Men's Tennis Weekly Release

Florida Not So Sunny for Bulls

The University at Buffalo men’s tennis team dropped all three of its matches in the Sunshine State as the Bulls were forced to play with a diminished lineup thanks to a sickness that sidelined many of the players and staff during the week. UB opened their trip with a pair of matches on Tuesday, a 5-1 loss to Big East member Marquette and a 6-0 decision to 70th-ranked Stetson. The following day, the Bulls suffered a 5-1 setback against Jacksonville as the squads played singles matches only to determine a winner.

Rockman, Singh Panthlia Score Singles Wins

Mike Rockman

The Bulls scored a pair of singles wins in the three matches with both coming from the number two spot. In UB’s match against Marquette on Tuesday, senior Mike Rockman (Toronto, Ontario/Thornlea) defeated Stephen Shao, 6-3, 6-3, in the number two match. Rockman then moved up to number one against Stetson’s Hicham Laalej. The match was stopped after Rockman dropped the first set in a tiebreaker and was left unfinished after the Hatters had clinched the overall victory. Junior Nikesh Singh Panthlia (George Town, Malaysia/BMK Penang Free School) scored a straight-sets victory over Jacksonville’s Francisco Riveroll in the number two match on Wednesday. Singh Panthlia won the opening set, 7-5, then took a 7-2 tiebreaker to win the second set, 7-6, and claim the match. Singh Panthlia also played a thriller against Stetson’s Filip Kricka, dropping an 11-9 second-set tiebreaker to fall in straight sets.

Illness Takes Toll on Bulls

The Bulls spent their time in Florida with a diminished lineup as a flu bug made its way through the squad. At one time or another during the trip, sophomore Octavian Stane (Toronto, Ontario/Leaside), freshman Kirill Kolomytes (Moscow, Russia/Moscow High School 155) and head coach Sherif Zaher were hit by the bug and missed time. Although battling the illness during the trip, Stane was able to play in the Jacksonville match but was not at full strength as he was forced to go three sets against Ernesto Ramos in the number four match, falling 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.

MAC Season Gets Underway This Weekend

The Mid-American Conference slate kicks into high gear as the Bulls host Ball State on Friday night at the Village Glen Tennis Center starting at 7:00 pm. UB will play five of its next seven matches against MAC competition as it prepares for the conference tournament in Fort Wayne, IN at the end of April. Ball State is 2-7 overall this season, but its two most recent losses were at Michigan and Nevada-Las Vegas. The Cardinals started the spring season ranked in the ITA polls at number 69 but have since fallen out of the rankings.