Men's Tennis Barrels Over Niagara, 7-0

Bulls complete sweep over Big Four rivals with non-conference victory

Mike Rockman

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, NY – The University at Buffalo men’s tennis team rolled to an easy 7-0 victory over local rival Niagara on Tuesday at the Niagara Tennis Facility. The Bulls improved to 9-7 overall and completed a sweep of the Big Four programs following a victory at St. Bonaventure earlier in the season. Niagara falls to 9-5 overall and suffered its first shutout of the season.

The Bulls opened with a pair of victories in the doubles competition to earn the opening point. Third doubles combination Mike Rockman (Toronto, Ontario/Thornlea) and Albert Alant (Pretoria, South Africa/Niskayuna (NY)) had little trouble in defeating Niagara's Marc Dickinson and Steve Kopf, 8-1. The point was clinched as the number two team of Nikesh Singh Panthlia (George Town, Malaysia/BMK Penang Free School) and Matt Kennedy (Mississauga, Ontario/Erindale) combined for the first time this season to down Walter Garcia and Alex Abji, 9-7. The Bulls fell behind early, 4-1, before coming back to take the match, winning eight of the next 11 games. UB's number one team of Yules Hadisubroto (Jakarta, Indonesia/SMUN 21) and Fred Duncan (East Amherst, NY/Nichols), also paired for the first time this season, fell to Justin McConkey and Dawson Peare, 8-6.

Matt Kennedy

UB swept all six singles matches with five of the contests won in straight sets. The lone match to go past two sets was the number one contest as Rockman needed a super-tiebreaker victory to down Garcia, 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (10-3).

At number two, Singh Panthlia defeated Abji, 6-4, 6-1. In the number three match, Hadisubroto knocked off Dickinson, 6-1, 7-6 (5). Octavian Stane (Toronto, Ontario/Leaside), playing at number four, defeated McConkey, 6-3, 7-5. At number five, Kennedy rolled past Peare, 6-1, 6-1. Alant, in the number six slot, dumped Dave Rueter, 6-4, 6-0.

The Bulls complete the Mid-American Conference portion of the schedule this weekend with matches at Northern Illinois on Friday and IPFW on Sunday. Both contests are 1:00 pm starts.

Buffalo 7, Niagara 0

Doubles

1 Justin McConkey/Dawson Peare (NU) d. Yules Hadisubroto/Fred Duncan (UB), 8-6

2 Nikesh Singh Panthlia/Matt Kennedy (UB) d. Walter Garcia/Alex Abji (NU), 9-7

3 Mike Rockman/Albert Alant (UB) d. Marc Dickinson/Steve Kopf (NU), 8-1

Order of finish: 3 2 1

Singles

1 Mike Rockman (UB) d. Walter Garcia (NU), 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (10-3)

2 Nikesh Singh Panthlia (UB) d. Alex Abji (NU), 6-4, 6-1

3 Yules Hadisubroto (UB) d. Marc Dickinson (NU) 6-1, 7-6 (5)

4 Octavian Stane (UB) d. Justin McConkey (NU), 6-3, 7-5

5 Matt Kennedy (UB) d. Dawson Peare (NU), 6-1, 6-1

6 Albert Alant (UB) d. Dave Rueter (NU), 6-4, 6-0

Order of finish: 5 6 2 4 3 1

04/11/2006