The men's tennis team is in the middle of its hottest stretch of the season, blowing out the competition in the process.
The team's most recent conquest came on Saturday when the Bulls (5-7) defeated Marist (6-5), 5-2. The win marked the fourth straight win for the Bulls, after dropping their previous five.
The Bulls managed to secure a victory despite the late start due to inclement weather.
"We came out and did a great job of taking an early advantage throughout the matches," said head coach Lee Nickell. "We definitely did not play our best today by any means but this team does a great job competing well and competing with good character. I think our toughness really showed in the end."
The Bulls won two out of three doubles matches, led by freshmen Damien David and junior Vusa Hove in the first spot, who defeated their opponent 8-4. Senior Wojciech Starakiewicz and sophomore Travis Zappia also won 8-4 in the second spot.
The singles matches were a lot closer, headlined by a 7-5, 7-6 victory by Hove, while senior Alex Kalinin needed all three sets to pull out the win, 6-7, 6-3, 6-1.
Nickell was especially impressed with a pair of players in the win.
"We definitely had some standout performances," Nickell said. "Wojciech Starakiewicz did a great job in doubles and singles today as well as Ivan Vereshchaga who beat a guy that hasn't lost any matches this season. The guys really stepped up and won us some battles today."
Vereshchaga's victory in fourth singles over Marist's Will Reznek sealed the victory for the Bulls, adding to an impressive turnaround to the season.
The team had gotten off to a slow start this season, dropping its first two matches and seven of its first eight. Nickell believes that the team has overcome adversity early with a rigid schedule combined with some minor setbacks.
"Our schedule has been really, really tough for the non-MAC season and we have also had some injury issues and some health issues along the way," Nickell said. "I think the toughest thing that we have had to battle through this season is taking some hard fought losses and keeping our confidence up."
Buffalo has not only won the last four contests, but dominated them, by winning 25 of 28 points in the matches. Now it will get ready for its first Mid-American Conference matchup next week. But, Nickell remains optimistic looking forward.
"We need to realize that if we focus on the controllable and we stay tough, we're going to win some matches, continue to progress, and that's exactly what has happened," Nickell said. "We're on a four-match win streak right now and could have easily thrown in the towel after a 1-7 start due to a tough schedule and some injuries, but our guys have stayed resilient and it has shown."
The team's early struggles were due mainly in part to what Nickell called an, "Ivy League schedule," with tough losses coming to strong teams.
Nickell believes that the squad still has much to work on if its want to be successful going forward despite the recent victories.
"Ultimately, we need to work on staying tough throughout the full match," Nickell said. "We've done a better job of starting off quickly but we need to do a better job of closing out matches and continue to work hard to get our tennis back to a level that can win us another MAC championship."
The Bulls will be put to the test early as they open up their MAC schedule against Toledo (14-7), a team that has won nine of its last 10 matches and has beaten the Bulls in their last two meetings. The match will be at home and is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Email: sports@ubspectrum.com
