Randy Rocchio

BUFFALO, NY - University at Buffalo men's tennis player Randy Rocchio (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville East) has been named to the All-Mid-American Conference Second Team. The league announced its postseason awards Tuesday morning. Rocchio becomes the first player to be named to the All-MAC team in men's tennis since UB joined the conference in 1998.

Rocchio, a junior, finished the 2003-04 season with a singles record of 13-18 overall (3-2 in the MAC), playing at the number one spot. He also went 19-15 (3-2 MAC) in doubles competition, forming the top duo with junior Nick Zieziula (Hamburg, NY/St. Francis). That combination went 14-11 overall and 2-1 in league play.

Rocchio led the Bulls to their first MAC Tournament victory last week when UB defeated Toledo, 4-1, in the first round in Muncie, IN. Rocchio defeated Toledo's Khalid Al-Nabhani, 6-4, 7-5, at first singles and also paired with Zieziula for a doubles win. Al-Nabhani represented his home country of Oman in the Asia/Oceania Group III competition of the Davis Cup earlier in the month.

Two of Rocchio's MAC victories were won in impressive fashion. Rocchio, who had been sidelined with an elbow injury prior to the match, staged a stunning come-from-behind win over Western Michigan's Tommy Dennis in three sets, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4. For his efforts against Dennis, an All-MAC First Team honoree, Rocchio was selected as the MAC's Player of the Week on March 2. He also scored a third-set tiebreaker win over Toledo's Freddy Gomez, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(1), giving the Bulls a 4-3 regular-season win over the Rockets.

Rocchio dropped two regular-season and one postseason match to MAC opponents. All three of those individuals, Ball State's Matt Baccarani, Willy Gali of Northern Illinois and Ravishankar Pathanjali of Western Michigan, were named to the All-MAC First Team. Pathanjali also earned Player of the Year honors from the league. The remainder of the first team included Ball State's Matt Laramore and Northern Illinois' Juan Pablo Barriga. Barriga also won the Jack Vredevelt Sportsmanship Award. Western Michigan's Dave Morin was selected as the Coach of the Year.

Other second team honorees include Patrick Thompson (Ball State), Jack Komar (Northern Illinois), Erick Martinez (Northern Illinois), Brady Crosby (Western Michigan) and Jose Orozco (Western Michigan). Crosby was named the MAC's Newcomer of the Year.

The Bulls finished 9-12 overall and 2-3 in MAC play. The two wins against league competition doubled UB's output from the previous season and gave the Bulls their highest seeding at the MAC Tournament at number four.