Men's tennis weekly release
Bulls Split Weekend Against Jersey Schools
The University at Buffalo men's tennis team traveled to New Jersey to face 55th ranked Princeton and then returned home to host NJIT on Sunday as the Bulls split the two matches. UB fell to the Tigers, 7-0, at Jadwin Gymnasium but the Bulls rebounded with a 5-2 victory over the Highlanders on Sunday at the Miller Tennis Center.
David, Ionescu Force Super-Tiebreakers At Princeton
Although the Bulls dropped all seven points to the Tigers, UB forced Princeton (6-3) into a pair of third set super-tiebreaker singles matches. In the number two match, Damien David fell 10-8 in his final set to Zack McCourt. David had won the second set, 6-3, to force the third set. At number three, Sebastian Ionescu dropped an 11-9 decision to Matt Spinder. Ionescu won the second set, 7-6.
Important Doubles Point Win Keys UB Past NJIT
In Sunday's match against NJIT at the Miller Tennis Center, the Bulls 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. The number two duo of Ionescu and Ashwin Sharma led Holger Norregarrd and Markus Schultz, 4-2, when play was stopped.
Four Singles Wins Propel Bulls
During singles play against the Highlanders, 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. David clinched the match for the Bulls at second singles as he defeated 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.
A Nickell's Worth
Head coach Lee Nickell commented on the grueling weekend the Bulls experienced. "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 17½ hours in a van over two days and still pull the match out is a testament to our team," said Nickell. "I'm proud of the way our guys fought. NJIT is a very good team."
Another Ivy League Opponent on the Docket
The Bulls travel to Ivy League opponent Brown on Saturday, March 9 in their next action. Brown will be the fourth Ivy League opponent for the Bulls this season as UB's three losses this season have come against league members Penn, Cornell and Princeton with two of the squads being ranked among the top 75 programs by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.