Mike Rockman

BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo men's tennis squad swept all three flights of the championship round in the Can-Am Invitational Tournament which concluded Sunday at the UB Tennis Complex.

UB freshman Mike Rockman (Toronto, Ontario/Thornhill) picked up the A flight singles title while senior Rangga Prayudha (Jakarta, Indonesia/Hilton Head Prep (SC)) took the B flight. The duo of Randy Rocchio (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville East) and Nick Zieziula (Hamburg, NY/St. Francis) picked up the doubles title.

Rangga Prayudha

In the A singles semifinals, Rockman defeated Zieziula, 6-3, 6-4, while Toronto's Craig Mercer downed Alex Sautchenko of York, 6-0, 3-6, 10-8. Rockman then won a hard-fought final match against Mercer, 7-5, 6-4, which included several long baseline rallies between the two strong hitters.

Randy Rocchio

In the B flight singles, UB's two entries downed Youngstown State opponents in the semifinals. Albert Alant (Pretoria, South Africa/Niskayuna (NY)) defeated Kevin Schaffert, 7-5, 6-2. Prayudha needed a tiebreaker to advance past Brian Meek, winning 6-0 in the first set, then falling 6-3 in the second. Prayudha then took the 10-point tiebreaker, 10-3, to move into the title match. From there, Prayudha prevailed, downing his UB teammate in identical 6-2, 6-2 sets.

Nick Zieziula

Rocchio and Zieziula combined to move past teammates Joe Popielarczyk (Buffalo, NY/McKinley) and Mike Zappone (Queensbury, NY/Queensbury) by a 6-0, 6-1 score. Rocchio and Zieziula then handled Jay Barlow and Connor Casey of McMaster in the championship match, 6-2, 6-2. Barlow and Casey had advanced to the final following a 3-6, 7-5, 13-11 win over Niagara's Jason Ramos and Erick Garcia.

Buffalo/Niagara Can-Am Tennis Tournament

Sunday's Men's results

Teams: Buffalo (UB), Niagara (NU), Montreal (UM), Youngstown State (YSU), Toronto (UT), York (YU), McMaster (MC)

A Singles semifinals: Mike Rockman (UB) d. Nick Zieziula (UB), 6-3, 6-4. Craig Mercer (UT) d. Alex Sautchenko (YU), 6-0, 3-6, 10-8.

Championship: Rockman (UB) d. Mercer (UT), 7-5, 6-4.

Consolation matches: Marciej Mandus (MC) d. Jason Ramos (NU), 8-3. David Desrochers (UM) d. Tom Barth (YSU), 8-4.

B Singles semifinals: Albert Alant (UB) d. Kevin Schaffert (YSU), 7-5, 6-2. Rangga Prayudha (UB) d. Brian Meek (YSU), 6-0, 3-6, 10-3.

Championship: Prayudha (UB) d. Alant (UB), 6-2, 6-2.

Consolation matches: John Abella (NU) d. Nicolas Gagnon (UM) by default. Andrew Mayer (NU) d.. Abella (NU), 8-6. Ben Eison (UT) d. Brad Cole (YU) by default. Eison (UT) d. Dave Reuter (NU), 9-7. Maciek Zarzychi (UM) d. Joe Popielarczyk (UB), 8-6.

A Doubles semifinals: Randy Rochhio/Nick Zieziula (UB) d. Joe Popielarczyk/Mike Zappone (UB), 6-0, 6-1. Jay Barlow/Connor Casey (MC) d. Jason Ramos/Erick Garcia (NU), 3-6, 7-5, 13-11.

Championship: Rocchio/Zieziula (UB) d. Barlow/Casey (MC), 6-2, 6-2.

Consolation matches: R.J. Pepino/Kevin Schaffert (YSU) d. Dom Spagonulo/Irwin Liu (MC), 8-3. Dany Faigeux/Samy Saad (UM) d. Kris Hrisovulus/John Abella (NU), 8-1.