The men's tennis team is a week away from having a chance to do something that's never been done in school history: win the Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship.
After traveling to Muncie, Ind. on Saturday, the Bulls (9-9, 4-1 MAC) wrapped up a share of the league's regular season crown with Northern Illinois (21-6, 4-1 MAC) as well as a bye in the first round of the MAC tournament.
Unfortunately, it missed out on an outright regular season championship and fell to Ball State (17-9, 2-2 MAC).
"We probably played at about 50 percent of our level. The conditions were bad and we didn't respond well to the conditions," said head coach Lee Nickell. "It was disappointing for us knowing that if we won that match we wouldn't have had to share the title with Northern Illinois."
The importance of the game was apparent and it lived up to expectations.
The Bulls surrendered the first point of the match after being defeated in two-out-of-three doubles matches. That 1-0 deficit heading into doubles proved to be the difference maker, as Buffalo dropped the match, 4-3.
Three out of the six singles matches ended in thrilling fashion, going to the third set. The teams split the six singles matches, 3-3.
"Our top three have been very solid; they've been a rock," Nickell said. "I think our bottom three have been thrown into the fire pretty quickly with the absence of junior George Tibil and sophomore Jason Simon being injured."
The top of the lineup for the Bulls was able to sweep through the Cardinals' top three players. Junior Vusa Hove and senior Wojciech Starakiewicz only required two sets to eliminate their opponents; each won 6-0, 6-4. It took freshman standout Damien David a little more effort to deliver a win for the Bulls.
With the Bulls trailing the match 3-2, David approached the third and final set against Ball State freshman Ray Leonard. David eliminated any doubt his teammates may have had, overpowering Leonard 6-1 in the final set. This was David's 25th victory of the season - he managed to go undefeated against MAC opponents.
With the match tied at 3, the Bulls' fate to win the MAC regular season championship was left in the hands of sophomore Travis Zappia, who was the only Bull yet to complete his match. Zappia's three-set battle was a heart-breaking one as he was defeated 6-3 in the final set.
"We expect to win the MAC title," Nickell said. "It's been an up and down year for us but I certainly am very proud of where we came considering the injuries we have. I'm proud to share the title, but we're not going to be happy unless we're going to the NCAAs at the end of next week."
Although their conference season finale on Saturday was complete, the Bulls still had a match on Sunday to cap off the regular season.
On Sunday they faced IUPUI (10-15, 4-1 Summit League) and were able to redeem their loss, winning 6-1.
After sweeping the Jaguars for the doubles' point they continued their dominating performance, winning seeds one through five in singles play.
"It was good that we bounced back, and we came back with a lot of energy today," Nickell said. "It's good to get a victory like that after a loss like yesterday."
Up next on the slate for the Bulls is the MAC tournament. Having clinched the No. 1 seed, they will receive a bye in the first round and will play the winner of the Ball State vs. Toledo (15-11, 1-4 MAC) match. This match will take place on Friday with the time to be announced.
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Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
Photo: Paul Hokanson / UB Athletics
