Matt Kennedy

KALAMAZOO, MI - The University at Buffalo men's tennis team was eliminated in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon with a 4-0 loss to second-seeded Western Michigan on WMU's Sorensen Courts. The Bulls, seeded third in the tournament, finish the season 9-9 overall after Thursday's quarterfinal win over IPFW and today's loss to the Broncos. The Bulls put forth a strong effort but could not get past a stronger Western Michigan (17-6) team considered to be among the elite teams in the Midwest.

UB opened the match with losses in the numbers two and three doubles matches by identical 8-2 scores. The number two combination of Josh Liederman (Queens Village, NY/Benjamin Cardozo) and Alejandro Galindo (Torreon, Mexico/Preparatoria Tec), playing together for the first time this season, were downed by Bryan Norville and Jose Orozco. UB's number three tandem of Albert Alant (Pretoria, South Africa/Niskayuna (NY)) and Matt Kennedy (Mississauga, Ontario/Erindale) fell to Jeff French and Tim Bradshaw. The number one match between UB's Nick Zieziula (Hamburg, NY/St. Francis) and Yules Hadisubroto (Jakarta, Indonesia/SMUN 21) and WMU's Brady Crosby and Tommy Dennis was stopped when the Broncos clinched the doubles point. Crosby and Dennis are ranked 60th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's rankings.

The Bulls were bounced out the tournament with singles losses at numbers three, four and five, all by convincing margins. Hadisubroto, at number three, lost to Crosby, 6-1, 6-0. Liederman fell to Bradshaw by an indentical score at number four. Kennedy, at number five, claimed a pair of games in his 6-1, 6-1 loss to Alex Birchmeier. The remainder of the matches were stopped before concluding.

Western Michigan and top-seeded Ball State, a 4-1 winner over Northern Illinois in Friday's other semifinal will meet for the league title on Saturday. The champion earns the MAC's automatic berth in the NCAA Tourament.

Western Michigan 4, Buffalo 0

Doubles

1 Brady Crosby/Tommy Dennis (WMU) vs. Nick Zieziula/Yules Hadisubroto (UB), unfinished

2 Bryan Norville/Jose Orozco (WMU) d. Josh Liederman/Alejandro Galindo (UB), 8-2

3 Jeff French/Tim Bradshaw (WMU) d. Matt Kennedy/Albert Alant (UB), 8-2

Singles

1 Tommy Dennis (WMU) vs. Nick Zieziula (UB), unfinished

2 Jose Orozco (WMU) vs. Mike Rockman (UB), unfinished

3 Brady Crosby (WMU) d. Yules Hadisubroto (UB), 6-1, 6-0

4 Tim Bradshaw (WMU) d. Josh Liederman (UB), 6-1, 6-0

5 Alex Birchmeier (WMU) d. Matt Kennedy (UB), 6-1, 6-1

6 Jeff French (WMU) d. Albert Alant (UB), unfinished