Men's Tennis Starts Patriot League Slate Saturday at Loyola, Hosts Saint Francis Sunday

Saturday, March 21

Baltimore, Md,

12 p.m.

Bucknell University

Loyola

Photo by: Nick DeCastro/FGCU Athletics

Men's Tennis Starts Patriot League Slate Saturday at Loyola, Hosts Saint Francis Sunday

3/19/2026 5:07:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Bucknell (7-8, 0-0 PL) at Loyola (0-5, 0-0 PL)
When: Saturday, March 21, 12 p.m.
Where: McClure Tennis Center at Ridley Athletic Complex, Baltimore, Md.
LIVE RESULTS

Saint Francis (4-9, 1-2 NEC) at Bucknell (7-8, 0-0 PL)
When: Sunday, March 22, 1 p.m.
Where: Varsity Tennis Courts, Lewisburg, Pa.
LIVE RESULTS
WATCH LIVE (if match held outdoors)

Bucknell at a Glance

Patriot League play gets going this week for the Bucknell men's tennis squad, as the Bison are set to take on Loyola on Saturday in Baltimore. Bucknell will then host Saint Francis on Sunday in a match that was postponed due to inclement weather earlier in the season.
The Bison head to Baltimore looking to shed a four-match losing streak, but they have faced tough competition throughout the spring campaign. The last three matches were played in Florida during Spring Break, and Bucknell fell DII No. 20 Rollins, Stetson, and Florida Gulf Coast.
Amar Tahirovic saw his 12-match singles winning streak snapped by Stetson's Alexandre Verlaguet, but Tahirovic still had a strong 3-1 record in singles and doubles (and had a doubles match go unfinished in which he led 5-2) while reaching another significant career milestone. The senior now has 192 career combined singles/doubles wins, which ties the school record also held by Nick Bybel '16.
Tahirovic is now 106-24 in singles and 86-40 in doubles, good for a 192-64 combined record. Bybel went 192-67 in a brilliant career from 2012-16. Tahirovic now has his sights set on Bybel's record of 112 singles wins.
Tahirovic is a team-best 23-6 in singles play this season, including 12-2 at No. 1 in dual matches. Liam Kilmer is 15-7 over the full season and 8-3 playing up at No. 2 singles.
Despite the three losses, as positive development last week was the return of Adam Stavrakas from injury. Bucknell's normal No. 2 singles player was limited to doubles action as he works his way back. Stavrakas had not appeared in a match since Feb. 1 at Delaware.
Earlier this spring, Brendan McDonald became Bucknell's all-time leader in doubles wins. He is 18-6 in doubles this season and 91-35 in his career. Ryan Sandburg '09 held the previous record with 87 doubles wins.
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.

Loyola at a Glance/Series History

The Greyhounds are also making their 2026 Patriot League debut on Saturday, and they are seeking their first win of the spring after falling to Delaware (6-1), Swarthmore (4-3), Mount St. Mary's (6-1), Marist (4-0), and Villanova (6-1). Loyola is slated to host Gettysburg on Friday before the Bison visit a day later.
Nick Lawliss and Ryan Gill represented Loyola at the Patriot League Qualifier for the ITA Conference Masters in the fall. Gill dropped a three-setter to Lafayette's Darrin Lerner, and Lawliss received a bye into the Round of 16, where he fall 6-1, 7-5 to Boston University's Jakob Esterowitz.
In doubles, Lawliss and Gill won their first match 8-4 against Lafayette, but then fell 8-3 to Bucknell's top-seeded duo of Amar Tahirovic and Brendan McDonald in the quarterfinals. That was the only Bucknell vs. Loyola matchup in fall tournament action.
Bucknell is 16-1 all-time against Loyola. The Greyhounds won the very first meeting 5-4 in 1955, and the Bison have won all 16 since then.
Bucknell was a 7-0 winner last season at home, and the Bison have not conceded more than one point in the last seven duals against the Greyhounds.

Saint Francis at a Glance/Series History

The Red Flash are 4-9 on the season after a 6-1 loss to NEC rival Binghamton last Sunday at the Ebensburg Tennis Center.
When the Red Flash come to Lewisburg on Sunday it will be their third match in three days. They are scheduled to host Duquesne on Friday and LIU on Saturday.
Saint Francis has played three Patriot League teams this spring, losing to Navy (5-2), Colgate (4-3), and Lehigh (5-2).
Kevin Titus Suresh is the team's No. 1 singles player. He is 7-6 in dual matches and 17-10 overall this season. Mario Beckles (11-10), Blake Lorenzo (11-11), and Jonah Ng (10-12) also have doble-digit wins.
Gregory Troyan has a team-high 12 doubles wins, mostly pairing with Suresh.
Bucknell is 18-4 all-time against the Red Flash, including six straight series victories.
The Bison opened each of the last two spring seasons against Saint Francis, winning both by 7-0 margins.

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