Men's Tennis Falls to Binghamton, 5-2

Bulls finish regular season against top-notch America East squad
BINGHAMTON, NY – The University at Buffalo men’s tennis team finished the regular season on Friday afternoon with a 5-2 loss to three-time defending America East champion Binghamton. The Bulls head into next week's Mid-American Conference Championships with an 11-8 overall record. Binghamton improved to 15-6 with the win.

The Bulls were swept in the doubles matches. At number one, UB's Nikesh Singh Panthlia (George Town, Malaysia/BMK Penang Free School) and Matt Kennedy (Mississauga, Ontario/Erindale) fell to Richemn Mourad and Aurelio Martinez, 8-6. At number two, the UB tandem of Mike Rockman (Toronto, Ontario/Thornlea) and Albert Alant (Pretoria, South Africa/Niskayuna (NY)) took Brian O'Connor and Alex Dobrin to a tiebreaker, falling 7-3 in the extra session, for the 9-8 defeat. At number three, UB's Mike Zappone (Queensbury, NY/Queensbury) and Octavian Stane (Toronto, Ontario/Leaside) fell to Faisal Mohamed and Edwin Gerard, 8-1.

UB picked up singles wins in the number one and two matches. At number one, Rockman rolled to a straight-sets win over Mourad, 6-3, 6-4. Singh Panthlia needed a super-tiebreaker to defeat O'Connor in three sets. Singh Panthlia won the opening set, 6-3, but fell in the second set, 6-4, before winning the 10-point breaker, 11-9.

The Bearcats took the remainder of the singles matches. UB's Stane, moved up to the third slot as the Bulls sat a couple of players due to injury, fell to Martinez in a super-tiebreaker. Scores were 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-7). At number four, Alant was defeated by Mohamed, 6-3, 6-3. Alejandro Galindo (Torreon, Mexico/Preparatoria Tec) dropped a 6-0, 6-1 decision to Gerard at number five. In the number six match, UB's Joe Popielarczyk (Buffalo, NY/McKinley) was defeated by Mark Piro, 6-0, 6-2.

UB heads into next week's MAC Championships in Toledo as the fourth seed among the six member schools.

Binghamton 5, Buffalo 2

Doubles

1 Richemn Mourad/Aurelio Martinez (BU) d. Nikesh Singh Panthlia/Matt Kennedy (UB), 8-6

2 Brian O'Connor/Alex Dobrin (BU) d. Mike Rockman/Albert Alant (UB), 9-8 (3)

3 Faisal Mohamed/Edwin Gerard (BU) d. Mike Zappone/Octavian Stane (UB), 8-1

Order of finish: 3 1 2

Singles

1 Mike Rockman (UB) d. Richemn Mourad (BU), 6-3, 6-4

2 Nikesh Singh Panthlia (UB) d. Brian O'Connor (BU), 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (11-9)

3 Aurelio Martinez (BU) d. Octavian Stane (UB), 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-7)

4 Faisal Mohamed (BU) d. Albert Alant (UB), 6-3, 6-3

5 Edwin Gerard (BU) d. Alejandro Galindo (UB), 6-0, 6-1

6 Mark Piro (BU) d. Joe Popielarczyk (UB), 6-0, 6-2

Order of finish: 6 5 4 3 1 2

04/21/2006