The men's tennis team expected a five-hour drive to Toledo to face the Rockets on Sunday. What they didn't expect was the five-hour marathon match that happened once they arrived.
The Bulls (8-12, 2-3 Mid-American Conference) finished out their season against the Rockets (13-12, 3-2 MAC) with a 5-2 loss in a match being played for the third-seed in the MAC Championships at Toledo's Varsity Courts.
The Bulls fell short of the victory as junior Nikesh Singh Panthlia and sophomore Octavian Stane scored the only wins for the team in the contest.
"It's not the way we would have liked to end the season," said men's tennis head coach Sherif Zaher. "We didn't put in the effort and set the tone, we were definitely missing the desire."
The Bulls were swept in the early going of the match and didn't score their wins until the victory was out of reach. The lack of focus seemed to plague the team and Zaher was left looking for more.
"There is not enough leadership on this team," Zaher said. "We have been talking about it all year, aside from Mike (Rockman) there is nobody that steps up."
Panthlia played valiantly with senior Yules Hadisubroto in the No. 1 doubles match but they were unable to record the win, falling 7-5 in a tiebreak set to Brian Rager and Travis Curran of the Rockets.
"We struggled at doubles today," said Toledo Rockets head coach Al Wermer in a press release. "But we were able to get by and secure the point."
With the Bulls dropping the point in the doubles match-ups, they relied heavily on their singles play.
Singh Panthlia again lead the Bulls in singles play, scoring the win in the number two bracket. He defeated Chris Clark in a lengthy three set bout, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.
"Nikesh is 4-1 in the MAC. He has consistency. He has shown he has what it takes to win. He just needs to stay focused," Zaher said.
Stane scored the lone remaining Bulls' point in the match with his win over Curran, 7-6, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (12-10).
With the final match of the year in the books the coaching staff is looking towards this week's MAC Championships in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Senior Mike Rockman will be playing in the final event of his collegiate career and will look to go out on a positive note.
"Mike's Mike, he plays his game," Zaher said. "Sometimes he can break his opponents down, he breaks them down mentally to score his wins."
The team looks primed to go with the lineup they have used for the last few weeks that should include Rockman at No. 1 singles followed by Singh Panthlia at two and freshman upstart Kiril Kolomytes in the third slot. Zaher is looking for production out of his seniors.
"Mike (Rockman) and Albert (Alant) will play together and they should step it up in the third doubles bracket. As two seniors we expect a lot out of them," Zaher said.
In the first round match up the Bulls will be playing the Northern Illinois Huskies (9-11, 1-4 MAC), who they defeated just last week 4-3.
Toledo will face the host Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (7-18, 0-5 MAC) in its opening round match-up.
If the Bulls can get by Huskies they will move on to play the No. 1 seed Western Michigan Broncos (16-7, 5-0) in the semifinals.
