Bulls Climb Over Highlanders, 5-2
WILLIAMSVILLE, NY – The University at Buffalo men's tennis team completed a weekend against New Jersey colleges as the Bulls defeated NJIT, 5-2, at the Miller Tennis Center on Sunday.
The Bulls (6-3) opened play by winning the doubles point. It was the first time that NJIT (9-3) had been denied the doubles point. At number one, UB's Damien David and Akhil Mehta knocked off Erik Arthursson and Petr Rousar, 8-5. The Bulls clinched the point as the number three team of Vusa Hove and Yevgeniy Jason Shkodnik defeated Andres Alban and Fraser Croad, 8-5.
UB then won the next three matches to be completed to claim the match. At number four, Pablo Alvarez defeated Rousar, 6-1, 7-5. Sebastian Ionescu, at number three, also picked up a straight sets win over Alban, 6-3, 6-4.
Damien David clinched the match for the Bulls at second singles as he defeated Holger Norregarrd, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Mehta also picked up a singles win at number six with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Croad.
The Bulls returned to Western New York late Saturday night after falling at No. 55 Princeton, 7-0.
"This weekend was not an easy weekend and that's my fault. Scheduling is very tough when you want to play the top teams and to spend 17 ½ hours in a van over two days and still pull the match out is a testament to our team," said head coach Lee Nickell. "I'm proud of the way our guys fought. NJIT is a very good team."
The Bulls travel to Ivy League opponent Brown on Saturday, March 9 in their next action.
Buffalo 5, NJIT 2
Doubles
1 Damien David/Akhil Mehta (UB) d. Erik Arthursson/Petr Rousar (NJIT), 8-5
2 Sebasian Ionescu/Ashwin Sharma (UB) led Holger Norregarrd/Markus Schultz (NJIT), 4-2 DNF
3 Vusa Hove/Yevgeniy Jason Shkodnik (UB) d. Andres Alban/Fraser Croad (NJIT), 8-5
Order of finish: 1, 2
Singles
1 Markus Schultz (NJIT) d. Vusa Hove (UB), 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-3
2 Damien David (UB) d. Holger Norregarrd (NJIT), 7-6 (4), 6-3
3 Sebastian Ionescu (UB) d. Andres Alban (NJIT), 6-3, 6-4
4 Pablo Alvarez (UB) d. Petr Rousar (NJIT), 6-1, 7-5
5 Erik Arthursson (NJIT) d. Ashwin Sharma (UB), 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (6)
6 Akhil Mehta (UB) d. Fraser Croad (NJIT), 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: 4, 3, 2, 1, 6, 5