), ranks 19th in career combined victories (105) and is tied for 10th in single-season doubles victories (22). Last season, Platt went 10-15 in the second spot for singles play. Platt and King were doubles partners and went 18-8 in the one spot. Platt has been doubles partners with King since she first arrived as a freshman in 2022 and will now be looking for a new partner to finish out her career.
The Bison welcomed a freshman class of three this fall; Summer Even-Esh, Katherine Purpura and Mariana Shulman.

Boston University at a Glance

The Terriers come into the match 3-5 overall and 1-0 in Patriot League play.
Boston U. is currently on a three-match losing streak with losses to Syracuse, Boston College and UMass.
The conference win came over Colgate as Boston U. blanked the Raiders 4-0.
In their last time out, the Boston University women's tennis team fell to UMass, 5-2 at the Winchester Tennis Club. The Minutewomen won the doubles point and then claimed four singles matches en route to the victory.
Nancy Liu leads Boston U. in overall and dual singles wins with an 11-3 overall record and a 5-1 dual record in No. 1 and No. 2 singles play.
Emily Zhao and Madison Liu lead the Terriers in doubles play with an overall and dual record of 3-2 in the No. 3 doubles spot.
In doubles play amongst a group of different partners, Nancy Liu leads with an overall record of 7-7 and a dual record of 2-4 in the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles spots.

Merrimack at a Glance

Merrimack comes into the contest 1-5 overall.
The Warriors are currently on a three game losing streak with losses to Assumption, University of New Haven and Binghamton.
In their last time out, the Merrimack women's tennis team lost to Binghamton 7-0 on Saturday at the Willows Racquet and Fitness Center. Pia Vargas-Lopez and Jordan Phillips lost 6-3 at No. 1 doubles, while Senasi Sananu also lost 6-3 at No. 2 doubles. Kenzie Legg and Giulia Martins Cavalcante dropped the No. 3 doubles match, 6-2. Binghamton won all four singles matches.

Up Next

Bucknell will host a weekend of matches at the Central PA Tennis Center in South Williamsport, Pa. Bucknell will host Army in a Patriot League match on Friday, Feb. 27 at 1 p.m. and then host Duquesne in a non-conference match on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 1 p.m.