Bison Men’s Tennis had a stellar weekend at the Patriot League ITA Masters Qualifier, with Amar Tahirovic ’26 and Brendan McDonald ’26 taking both the singles and doubles bids.
Tahirovic battled against his own teammate Adam Stavrakas ’26 in the final singles match to secure his singles bid to ITA Masters, then teamed with McDonald to steal the doubles bid as well. “We have been preparing for this tournament and this opportunity for a very long time. This week we focused on specific doubles strategy and strokes to prepare.” McDonald said. “Competing against higher level doubles teams at the ITA Regionals last weekend gave us the confidence we needed entering this tournament.”
The weekend started on a dominant note as Tahirovic and Stavrakas took their singles matches. McDonald and Tahirovic also came together for a win against Holy Cross in doubles.
The Blue and Orange continued their winning streak into Saturday: Stavrakas won straight sets against Lehigh and Army, and Tahirovic took straight wins against Army and Colgate. These wins led to the two Bison competing against each other in the singles finals on Sunday.
Tahirovic and McDonald also dominated in the doubles with a win against Army.
Sunday, Oct. 27 concluded another spectacular day for the Bison. Stavrakas and Tahirovic made it to the singles finals, only to compete against each other for the bid to the ITA Masters Championship. The match was their hardest, going back and forth for three sets. Stavrakas started with a hard 8-6 win, only to be bested in the second by Tahirovic, 6-3.
The final set decided Tahirovic as the winner, with another 8-6 tiebreaker.
“It was not fun as a coach to have your teammates play each other, and I only watched a few parts of the match.” Head Coach Jason Cohen said. “They played a very high level against each other and both were deserving of moving on to represent us at the ITA Conference Masters in Georgia.”
Earlier in the day, Tahirovic and McDonald took their place as best in the League by winning their final doubles match against Lehigh.
“Amar and I had multiple very close matches that came down to the wire. So I had no time to even think about the finish line until we won the last point.” McDonald shared. “The feeling of winning such a prestigious tournament with a close friend of mine was a rewarding experience. It’s hard to describe the feeling of coming out on top after a long weekend, but it was a mix of joy, relief and excitement.”
This secured their ticket to compete in Rome, Ga. at the ITA Conference Masters Championships to represent the Patriot League. “…winning doubles [and singles] has shown the entire Patriot League that Bucknell Tennis is a force to be reckoned with,” McDonald said. “I am extremely excited to have received the bid into the ITA Masters and I look forward to continuing to represent Bucknell and the Men’s Tennis Team on the court.”
