Men's Tennis Weekly Release

Bulls Open Spring Season in California

The University at Buffalo men’s tennis team opened the spring portion of the schedule with matches in California over the holiday weekend. The Bulls opened with a 5-2 loss to the University of San Francisco on Saturday and fell, 4-3, to Sacramento State on Sunday. The Bulls wrap up the three-match excursion at UC-Davis on Monday.

Singh Panthlia, Mazzetto Score Wins Against USF

Nikesh Singh Panthlia

In the opening match at San Francisco, UB scored a pair of victories. Nikesh Singh Panthlia (George Town, Malaysia/BMK Penang Free School) knocked off Asaf Cohen in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2. Marcelo Mazzetto (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Carlos Magno) provided UB’s other victory with a 6-4, 6-3 decision over Rainer Nachbauer. Two other singles matches went to three sets, however the Bulls were unable to pull out a victory in either one.

Three Singles Wins Over the Hornets

Kirill Kolomytes

Against Sacramento State, UB picked up singles wins from its number two, four and six players. Kirill Kolomytes (Moscow, Russia/Moscow High School 155), at number two, defeated Artur Klimenka, 6-3, 7-5. Octavian Stane (Toronto, Ontario/Leaside), in the number four slot, needed a 12-10 win in the super-tiebreaker to defeat Holden Ching, 1-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10). Eric Rothstein (Phoenixville, PA/Great Valley), at number six, got off to a slow start, needing a first-set tiebreaker win, but rolled in the second set for a 7-6 (7), 6-0 win over Ronan Conlon.

Welcome Back, Coach

Sherif Zaher

Sunday’s match against Sacramento State served as a homecoming for UB head coach Sherif Zaher. A Sacramento State graduate and former head coach of the Hornets, Zaher was the Big Sky MVP in 2001 and 2002 for the Hornets and led the squad as head coach from 2002-05.

The Road Show Continues

UB finishes the three-match trip through the Golden State with a contest at UC-Davis on Monday, January 21. The Bulls then return to the east coast for a neutral-site match with Xavier on Sunday, January 27 at 9:00 am in Cleveland.