Men's Tennis Weekly Release

Bulls Capture Three Wins in Final Homestand

The University at Buffalo men's tennis team was a busy squad over the weekend with three matches in two days. The Bulls swept all three wins over Mid-Amercian Conference rivals Northern Illinois and IPFW and in-state foe Marist, but two of the wins were by the slimmest of 4-3 margins. The Bulls have now won four in a row to stand at 8-11 overall and 2-2 in league play with the regular season finale at Toledo on this week’s schedule.

Singh Panthlia and Hadisubroto Key Comeback Over NIU

Nikesh Singh Panthlia

In Friday’s match with Northern Illinois, the Bulls needed to win four singles matches after dropping the doubles point. With UB trailing 3-2 and two matches undecided, the Bulls were forced to make their comeback with a pair of contests each in the final set. Both Nikesh Singh Panthlia (George Town, Malaysia/BMK Penang Free School), at number two and Yules Hadisubroto (Jakarta, Indonesia/SMUN 21), at number four dropped the opening sets of their matches against the Huskies and needed strong efforts for their wins. Singh Panthlia trailed 2-1 against Alex Friesen before winning the next five games and clinching the match. The final point of the match occurred when Friesen double-faulted, his final serve going into the net. Hadisubroto fell behind Jimmy Chu, 3-0, in the third set before turning things around to win the next six games for the 6-3 victory and the 4-3 team win for the Bulls.

Here’s the “Skinny” on the Third Set

Yules Hadisubroto

In his matches against Northern Illinois and IPFW, Yules Hadisubroto needed to rally for third-set victories. After falling behind 3-0 in the final set to NIU’s Jimmy Chu, Hadisbroto won the next six games for the 6-3 victory. On Saturday, when he was forced into a third game with IPFW’s Arturo Salgado, “Skinny” as he has been nicknamed by the team, won another six games in a row for a total of 12 straight third-set games won. Hadisubroto had an easier time in Saturday’s nightcap with a two-set win over Marist’s Gregory Marks to move to 18-13 in singles play this season. He went 5-1 in the weekend singles and doubles matches and has now won eight of his last 10 contests. Hadisubroto has won five straight singles matches, including a super-tiebreaker win over Western Michigan’s Alex Birchmeier that began the streak.

Sunday Showdown at Toledo Holds UB’s Fate

The Bulls travel to Toledo to face the Rockets in their final showdown of the regular season on Sunday, April 22 starting at 1:00 pm. The match will also be the final MAC match for both teams heading into the league tournament on April 26. Toledo (2-1 MAC) travels to Western Michigan (4-0 MAC) on Friday prior to the matchup with the Bulls. The winner of the UB-Toledo match will lock up the third seed in the tournament and open with the sixth-place team.