Finally defeated

The women's tennis team entered the weekend looking to defend its undefeated record and extend its winning streak to 12.

Instead, the Bulls won just two matches on their first conference road trip and lost their No. 1 singles player, junior Tanvi Shah.

The Bulls (10-2, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) took their first two losses of the season over the weekend against Miami Ohio (6-12, 2-1 MAC) and Ball State (11-8, 2-1 MAC). Buffalo was only able to claim victory in two sets the entire weekend.

The RedHawks swept the Bulls for the opening doubles point. It was the first time this season the Bulls didn't win the opening point. In the first doubles match, Miami Ohio defeated the No. 1 pairing of juniors Miranda Podlas and Shah, 8-4.

Shah sustained an injury during her doubles match and did not return to play singles. Bulls head coach Kristen Ortman said Shah saw doctors on Monday.

The injury forced the team to change its normal singles patterns and resulted in the girls moving up a spot. The Bulls were unable to regain control and the RedHawks took the first four singles matches in straight sets to clinch the victory.

"It's difficult," Ortman said. "When you have to pull your number one, everyone has to play a new position in the lineup and you play better people, so that can be a big adjustment to play a different spot."

The only Bull to win her match was freshman Gopika Kapoor. Kapoor took her sets 6-4 and 7-5 to give Buffalo its lone point in the game.

Saturday, the Bulls traveled further west to take on Ball State in Indiana. Shah was still unable to return to the court, so Kapoor and Podlas opened at No. 1 doubles. They took their set 8-4, but the Cardinals took the other two matchups to claim the doubles point.

In singles, many of the Bulls were able to battle back, with three of the athletes pushing their matches to an extra set to battle for a decision. Senior Tamara Markovic tied her contest 1-1 with a second-set victory, but she fell 7-5 in the third.

Junior Marta Stoyanova was able to steal the sole victory for the Bulls in straight sets.

"[With] Marta, I'm so pleased," Ortman said. "She really had a hard match at [the No. 6 slot] and she had a great win against Ball State, so I'm really pleased."

The Bulls continue MAC play in a much friendlier arena next weekend. They will host Western Michigan (10-9, 3-0 MAC) at the Miller Tennis Center at 1 p.m. on Friday. They will also host Bowling Green (13-2, 2-1 MAC) at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

"There's no easy weekends from here out," Ortman said. "So I'm looking forward to getting out, and we're going to make adjustments and have a hard week of practice and work on what was exposed and move forward."

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