Men's Tennis Weekly Release

Bulls Split Weekend in Pennsylvania

The University at Buffalo men’s tennis team split its weekend matches in Western Pennsylvania. The Bulls started the trip by snapping a six-match losing streak with a 6-0 win over Robert Morris on Saturday afternoon. However, the winning streak was short-lived as the Bulls fell the following day to Duquesne, 4-3. UB is now 4-13 overall.

Break Out the Brooms

Marcelo Mazzetto

In Saturday’s victory at Robert Morris, UB swept all six singles matches with three straight-set wins and three three-set victories. In the number one match, UB's Nikesh Singh Panthlia (George Town, Malaysia/BMK Penang Free School) had no trouble in downing RMU's Nick Paganetti, 6-1, 6-0. After a tiebreaker win in the first set, Marcelo Mazzetto (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Carlos Magno) was able to dispose of David Pinto in straight sets, 7-6 (5), 6-0. Eric Rothstein (Phoenixville, PA/Great Valley) also scored a straight-sets win with his 6-0, 6-2 triumph over Daniel Becker in the number six match. The Bulls also overcame first set deficits in the number three, four and five matches as Octavian Stane (Toronto, Ontario/Leaside), Juan Carlos Wynter (Puebla, Mexico/American School) and Alexis Lluis (Mexico City, Mexico/Colegio Americano de Tabasco) each rallied for wins.

Streaking Stane

Octavian Stane

Junior Octavian Stane has been on a hot streak of late. Stane has won his last four singles matches and after moving up to the number one doubles spot with Nikesh Singh Panthlia, has recorded a pair of victories. He rejoined the Bulls at the beginning of the spring season after playing on the professional tour during the fall. This spring, Stane is 8-9 in singles play, moving into the number three slot after an injury sidelined Kirill Kolomytes (Moscow, Russia/Moscow High School 155). Since taking over Kolomytes’ spot in the lineup during the spring break trip, Stane is 4-1 with his lone loss coming in his match at number three to Marquette’s Stephen Shao. Three of Stane’s four wins during the streak have been in straight sets.

Back Home One Last Time

The Bulls return home this weekend to host Mid-American Conference rival Western Michigan and Binghamton from the America East Conference. On Saturday, UB’s match with the Broncos, the defending MAC champs, begins at 9:00 am. The squad will honor its lone senior, Nikesh Singh Panthlia, prior to the start of competition. UB then faces the Bearcats on Sunday morning at 11:00 am to close out the home schedule.