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Bulls Eliminated From MAC Tournament

Matt Kennedy

TOLEDO, OH – The University at Buffalo men’s tennis team was eliminated Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the Mid-American Conference Championships, 4-0, by Northern Illinois ending the season for the Bulls and preventing UB from reaching the semifinal round for the third straight season.

UB, which entered the tournament as the fourth seed, ends the 2005-06 campaign with a record of 11-9 while the Huskies, seeded fifth in the six-team meet, improve to 6-13 and will meet top-seeded and 64th-ranked Ball State in Friday’s semifinals.

The Bulls picked up a doubles win, but were unable to claim the opening point. UB’s number two team of Nikesh Singh Panthlia (George Town, Malaysia/BMK Penang Free School) and Matt Kennedy (Mississauga, Ontario/Erindale) knocked off NIU’s David Katz and Jimmy Chu, 8-4. UB’s top team of Yules Hadisubroto (Jakarta, Indonesia/SMUN 21) and Octavian Stane (Toronto, Ontario/Leaside) were defeated by Brian Livingston and Alex Friesen, 8-3, setting up the number three match as the decider. In the number three match, the Bulls’ combination of Mike Rockman (Toronto, Ontario/Thornlea) and Albert Alant (Pretoria, South Africa/Niskayuna (NY)) fell by an 8-5 count to Adam Ford and Diego Zegarra-Ballon, giving the Huskies the opening point.

UB started slow in singles play and fell behind quickly. Northern Illinois won the number three, four and six matches in straight sets and ending the contest before the Bulls could recover. At number three, Hadisubroto dropped a second-set tiebreaker to Ford, 6-2, 7-6 (5). Stane, playing at number four, fell to Katz, 6-2, 6-1. Alant lost to Chu, 6-2, 7-5, in the number six match.

Three contests were stopped when NIU gained the fourth point. Rockman led in the third set of his match at number one against Livingston. Singh Panthlia, at number two, and Kennedy, at number five, dropped their opening sets but were on the way to forcing third sets when play was halted.

The loss concludes Russ Crispell’s tenure as head coach. He announced earlier in the year that he would become coordinator of UB’s Outdoor Pursuits program. Crispell is 123-114 in 13 years with the men’s program, second to Bill Sanford’s 226 wins from 1949-73.

1 Brian Livingston/Alex Friesen (NIU) d. Yules Hadisubroto/Octavian Stane (UB), 8-3

2 Nikesh Singh Panthlia/Matt Kennedy (UB) d. David Katz/Jimmy Chu (NIU), 8-4

3 Adam Ford/Diego Zegarra-Ballon (NIU) d. Mike Rockman/Albert Alant (UB), 8-5

Order of finish: 1 2 3

1 Mike Rockman (UB) led Brian Livingston (NIU), 0-6, 6-4, 3-1 DNF

2 Alex Friesen (NIU) led Nikesh Singh Panthlia (UB), 6-4, 5-5 DNF

3 Adam Ford (NIU) d. Yules Hadisubroto (UB), 6-2, 7-6 (5)

4 David Katz (NIU) d. Octavian Stane (UB), 6-2, 6-1

5 Diego Zegarra-Ballon (NIU) led Matt Kennedy (UB), 6-4, 4-5 DNF

6 Jimmy Chu (NIU) d. Albert Alant (UB), 6-2, 7-5

Order of finish: 4 6 3