Bucknell Men’s Tennis traveled down to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the ITA All-American Championships, where Adam Stavrakas ’26 and Amar Tahirovic ’26 competed for a chance at an NCAA singles bid.
Stavrakas competed early in the pre-qualifying round to try and make the main rounds, but ultimately lost in matches to Florida (6-0, 6-2) and Wake Forest (6-4, 6-3), ending his winning streak from the spring. Tahirovic came in on Wednesday, Sept. 24, to compete in the main rounds after his No. 43 ITA ranking gave him an automatic bid into the tournament, the highest of any Patriot League player. Stavrakas and Tahirovic were the only players from the Patriot League to qualify.
Tahirovic started his fall season against TCU in the main draw. Despite his best efforts, he fell in the first set 6-3. After gaining a short lead in the second set, he lost the match 6-4. This loss moved Tahirovic to the consolation bracket, but still gave him a chance at one of the ten NCAA bids up for grabs. His next opponent came from Baylor; Tahirovic started strong to keep scores close in the first set, where he served to finish the set 7-3. The second set proved just as close, as he worked to keep close to his opponent, even tying halfway through at 4-4. Tahirovic ultimately lost 7-3, and a third set was pushed. While his opponent had an early 4-0 lead, Tahirovic pushed back to be down by only two. He lost the match, and Baylor moved on.
The rest of the Bison will open their fall season this weekend, Oct. 3-5, at the River City Open in Richmond, Virginia.
