Bulls Rally For Victory at St. Bonaventure

Albert Alant scores the deciding point in 4-3 UB men's tennis win over Bonnies

Albert Alant

ST. BONAVENTURE, NY - A tiebreaking singles victory by Albert Alant (Pretoria, South Africa/Niskayuna (NY)) propelled the University at Buffalo to a 4-3 men's tennis win at St. Bonaventure late Saturday night. The Bulls evened their dual meet record to 4-4 with the victory over the Bonnies.

Alant needed to win two tiebreakers over Victor Lecina in the number five singles match to claim the win for the Bulls. Alant won the first set, 7-6 (7-2 in the tiebreaker), but dropped the second set, 6-1, to set up the climactic third set. Again Alant was forced into a tiebreaker by Lecina and prevailed, 7-3, to give UB the match.

Yules Hadisubroto

The dramatics by Alant were set up by the Bulls rallying from a 3-1 deficit to claim the final three singles points. Yules Hadisubroto (Jakarta, Indonesia/SMUN 21) needed three sets to down Dejan Stankovic, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the number four match while freshman Fred Duncan (East Amherst, NY/Nichols) picked up a straight-sets 6-1, 6-3 victory over Antonio Farias in the number six match.

The Bulls also gained a singles win in the number two match as Nikesh Singh Panthlia (George Town, Malaysia/BMK Penang Free School) took a three-set victory over Andrew Hart, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

UB dropped two singles matches with both decided in tiebreakers in the final set. At number one, Mike Rockman (Toronto, Ontario/Thornlea) fell to Alejandro Nery, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5 in the tiebreaker) while Matt Kennedy (Mississauga, Ontario/Erindale), at number three, lost a three-set decision to Leo Mochizuki, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (9-7 in the tiebreaker).

UB also picked up a tiebreaker win in the doubles competition, however St. Bonaventure had wrapped up the point with victories in the numbers one and two matches. UB's number three duo of Rockman and Kennedy outlasted Mochizuki and Farias 7-3 in the tiebreaker, for the 9-8 win. St. Bonaventure's Stankovic and Hart defeated Singh Panthlia and Hadisubroto at number one and Nery and Lecina downed Alant and Duncan by identical 8-5 scores to clinch the doubles point for the Bonnies.

The Bulls host Duquesne on Saturday, March 11 at 6:00 pm in their next match. The contest will be at the Village Glen Tennis Center in Williamsville.

Buffalo 4, St. Bonaventure 3

Doubles

1 Dejan Stankovic/Andrew Hart (SB) d. Nikesh Singh Panthlia/Yules Hadisubroto (UB), 8-5

2 Alejandro Nery/Victor Lecina (SB) d. Albert Alant/Fred Duncan (UB), 8-5

3 Mike Rockman/Matt Kennedy (UB) d. Leo Mochizuki/Antonio Farias (SB), 9-8 (3)

Singles

1 Alejandro Nery (SB) d. Mike Rockman (UB), 6-2, 7-6 (5)

2 Nikesh Singh Panthlia (UB) d. Andrew Hart (SB), 6-3, 3-6, 6-2

3 Leo Mochizuki (SB) d. Matt Kennedy (UB), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7)

4 Yules Hadisubroto (UB) d. Dejan Stankovic (SB), 3-6, 6-4, 6-3

5 Albert Alant (UB) d. Victor Lecina (SB), 7-6 (2), 1-6, 7-6 (3)

6 Fred Duncan (UB) d. Antonio Farias (SB), 6-1, 6-3

03/04/2006