Hat trick of road wins for men's tennis

The men's tennis team won four non-conference match-ups over the last week, including a 7-0 home victory over Duquesne.

Buffalo played three of four scheduled matches in South Carolina, recording wins against Dayton, Bloomsburg and Denison, with a game against Marist rained out. The wins raised the Bulls' record to 8-4, overall.

The closest of the three victories came in a 4-3 victory over Dayton. In the second and third matches, the Bulls were dominant. Buffalo gave up only one point, defeating Bloomsburg 7-0 and Denison 5-1 in a rain-shortened match.

"It was a great experience for us. We were able to get outside and play some good tennis," said Bulls' assistant coach Nick Ziezula. "The way the scheduling went we were able to juggle lineups and get everyone some match time."

Buffalo was able to gain valuable experience for its freshman athletes who were not used to playing outside. However, the inexperience of playing outside brought some jitters for the Bulls. When the lights turned on for their first match against Dayton, the Bulls were able to get by, but not by much.

"It was our first match outside," Ziezula said. "We had gotten in two days of practice outside, but we were playing under the lights. That's definitely an adjustment for the guys who are used to playing inside all the time."

In addition to adjusting to the outdoor courts at night, the Bulls were facing one of the top schools in the Atlantic-10 Conference, Dayton, who, after the loss, fell to 6-5 on the season.

"Dayton does have a strong team, too. They should do pretty well in the A-10," Ziezula said.

For the most part, the Bulls were able to control the match, and according to Ziezula, it was not as close as it looked on paper.

"We controlled the play pretty much the whole way," he said. "As soon as we got into singles play we were able to take over."

Singles play was Buffalo's strength during this trip, as the singles players combined to go 15-2 during the trip. The doubles play however, left a lot to be desired. In two of the three matches the Bulls started off by losing the doubles point and having to come back.

Only in their second match, a shutout against Bloomsburg, did they win the doubles point.

"That's one thing we haven't been that happy with, how our doubles have performed," Ziezula said. "We've been working on some things in practice and we had changed up combinations a bit. It's not something we're in a panic about."

Ziezula believes that the doubles tandems are on the right track to get to where they need to be.

"We've got the players and the talent there to be able to come around," he said.

Before their current five-match winning streak, the Bulls had dropped three in a row. Buffalo lost tough matches to Colgate, Western Michigan and Cornell followed by three wins in South Carolina, which helped give the Bulls much-needed momentum.

"It's definitely important, especially coming off matches against tough teams like Western Michigan and Cornell, where I feel like we competed well but those teams are just ahead of us. It's tough when you play well but you still come away with losses," Ziezula said.

According to Ziezula, a winning atmosphere tends to breed harder work in practice, which in turn leads to more wins.

"Even when you play well it's tough to get over the mindset that you're in the loss column, but once you get into a winning atmosphere people want to get out and practice on the courts more," he said. "When you're having fun and enjoying it, things just work better."

Having won three matches in a row on the road trip, and five overall, the Bulls were looking forward to taking on Marist.

"The way things worked out, it was disappointing because we were very confident going into that match," Ziezula said. "But since it was the end of the road trip and we felt like we had accomplished a lot in those matches it was alright. It would have been nice to have played that match, but it wasn't anything that detracted from the trip."

The Bulls hope their momentum can carry them through the last month of match play, during which they will be spending a lot more time on the road, and will be facing four Mid-American Conference opponents.

Buffalo's next match is at home in Village Glen Park in Williamsville against Manhattan on Saturday at 6 p.m.