After being soundly swept 7-0 in a Friday night bout against the Ball State Cardinals (15-6 overall, 2-0 Mid-American Conference), the UB men's tennis team (6-8 overall, 2-2 MAC) recovered and was able to defeat the Northern Illinois Huskies (9-7 overall, 0-1 MAC) on Saturday, scoring a close 4-3 victory at the Village Glen Tennis Center that came down to the No. 5 singles match.
Saturday
With both the Bulls and the Huskies each having already claimed three points per team, Matt Kennedy's triumph over NIU's Adam Ford at No. 5 singles proved pivotal for the Bulls, as Kennedy out-worked his opponent en route to a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win to capture the match for the Bulls, 4-3.
"I was definitely nervous, but having everybody at home was great, it makes it a lot easier than playing (away)," said Kennedy. "We had a great core in the line up and everyone stepped it up at the right time."
Kennedy dominated the third set early, leaping out to a 5-1 lead. After dropping the next three straight sets to Ford, therefore notching the score at 5-4. Kennedy eventually claimed the match, scoring the 6-4 victory in the third set.
"The guys have realized, I think more this year than ever, that it's a team effort that brings home a 'W', its not any individual stars," said UB head coach Russ Crispell. "Up and down the line, every guy has to step up and we talked about that today and they did it."
After UB's No. 1 singles player Nick Zieziula was defeated by NIU's Willy Gali 6-1, 6-3, Albert Alant scored an important 6-2, 6-3 victory over Diego Zegarra-Ballon at sixth singles.
Buffalo's Mike Rockman tied the match at 2 points per team when he defeated the Huskies' Erick Martinez 6-2, 6-3 at second singles and Yules Hadisubroto then gave the Bulls a 3-2 lead with his 7-6 (4), 6-4 defeat of Mark Tate at third singles.
Northern Illinois would not surrender, however, as Alex Friesen battled to beat UB's Josh Liederman 6-2, 7-6 (4) at No. 4 singles to even the match at 3-3 until Kennedy emerged with his three set victory at fifth singles.
"We're no longer a tier two team, we're a tier one," said Rockman. "Beating Northern (Illinois) raised us up a lot, we lost to them 7-0 last year. We're at the top level in the MAC right now."
The Bulls opened the match by losing the doubles point 2-1 with the lone Buffalo victory claimed by the duo of Kennedy and Alant. Playing at second doubles for the first time this season, Kennedy and Alant defeated NIU's Martinez and Tate 8-6.
Meanwhile, Zieziula and Hadisubroto lost at No.1 doubles to Gali and Friesen 8-6 while UB's No. 3 tandem of Joe Popielorczyk and Mike Zappone was defeated 8-2 by Ford and Zegarra-Ballon.
Friday
Only able to claim one set in the entire match, the Bulls were soundly swept 7-0 by a talented Ball State squad on Friday night. Entering the match against the Bulls, Ball State was ranked 61st in the nation, according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
Buffalo opened its weekend homestand losing the doubles point 3-0. BSU's first doubles team of Matt Baccarani and Patrick Thompson-currently ranked 42nd in the nation by the ITA- eclipsed Zieziula and Hadisubroto, 8-3.
Meanwhile, UB's No. 2 and No. 3 double's team were also unable to score wins on the night. Rockman and Liederman lost 8-5 while Alant and Kennedy were also defeated 8-5.
Zieziula produced a solid effort against Baccarani at first singles, pushing his match to a third set before eventually falling 6-1, 3-6, 6-2. Rockman lost to Matt Laramore at No. 2 singles 6-3, 6-0 and Hadisubroto fell at third singles 6-1, 6-1.
Rounding out the rest of the Bulls' lineup, Liederman was unsuccessful at fourth singles, losing a hard-fought match to BSU's Thompson 6-4, 6-3, Kennedy lost at No. 5 singles to Klint Knable 6-4, 6-2 and Alant dropped his sixth singles match to Brad Rhodes 6-3, 6-2.
The Bulls will host Niagara in a non-conference match on April 13 at 3 p.m. before hosting Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne in a MAC match on Saturday, April 16 at 7 p.m.
