Over the weekend, the Bucknell Men’s Tennis competed against Villanova and Drexel in South Williamsport, Pa. 

The Bison suffered a close 4-3 loss against Villanova on Saturday. Despite the outcome, there were great performances all around.

Bucknell clinched the doubles point for the match after pairs Harrison Gold ’24 and Brendan McDonald ’26, and Amar Tahirovic ’26 and Oscar Moreno de Vega ’26 won their matches 6-2 and 6-3 respectively. 

As for the singles, No. 4 Michael Owen ’23 and No. 6 McDonald earned straight-set victories. Owen defeated his opponent 6-4 and 6-3, while McDonald won 6-4 and 6-0. 

With Bucknell up after the two singles matches and doubles points, they were unable to hold onto the lead as Villanova came back to win at No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5 singles. 

Heading into their match against Drexel, the Bison were fired up and eager to compete. 

Fate changed for Bucknell on Sunday as they secured a 5-2 win over Drexel.

With an end point on the line, first-year Tahirovic’s three-set victory at No. 2 singles clinched the final point of the match. 

Additionally contributing to the points for the Bison were doubles teams Gold and Brendan, and Tahirovic and Moreno de Vega, as well as singles players Gold, Nick Mueller ‘23 and McDonald. 

For first-year McDonald, he ended this weekend with a perfect 4-0 record. 

“This past weekend’s match against Drexel was a great first win to kick off a promising season,” McDonald said. “After winning the initial doubles point, the energy was unstoppable. Drexel tried every trick in the book, but it wasn’t enough.”

Next Friday, the Bison are back in action in Ebensburg, Pa, facing off against Saint Francis, Pa.