Bulls Fall to Toledo in Marathon Men's Tennis Battle

Octavian Stane

TOLEDO, OH – The University at Buffalo men’s tennis team finished the regular season on Sunday afternoon with a marathon match lasting more than five hours but eventually fell to Toledo, 5-2, at Toledo’s Varsity Courts. The Bulls end the regular season with an 8-12 mark and 2-3 in MAC play, giving UB the fourth seed for the upcoming Mid-American Conference Championships.

With the Bulls and Rockets fighting for the number three seed in the MAC Championships, starting Thursday in Fort Wayne, IN, it turned into a must-win match for both clubs. The Bulls found themselves down 1-0 after the doubles point, but had a chance to gain the point. With the teams splitting the number two and three matches, the number one match went into a tiebreaker. However, UB’s number one tandem of Yules Hadisubroto (Jakarta, Indonesia/SMUN 21) and Nikesh Singh Panthlia (George Town, Malaysia/BMK Penang Free School) couldn’t nail down the win, falling 7-5 in the tiebreaker to Brian Rager and Travis Curran. UB’s lone doubles win was in the number two match as Octavian Stane (Toronto, Ontario/Leaside) and Kirill Kolomytes (Moscow, Russia/Moscow High School 155) scored an 8-3 win over Keith Moran and Jared Miller.

UB scored two singles wins, however it wasn’t until after Toledo had won the first three matches to be completed and picking up the necessary fourth point. UB’s victories came in the number two match as Singh Panthlia needed three sets to down Chris Clark, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, and in the number six match as Stane picked up a 12-10 win in the super-tiebreaker to defeat Curran. Four of the six singles matches were played beyond two sets with two needing full third sets and the other two going to super-tiebreakers after Toledo had clinched the match.

With the loss, the Bulls became the number four seed in the MAC Championships. UB will face Northern Illinois (9-11, 1-4 MAC) on Thursday in one of two first round matches. Toledo (13-12, 3-2 MAC) faces host IPFW (7-18, 0-5 MAC) in the other opening match. If the Bulls get past the Huskies, who they defeated on April 14, they would meet regular season champion Western Michigan (16-7, 5-0) in the semifinals.

Toledo 5, Buffalo 2

Doubles

1 Brian Rager/Travis Curran (UT) d. Yules Hadisubroto/Nikesh Singh Panthlia (UB), 9-8 (5)

2 Octavian Stane/Kirill Kolomytes (UB) d. Keith Moran/Jared Miller (UT), 8-3

3 Chris Clark/Jay Miller (UT) d. Mike Rockman/Albert Alant (UB), 9-7

Order of finish: 2 3 1

Singles

1 Jared Miller (UT) d. Mike Rockman (UB), 7-5, 5-7, 1-0 (10-6)

2 Nikesh Singh Panthlia (UB) d. Chris Clark (UT), 7-5, 4-6, 6-1

3 Josh Moran (UT) d. Kirill Kolomytes (UB), 6-2, 6-2

4 Keith Moran (UT) d. Yules Hadisubroto (UB), 4-6, 6-1, 6-2

5 Tyler Sonkin (UT) d. Albert Alant (UB), 6-0, 6-2

6 Octavian Stane (UB) d. Travis Curran (UT), 7-5, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (12-10)

Order of finish: 5 3 4 2 6 1