Men's tennis weekly release
Bulls Open Fall Season at Farnsworth/Princeton Invite
The University at Buffalo men's tennis team opened the 2012 fall campaign with play at the Farnsworth/Princeton Invitational. There was no team scoring in the tournament that included seven singles and three doubles draws.
Hove, David Advance to Semifinals
In the Tiger Draw of the singles competition, Vusa Hove scored a pair of impressive victories to move into the semifinal round. Hove opened play with a 7-6 (7), 6-2 win over Dragos Dina of Cornell. Dina had previously earned points in ATP competition. Hove followed with a 6-4, 7-6 (2) victory over Wake Forest's Danny Kreyman, the third seed in the draw and the number 94 collegiate player in the country. Hove lost to second-seeded and 67th-ranked nationally Matija Pecotic of Princeton, 6-1, 6-3 in the semifinal.
Damien David also registered two wins in the Cordish Draw, including a three-set quarterfinal triumph. David breezed to a 6-0, 6-4 win over Penn's Zach Katz in the opener. The sophomore then won an opening set tiebreaker and then rallied for a third-set win in downing Sam Fleck from Cornell, 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-2. David dropped a 6-3, 6-1 decision to Ashok Narayana of Columbia in the semifinals on Saturday.
Shkodnik Wins Consolation Title
Playing in the consolation round of the Nassau draw, Yevgeniy Jason Shkodnik pulled out thrilling come-from-behind three-set victory over Kyle Childree of Boston College. Shkodnik dropped the opening set, 6-2, then won a second-set tiebreaker, 7-5 to force the super-tiebreaker. In the 10-point set, Shkodnik scored a 12-10 victory marking his second three-set win in as many days. He defeated Gery of Columbia late Friday in a 10-8 super-tiebreaker after the pair traded 6-3 decisions in the first two sets. Shkodnik was later awarded the consolation final championship via walkover when his opponent was unable to compete.
Doubles Squads Score First Round Triumphs
In doubles play, Damien David and Ivan Vereshchaga won a play-in match over Winston Lin and Dragos Ignat of Columbia to reach the main draw in the A Flight. David and Vereshchaga then scored an 8-4 win over Nick Bybel and Evan Zimmer of Bucknell to advance to Saturday's quarterfinal round against Yale's Patrick Chase and John Huang, falling 8-1. Hove teamed with freshman Akhil Mehta to defeat Penn's Austin Kaplan and Blaine Willenborg, 8-1, to advance to the quarterfinals. The UB duo fell to Georgetown's Charlie Carls and Casey DiStaso, 8-5, in the B draw.