Men's Tennis Set for First Outdoor Home Match Saturday vs. Duquesne, Bison Visit NJIT Sunday

Saturday, February 28

Lewisburg, Pa.

12 p.m.

Bucknell University

Duquesne

Men's Tennis Set for First Outdoor Home Match Saturday vs. Duquesne, Bison Visit NJIT Sunday

2/26/2026 2:24:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Duquesne (3-4) at Bucknell (6-4)
When: Saturday, Feb. 28, 12 p.m.
Where: Varsity Tennis Courts, Lewisburg, Pa.
LIVE RESULTS
WATCH LIVE (if outdoors)

Bucknell (6-4) at NJIT (4-1)
When: Sunday, March 1, 2 p.m.
Where: Naimoli Family Athletic & Recreational Facility, Newark, N.J.
LIVE RESULTS
WATCH LIVE

Bucknell at a Glance

After dropping a couple of tight matches to ranked teams, the Bison have another challenging weekend ahead with a home date with Duquesne on Saturday followed by a trip to NJIT on Sunday. The weather forecast looks good for Saturday, and if it holds up the Bucknell-Duquesne match will be played outdoors at the Varsity Tennis Courts.
Bucknell's four-match winning streak came to an end last week with a pair of 4-2 losses to ITA No. 73 Saint Joseph's and No. 69 Drexel, both on the road.
Against Saint Joe's, Amar Tahirovic and Oscar Bain Moreno de Vega won singles matches and Brendan McDonald took over sole possession of the Bucknell career record for doubles wins. Tahirovic and McDonald beat Damir Abdusamadov and Santiago Valle 6-3 at No. 1 doubles. McDonald equaled Ryan Sandburg's career doubles victory record with his 87th last week against Johns Hopkins, and now McDonald has the record to himself with win No. 88.
Tahirovic and Liam Kilmer provided the points against Drexel with straight-set singles wins in the top two spots in the lineup. Tahirovic has now won eight straight singles matches to get to 19-5 on the season. Kilmer, who has been playing up at No. 2 with an injury to All-Patriot Leaguer Adam Stavrakas, is 12-5 overall and 6-3 in dual matches. Will Robinson (7-2 in duals) and Bain (6-3) are also having strong springs.
Tahirovic's singles win against Georgetown's Arthur O'Sullivan two weeks ago was the 100th of his career. He is now 102-23, and he needs 10 more wins to equal Nick Bybel's school record of 112, set from 2012-16. Tahirovic ranks 3rd all-time in doubles victories with 83.
Tahirovic is also within range of the Bucknell record for combined singles and doubles victories. Bybel holds the record with 192, and Tahirovic has 185.
Tahirovic and McDonald came one win away from an NCAA doubles bid with a big run at the ITA Conference Masters in San Diego. They won the Patriot League qualifier and then beat pairs from Boise State, UC Santa Barbara and Presbyterian to reach the semifinals. McDonald was honored with the ITA Sportsmanship Award at that event.
Tahirovic also represented the Patriot League in singles at the ITA Conference Masters, where he beat reigning Big East Player of the Year Alejandro Gandini of DePaul in the first round before falling to Martin Birisiouk of N.C. State in three sets in the round of 16. Earlier in the fall, he played in the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., where he dropped tight matches to opponents from TCU and Baylor, and he won twice in the main draw at the ITA Northeast Regional at Princeton.

Duquesne at a Glance/Series History

The Dukes are 3-4 this spring, with the wins coming against Colgate (4-3), Ashland (5-2), and Niagara (7-0) and the losses to Notre Dame (6-1), Western Michigan (5-0), Buffalo (7-0), and Youngstown State (4-0).
Enrique Lana plays in the No. 1 singles spot and is 3-3 in spring duals. Aril Tuna Kayra is also 3-3 this spring playing in the 2 and 3 positions. Those two also form a solid doubles team, with a 2-0 record at No. 1 and 1-4 at No. 2.
Bucknell is 7-11-1 all-time against Duquesne in a series that dates back to 1929.
The Bison and Dukes last met on March 23, 2024 at the Central PA Tennis Center, and Bucknell won 7-0. The Bison gave up no sets in singles play, and two of Bucknell's doubles teams gave up just one game in 6-1 victories.

NJIT at a Glance/Series History

The Highlanders have become one of the top teams in the East under coach Marco Matteucci. NJIT moved to the Big South Conference this year after several years in the Southland Conference. They won the Southland title in 2024, finishing 19-6 after falling to Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Last season, the Highlanders went 18-4 and were upset by New Orleans in the league tournament final.
This year's squad is 4-1 with shutout victories over FDU (7-0), Fordham (7-0), Navy (7-0), and Georgetown (4-0). The only loss was a 5-2 verdict at Saint Joseph's on Feb. 14 that helped propel the Hawks into the ITA rankings.
Senior Wil Jenkins competed at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa in the fall. Bucknell's Amar Tahirovic and Adam Stavrakas were also in that field. Jenkins beat opponents from Kentucky and Arkansas in the pre-qualifying round.
Soma Fukuhara teams with Jenkins at No. 1 doubles and also plays in one of the top two singles positions.
There were a couple of Bucknell-NJIT matchups in the fall tournament season, both coming at the ITA Northeast Regional at Princeton. In doubles, Tahirovic and Brendan McDonald defeated Tom Sorin and Severin Risan 8-3 in the Round of 64. In the qualifying consolation singles bracket, NJIT's Nejc Skorjanc downed Will Robinson 6-1, 6-2.
In dual matches, NJIT now leads the all-time series 4-3 after winning four straight. The last meeting came on Feb. 3, 2024 at the Binghamton Spring Invitational, and the Highlanders won 5-2. The Bison won the doubles point and also picked up a 6-4, 6-4 singles win from Tim Zelikovsky at No. 6, but NJIT won four three-set matches to earn the victory.

Next Up

Bucknell's next three matches will take place in Florida during Spring Break week. The Bison will visit Rollins (March 9), Stetson (March 13), and Florida Gulf Coast (March 15) in final tune-ups prior to the start of Patriot League play.