Bulls Roll Past IPFW, 5-2

Mike Rockman

WILLIAMSVILLE, NY – For the second consecutive match, the University at Buffalo men's tennis team dropped the opening doubles point, but rallied in singles play to score a victory. At Williamsville's Village Glen Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon, the Bulls knocked off Mid-American Conference foe IPFW, 5-2, after the Mastodons opened the match with the first point.

The Bulls have now won their last three matches and improve to 7-11 overall, evening their MAC record at 2-2. IPFW is now 6-15 overall and 0-3 in league play.

IPFW scored two of three doubles victories to open with a 1-0 lead. UB's number two duo of Mike Rockman (Toronto, Ontario/Thornlea) and Yules Hadisubroto (Jakarta, Indonesia/SMUN 21) scored an 8-0 win over IPFW's Hermann Kuschke and David Lynall. The Bulls nearly took the doubles point as the number one match was forced to go to a tiebreaker. However, IPFW's Nabil Mourad Filho and Renan Constantino prevailed over UB's Nikesh Singh Panthlia (George Town, Malaysia/BMK Penang Free School) and Kirill Kolomytes (Moscow, Russia/Moscow High School 155) 7-5 in the tiebreaker for the 9-8 decision.

The Bulls scored five wins in the six singles matches to claim the contest. Singh Panthlia, at number one, Rockman, at number two, and Octavian Stane (Toronto, Ontario/Leaside), at number six, all scored 6-2, 6-2 straight-sets wins over their opponents. Rockman's victory over Kuschke gave UB the fourth point necessary to clinch the match and was Rockman's 82nd singles win of his four-year career, the most in UB's Division I history.

UB returns to the courts later today with a contest against in-state rival Marist at the Village Glen Tennis Center. Match time is slated for 7:00 pm.

Buffalo 5, IPFW 2

Doubles

1 Nabil Mourad Filho/Renan Constantino (IPFW) d. Nikesh Singh Panthlia/Kirill Kolomytes (UB), 9-8 (5)

2 Mike Rockman/Yules Hadisubroto (UB) d. Hermann Kuschke/David Lynall (IPFW), 8-0

3 Arturo Salgado/Diego Artega (IPFW) d. Octavian Stane/Eric Rothstein (UB), 8-6

Singles

1 Nikesh Singh Panthlia (UB) d. Nabil Mourad Filho (IPFW), 6-2, 6-2

2 Mike Rockman (UB) d. Hermann Kuschke (IPFW), 6-2, 6-2

3 Yules Hadisubroto (UB) d. Arturo Salgado (IPFW), 6-1, 4-6, 6-0

4 Kirill Kolomytes (UB) d. Renan Constantino (IPFW), 6-4, 6-4

5 Octavian Stane (UB) d. David Lynall (IPFW), 6-2, 6-2

6 Diego Artega (IPFW) d. Eric Rothstein (UB), 7-5, 2-6, 6-3