Bulls Roll Over Terriers, 6-1

Matt Kennedy

BOSTON, MA - The University at Buffalo men's tennis team opened the spring portion of the schedule with a 6-1 win over Boston University in a match completed late Friday night. The Bulls improve to 2-0 in dual meet matches which also included a victory over St. Francis (Pa.) in the fall.

The Bulls opened the match by taking two of three doubles showdowns. The number two team of Mike Rockman (Toronto, Ontario/Thornlea) and Albert Alant (Pretoria, South Africa/Niskayuna (NY)) knocked off Miron Nesim and Guilio Gallarotti, 8-2, dominating play from the start. The Bulls clinched the point as the number three team of Matt Kennedy (Mississauga, Ontario/Erindale) and Fred Duncan (East Amherst, NY/Nichols) won five straight games to claim an 8-5 win over Hans Sapra and Phil DeMeo. After trailing 4-1 in the number one match, UB's tandem of Yules Hadisubroto (Jakarta, Indonesia/SMUN 21) and Nikesh Singh Panthlia (George Town, Malaysia/BMK Penang Free School) rallied to tie Barrett Wolf and Jared Kobren at 7-7, but dropped the final two games in a 9-7 decision for the Terriers.

In singles play, the Bulls dropped just one of the six matches. UB's Singh Panthlia fell to Kobren in straight sets, 7-6 (5), 6-3, at number two in the first match to conclude, tying the score at 1-1.

From there, the Bulls swept their opponents. Duncan, a freshman transfer from Saint Joseph's playing in his first UB match, scored a 6-3,6-4 win over Gallarotti at number four. Rockman, at number one, then came off the court with a 7-6 (2), 6-0 victory against Wolf, giving the Bulls a 3-1 advantage in the match.

Yules Hadisubroto

UB clinched the win by claiming the fourth point as number three Hadisubroto rallied from a set down against Nesim and some mild cramping to claim a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory. The Bulls also won the number five and six matches to post the 6-1 margin. Kennedy needed a super-tiebreaker to down Karim Zahran, at number five, 7-6 (2), 1-6, 1-0 (10-1) while Alant, at number six, cruised to a straight-set win over Sapra, 6-4, 6-3.

The Bulls travel to Providence, RI to face Brown on Saturday afternoon.

Buffalo 6, Boston University 1

Doubles

1 Barrett Wolf/Jared Kobren (BU) d. Yules Hadisubroto/Nikesh Singh Panthlia (UB), 9-7

2 Mike Rockman/Albert Alant (UB) d. Miron Nesim/Guilio Gallarotti (BU), 8-2

3 Matt Kennedy/Fred Duncan (UB) d. Hans Sapra/Phil DeMeo (BU), 8-5

Singles

1 Mike Rockman (UB) d. Barrett Wolf (BU), 7-6 (2), 6-0

2 Jared Kobren (BU) d. Nikesh Singh Panthlia (UB), 7-6 (5), 6-3

3 Yules Hadisubroto (UB) d. Miron Nesim (BU), 3-6, 6-2, 6-1

4 Fred Duncan (UB) d. Guilio Gallarotti (BU), 6-3, 6-4

5 Matt Kennedy (UB) d. Karim Zahran, 7-6 (2), 1-6, 1-0 (10-1)

6 Albert Alant (UB) d. Hans Sapra (BU), 6-4, 6-3