Men's Tennis Weekly Release

Bulls Split Weekend Competitions

The University at Buffalo men's tennis team split a pair of weekend home matches with a non-conference whitewashing of Manhattan, 7-0, before the Bulls fell to Toledo, 6-1, in the Mid-American Conference opener for both squads. The Bulls are now 3-7 overall and 0-1 in league play.

Have a Bagel

Alexis Lluis

The Bulls had no trouble defeating Manhattan Friday night as three players scored 6-0, 6-0 “double-bagel” victories while two others added first-set “bagels” in their wins. UB’s Octavian Stane (Toronto, Ontario/Leaside), Alexis Lluis (Mexico City, Mexico/Colegio Americano de Tabasco) and Juan Carlos Wynter (Puebla, Mexico/American School) each scored 6-0, 6-0 wins over their opponents in the fourth, fifth and sixth singles matches. Meanwhile, Marcelo Mazzetto (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Carlos Magno) was on his way to earning a couple of bagels when his opponent retired in the second set, trailing 6-0, 1-0, in the number two match. At number three, Kirill Kolomytes (Moscow, Russia/Moscow High School 155) scored a 6-0, 6-1 win over Michael Borger.

Three Setters Not Kind to Bulls

In the match against Toledo, four of the six singles matches went to a third set but the Bulls were unable to claim any victories. The Bulls picked up first-set wins in three of the four matches, including a 10-8 tiebreaker win by Mazzetto at first singles, but Mazzetto dropped a 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-2 decision to Jared Miller. Stane rallied after a 6-0 first-set loss to Tyler Sorkin to force the third set after scoring a 6-4 win in the second. Stane was unable to hold onto the momentum, however, and lost 6-4 in final set. Two other matches went the distance as Toledo's Sven Burus defeated Kolomytes, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2, at number three and Jay Miller downed Wynter, at number six, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4.

Nikesh On A Roll

Nikesh Singh Panthlia

Senior Nikesh Singh Panthlia (George Town, Malaysia/BMK Penang Free School) scored two straight-set wins over the weekend for the 55th and 56th singles victories of his career. With the two wins, he moved ahead of Justin Brtko (1998-02), Yules Hadisubroto (2003-07) and Mike Proulx (1993-97) to step into fourth place on the all-time list. However, it might be tough for Singh Panthlia to move any further up the ladder as Fery Kasiman’s 64 is next on the list. For the spring season, he is 9-1 playing at first or second singles and has won eight straight.

Off to Chi-Town and Brew City

The Bulls are off this weekend but have an arduous four-match, three-day weekend trip to Chicago and Milwaukee for March 7-9. The Bulls will face DePaul on Friday and Illinois-Chicago on Saturday. The team then travels north to Wisconsin to meet Marquette and the newest MAC tennis affiliate, Chicago State, on Sunday. UB fell to Marquette last season, 5-1, in Florida, and hold a 3-0 edge on Chicago State when both schools played in the Mid-Continent Conference. UB has never faced DePaul or Illinois-Chicago.