Nick Zieziula

KALAMAZOO, MI – The University at Buffalo opened the Mid-American Conference Men’s Tennis Tournament with a convincing 4-0 win over IPFW on Thursday afternoon at Western Michigan’s Sorensen Courts.

The third-seeded Bulls (9-8) wasted little time of disposing of the Mastodons (8-18) scoring a pair easy doubles victories to open the match with a 1-0 lead. UB’s first doubles tandem of Nick Zieziula (Hamburg, NY/St. Francis) and Yules Hadisubroto (Jakarta, Indonesia/SMUN 21) defeated Landry Nzudie and Nabil Mourad Filho by an 8-2 count. The Bulls clinched the point when the number three team of Albert Alant (Pretoria, South Africa/Niskayuna (NY)) and Matt Kennedy (Mississauga, Ontario/Erindale) downed Sam Rocke and Daniel Jackson, 8-3. Once the doubles point had been secured, the number two match was stopped before completion.

Josh Liederman

UB scored the three necessary singles wins in straight sets to close the match. Zieziula rolled past Nzudie, 6-0, 6-2, at number one. Mike Rockman (Toronto, Ontario/Thornlea), at number two, knocked off Mourad Filho, 6-0, 6-3. Fourth singles player Josh Liederman (Queens Village, NY/Benjamin Cardozo) defeated Ian Leonhardt in convincing fashion, 6-2, 6-2. Liederman gained a measure of revenge with his victory on Thursday. In their previous meeting on April 16, Liederman fell to Leonhardt in a second-set tiebreaker.

Singles matches for Hadisubroto, at number three, Kennedy, at number five, and Alant, at number six, were stopped when the Bulls clinched the victory.

In Thursday’s other quarterfinal match, fourth-seeded Northern Illinois defeated fifth-seeded Toledo, 4-1.

The Bulls advance to the MAC semifinals for the second consecutive year. UB faces second-seeded Western Michigan on the Broncos’ home court on Friday at 2:00 pm. Northern Illinois meets top-seeded Ball State at 10:00 am in Friday’s other semifinal. The winners meet for the MAC title and the automatic NCAA Championships berth on Saturday at 2:00 pm.

Buffalo 4, IPFW 0

Doubles

1 Nick Zieziula/Yules Hadisubroto (UB) d. Landry Nzudie/Nabil Mourad Filho (IPFW), 8-2

2 Mike Rockman/Josh Liederman (UB) vs. Carlos Gonzalez/Ian Leonhardt (IPFW), unfinished

3 Albert Alant/Matt Kennedy (UB) d. Sam Rocke/Daniel Jackson (IPFW), 8-3

Singles

1 Nick Zieziula (UB) d. Landry Nzudie (IPFW), 6-0, 6-2

2 Mike Rockman (UB) d. Nabil Mourad Filho (IPFW), 6-0, 6-3

3 Yules Hadisubroto (UB) vs. Carlos Gonzalez (IPFW), unfinished

4 Josh Liederman (UB) d. Ian Leonhardt (IPFW), 6-2, 6-2

5 Matt Kennedy (UB) vs. Sam Rocke (IPFW), unfinished

6 Albert Alant (UB) vs. Daniel Jackson (IPFW), unfinished