Men's Tennis Weekly Release

Bulls Win One Title at UB/Niagara Invitational

The University at Buffalo men’s tennis team picked up one of four possible titles as the Bulls and Niagara University hosted the UB/Niagara Invitational. UB scored the A flight doubles title on Sunday morning, but faltered in singles play, unable to advance anyone past the semifinals. Besides UB and Niagara, teams from St. Francis (PA) and Canada’s York University comprised the field.

Singh Panthlia and Kolomytes Roll to Doubles Title

Kirill Kolomytes

UB’s top doubles duo of Nikesh Singh Panthlia (George Town, Malaysia/BMK Penang Free School) and Kirill Kolomytes (Moscow, Russia/Moscow High School 155) captured the A flight doubles title on Sunday morning scoring three victories over the three-day tournament. Singh Panthlia and Kolomytes scored their doubles win over the Niagara duo of Marc Dickinson and Walter Garcia by an 8-6 margin. The UB duo finished with an undefeated 3-0 record after scoring an 8-5 win over Niagara’s Alex Abji and Roman Silin in the quarterfinals and an 8-3 decision over York’s Misha Lew and Peng Peng in Saturday’s semifinals. In their opening match of the tournament, against Abji and Silin, the UB pair fell behind early, 4-3, but rallied to take the next five of six games and advance into semifinal play.

Singles Players Reach Semifinals

Nikesh Singh Panthlia

The Bulls had all six of their players win their opening singles matches but by the end of the weekend just two reached the semifinals with both falling on Sunday. Singh Panthlia and Alexis Lluis (Mexico City, Mexico/Colegio Americano de Tabasco) scored wins on Friday and Saturday to advance into the semifinals. After a three-set marathon win over York’s Matt Kozdub in the A flight, Singh Panthlia rolled to a 6-2, 6-0 win over Niagara’s Roman Silin in the quarterfinals.The UB senior was knocked out of contention by York’s Misha Lew, the second seed, 6-1, 6-4. Lluis, meanwhile, earned the second seed in the B flight and opened with an easy 6-0, 6-1 win over Niagara’s Alex Dauppe on Friday. Lluis continued his string with a 6-2, 6-2 victory against York’s Matt Porter, but was defeated by Niagara’s Nick Bolea, 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday. Kolomytes won his first round match on Friday, but was forced to withdraw from singles play due to an injury, although he was able to play doubles. Ezra Bernstein (Buffalo, NY/City Honors) and Eric Rothstein (Phoenixville, PA/Great Valley) needed to survive three-set matches in their B flight openers to advance to quarterfinal play. Both were eliminated in straight sets by Niagara opposition on Saturday. Marcelo Mazzetto (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Carlos Magno) scored an easy first round victory, but was eliminated on Saturday. Mazzetto put on a gutsy effort against top-seeded Walter Garcia of Niagara in the A flight quarterfinals before falling, 7-6 (4), 7-5.