The UB women's tennis team split home matches this weekend against two Mid-American Conference rivals, notching a 5-2 victory over the Northern Illinois Huskies but falling to the Western Michigan Broncos 6-1.
On Friday, despite losing the doubles point early, the Bulls (7-4 overall, 3-3 MAC) used their fine singles play to loft them to victory over the Huskies (5-7 overall, 1-4 MAC) at the Village Glen Tennis Center in Williamsville.
In tandem play, the number one duo of Andreea Novaceanu and Kristen Ortman defeated the Huskies' top pairing of Ivonne Andrade and Christy Svetlic by the score of 8-5. However, UB's second and third teams lost their matches by identical 8-6 scores.
Novaceanu started out strong in Buffalo's singles play. After winning the first set by a score of 6-2 over Cassie Drake, she fell behind Drake 4-2, but prevailed, taking the next four points en route to a 6-4 victory.
"Every day before our matches we establish our personal goals, we try to follow them, but when something doesn't work you have to adapt," said Novaceanu. "I started playing her backhand more and turned to my pattern - something you come back to when nothing else is working."
In the number two match, Miglena Nenova won a 6-4 victory over Andrade but fell behind 5-0 in the second set. However, Nenova claimed the match, 10-8, by winning four of the next five games and forcing a super-tiebreaker.
The Bulls continued single success as they picked up wins in the third, fourth and sixth singles matches. Ortman, Buffalo's all-time singles leader in Division I competition, won a long, hard-fought match over Svetlic, 6-2, 7-6(5).
"What I like about (Ortman) is her values. She comes in and works hard all the time," said head coach Kathy Twist. "In a tough match, you're pretty sure she's going to come through and you see that she never gives up."
The lone Buffalo loss in singles play was in the number five match, as NIU's Dora Delgadillo defeated Sabrina Carmona, 6-1, 7-5.
On Saturday, the Bulls were thoroughly outmatched by the MAC-leading and 51st ranked Western Michigan Broncos (14-5 overall, 5-0 MAC) as WMU extended their winning streak to six matches.
This was the first outdoor home match of the regular season for Buffalo, which was played at the University Tennis Club on UB's North Campus.
The lone bright spot of the day occurred in the second match of singles play, as Nenova fell behind WMU's Malena Remynse and lost the first set, 7-6. Nenova rallied to win the second set, 6-4, to force a super-tiebreaker. In the extra session, she took over and won by the score of 10-6.
"It's always good to have a good example, so you can say, 'This is how you play with confidence,'" said Twist. "Yes, we were disappointed that we lost, but you need someone to pave the way and be a leader, and (Nenova) just stepped up and led by example."
The closest UB came to another win was in doubles play in the number one match. Novaceanu and Ortman put up a good fight but ultimately fell to the WMU top pairing of Remynse and Maelynn Bernosky, 8-6.
Nenova and Tina Jacob lost to Rattiya Hiranrat and Noriko Saruta by an 8-3 score, and Katrin Fischer and Carmona were defeated at number three doubles by Carrie Jeanmaire and Reedhina Parekh, 8-1.
"(Western Michigan) really isn't that much better than us - we're pretty much at the same level," said Novaceanu. "They've just been a little bit more consistent and they know how to vary their style of play. If we manage to do that, we can win - WMU isn't extraordinary."
Extraordinary or not, the Broncos defeated the Bulls on Sunday by outplaying the Bulls in areas where UB feels they are normally strong.
"I think they were more consistent - they were better at what we do," said Twist. "You have to have a strategy, and you have to stick with it - it's a learning experience, and that's where we want to be."
UB will search for that consistency on the road as they travel to Huntington, W.Va., to face the Marshall Thundering Herd, who are currently ranked 70th in the nation.
