Men's tennis weekly release
Bulls Hit Jackpot at Turning Stone to Open Spring Sked
The University at Buffalo men's tennis team got off to a strong start to the spring schedule as the Bulls swept a pair of matches played at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY. The Bulls opened play on Friday night with a 7-0 whitewashing of Colgate. UB then followed on Saturday with a 6-1 decision over Bryant. The Bulls, the 2012 Mid-American Conference regular season champions, start the spring season with a 2-0 record.
David Has Undefeated Weekend
Sophomore Damien David opened the spring campaign by winning all four of his matches. David combined with Akhil Mehta in doubles play to defeat Colgate's Nick Laub and Harry Jewett, 8-2. On Saturday, David and Mehta scored an 8-6 win over Ernesto Arguello and Juan Gonzalez-Paz in UB's lone doubles triumph as Bryant captured the doubles point with victories in the number two and three matches. In singles play, David, the 2012 MAC Newcomer of the Year, recorded a three-set victory over Bryant's Max Vogt in the number two singles match. The pair split tiebreakers in the opening two sets before David, rallied for a 6-1 win in the deciding set. The victories over Colgate were special for David as he recorded his 30th singles and 50th combined win in his career.
Hove Moving Up the Charts
With his singles win on Saturday, Vusa Hove moved past Fery Kasiman (1999-2003) for third place on UB's all-time singles win list with 65 and his 109 combined victories now ties him for sixth on the all-time list with Mike Proulx (1993-97). Nick Zieziula (2001-05) with 69 and Mike Rockman (2003-07) with 84 remain in front of Hove on the singles win list.
Welcome Newbies
Head coach Lee Nickell spent the break between the fall and spring seasons on the recruitng trail bringing in four new players. Freshmen Pablo Alvarez and Sergio Arevalillo come to the Bulls from Spain while Ashwin Sharma arrives from Australia. Sebastian Ionescu, a native of Romania, is a sophomore transfer after playing his freshman year at the University of Arizona. Alvarez, Sharma and Ionescu swept their Colgate and Bryant opponents in singles play as they made their debuts with the Bulls.
A Nickell's Worth
Head coach Lee Nickell commented on his team's performance following the Bryant victory. "This weekend was a great test for us. We came out on Friday and played the most complete match I have ever been a part of for this program against Colgate," said Nickell. "Today we were out-coached, but our guys stepped up and overcame a very good Bryant squad who was firing on all cylinders. Our goal as a coaching staff now is to tighten up our doubles play and continue to stress fast starts in both singles and doubles as we prepare to play Penn."