Amid a rainy Saturday morning, the top-seeded Lehigh men’s tennis team took the stage at the Lewis Indoor Tennis Center to face No. 5 Bucknell University in the Patriot League semifinals. The Mountain Hawks (15-8, 6-1 Patriot) held off the Bison (12-12, 2-3 Patriot) 4-2 to advance to the Patriot League Championship for the first time since 2013.
This will be Lehigh’s first appearance in the championship as a No. 1 seed and its second in program history.
Senior Wyeth Anzilotti and first-year Henry Stoller opened with a 6-3 win at No. 2 doubles, before fifth-year Sean Jaeger and junior Alex Van Lumich followed with a 6-4 victory at No. 1 to secure the point.
“I think we came in with a lot of belief,” first-year Aleksandar Daskalovic said. “Getting the doubles point at the beginning was really crucial.”
Daskalovic carried that momentum into singles play at No. 3, triumphing over senior Oscar Bain in two sets, 6-0, 6-2.
Jaeger fell to senior Amar Tahirovic at No. 1, 4-6, 2-6, before the Bison tied the match at two points apiece when junior Liam Kilmer defeated first-year Kosei Ogata, 6-4, 6-4.
After battling through a tense first set, Van Lumich defeated senior Adam Stavrakas 7-6 (7-2), 6-0 to put Lehigh ahead, 3-2.
“I just told (Van Lumich) to trust what he does,” coach Craig Schwartz said. “Be more aggressive in the moments that he needs to. I think that was the difference, he competed and never gave up.”
Sophomore Ofer Hacohen sealed the victory at No. 5, holding off senior Brendan McDonald, 6-4, 6-4, to clinch the match and send the Mountain Hawks to the championship.
“Bucknell ended our season a few times in the last few years, so we knew it was going to be a tough match,” Hacohen said. “This team is special…we proved that after winning a tough battle, we can win again.”
Lehigh will face No. 2 Navy in the Patriot League Championship on Sunday at 2 p.m.
“We believe that we can beat both of them,” Daskalovic said. “We’re the number one team for a reason.”
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