Men's Tennis Splits Matches With Bucknell and Binghamton

Nikesh Singh Panthlia

ST. BONAVENTURE, NY – The University at Buffalo men’s tennis team played well into the night, splitting a pair of matches on Saturday evening. The Bulls (4-2) knocked off Patriot League foe Bucknell, 6-1, but suffered a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Binghamton, one of the top teams in the America East Conference. Both matches were held at the SBU Fitness Center on the campus of St. Bonaventure University.

The Bulls scored a decisive win over Bucknell with UB opening play by scoring the doubles point thanks to the number two tandem of Mike Rockman (Toronto, Ontario/Thornlea) and Yules Hadisubroto (Jakarta, Indonesia/SMUN 21). Rockman and Hadisubroto defeated Bucknell’s Jonathan Brenner and Ryan Sandburg, 9-7, giving the Bulls the 1-0 edge. UB’s number three team of Nikesh Singh Panthlia (George Town, Malaysia/BMK Penang Free School) and Octavian Stane (Toronto, Ontario/Leaside) also scored a doubles win.

UB scored five of six singles wins over the Bisons, highlighted by Rockman’s 6-1, 6-1 victory over Sandburg at number one and a third-set rally by Singh Panthlia over Brenner, 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-2, in the number two match. Kirill Kolomytes (Moscow, Russia/Moscow High School 155), Hadisubroto and Stane also scored wins for the Bulls in singles play.

Against Binghamton, UB again won the number two and three doubles matches to gain the early advantage. Rockman and Hadisubroto clinched the doubles point with an 8-4 victory over Jon Bonnet and Pierre Clavel.

Four of the six singles matches against the Bearcats went into third sets, including the number one and four matches which included two tiebreakers each. Singh Panthlia scored a three-set win in the number two contest by downing Clavel, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. Binghamton took a 3-2 lead when Rockman lost to Faisal Mohamed at number one in a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-2 decision and Hadisubroto fell to Moshe Levy in the number four match, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (7).

Because the St. Bonaventure facility only has four courts, the top four matches were played first with the number five and six matches starting as soon as courts became available and it became evident that the bottom two matches would tell the tale against the Bearcats.

In the number six match, Albert Alant (Pretoria, South Africa/Niskayuna (NY)) scored a 7-5, 6-4 win over Reina Kohtake to tie the match at 3-3.

The match ended in dramatic fashion as Stane, playing at number five, opened his contest with Bonnet by scoring a 7-6 first-set tiebreaker to take the lead. However, Stane was unable to build on the momentum and dropped the next two sets, 6-4 and 6-2, closing out the contest.

The Bulls hit the road for another doubleheader next Saturday as they travel to Boston to face Boston College at 10:00 am, followed by a contest against Brown at 7:00 pm.

Buffalo 6, Bucknell 1

Doubles

1 Ira Reibeisen/Ben Young (BU) d. Albert Alant/Kirill Kolomytes (UB), 8-5

2 Mike Rockman/Yules Hadisubroto (UB) d. Jonathan Brenner/Ryan Sandburg (BU), 9-7

3 Nikesh Singh Panthlia/Octavian Stane (UB) d. Daniel Bednarek/Zach Hascoe (BU), 8-2

Order of finish: 3 1 2

Singles

1 Mike Rockman (UB) d. Ryan Sandburg (BU), 6-1, 6-1

2 Nikesh Singh Panthlia (UB) d. Jonathan Brenner (BU), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-2

3 Kirill Kolomytes (UB) d. Zach Hascoe (BU), 6-4, 7-5

4 Yules Hadisubroto (UB) d. Ben Young (BU), 6-4, 6-3

5 Octavian Stane (UB) d. Daniel Bednarek (BU), 7-5, 6-2

6 Brian Cohen (BU) d. Eric Rothstein (UB), 6-3, 6-4

Order of finish: 1 2 4 3 5 6

Binghamton 4, Buffalo 3

Doubles

1 Faisal Mohamed/Alex Dobrin (BU) d. Albert Alant/Kirill Kolomytes (UB), 8-4

2 Mike Rockman/Yules Hadisubroto (UB) d. Jon Bonnet/Pierre Clavel (BU), 8-4

3 Nikesh Singh Panthlia/Octavian Stane (UB) d. Moshe Levy/Reina Kohtake (BU), 8-1

Order of finish: 3 1 2

Singles

1 Faisal Mohamed (BU) d. Mike Rockman (UB), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-2

2 Nikesh Singh Panthlia (UB) d. Pierre Clavel (BU), 3-6, 6-2, 6-1

3 Alex Dobrin (BU) d. Kirill Kolomytes (UB), 6-1, 7-5

4 Moshe Levy (BU) d. Yules Hadisubroto (UB), 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (7)

5 Jon Bonnet (BU) d. Octavian Stane (UB), 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2

6 Albert Alant (UB) d. Reina Kohtake (BU), 7-5, 6-4

Order of finish: 3 2 1 4 6 5