Bulls Rally But Fall Short Against Cleveland State, 4-3

Sunday, February 19

1 pm

Cleveland St.

Bulls Rally But Fall Short Against Cleveland State, 4-3

2/19/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

WILLIAMSVILLE, NY – A spirited rally by the University at Buffalo men's tennis team fell just short on Sunday afternoon as the Bulls dropped a 4-3 decision to visiting Cleveland State at the Miller Tennis Center.

After the Bulls (1-4) dropped the doubles point to the Vikings (3-3) and fell behind in singles play, 3-0, UB picked up victories from the top three players to knot the match at 3-3.

Number one Damien David scored a straight-sets victory over Ali Shabib, 6-3, 6-2 to begin the rally. Wojciech Starakiewicz then won his match at number three over Yannick Goossens, 6-1, 6-2. Vusa Hove tied the match at 3-3 with this three-set win over Matt Kuelker, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, in the number two contest.

The Bulls were unable to complete the comeback however as Alex Kalinin dropped a three-set decision to Matt Ford, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 in the number six match.

"They [Cleveland State] showed more resilience than we did in spots," said UB head coach Lee NIckell. "We're finding ways to lose matches. We've got to get better."

The Bulls will face a pair of Ivy League opponents on the road next weekend. UB travels to Penn on Saturday, February 25 and Princeton on Sunday, February 26.

Cleveland State 4, Buffalo 3

Doubles

1 Ali Shabib/Nolan Marks (CSU) d. Wojciech Starakiewicz/Vusa Hove (UB), 8-6

2 Yannick Goossens/Ben Shklyar (CSU) d. George Tibil/Ivan Vereshchaga (UB), 8-4

3 Matt Kuelker/Jorg Van Der Vloet (CSU) d. Damien David/Alex Kalinin (UB), 8-3

Order of finish: 3, 1, 2

Singles

1 Damien David (UB) d. Ali Shabib (CSU), 6-3, 6-2

2 Vusa Hove (UB) d. Matt Kuelker (CSU), 6-3, 2-6, 6-3

3 Wojciech Starakiewicz (UB) d. Yannick Goossens (CSU), 6-1, 6-2

4 Jorg Van Der Vloet (CSU) d. Ivan Vereshchaga (UB), 6-3, 6-2

5 Nolan Marks (CSU) d. George Tibil (UB), 4-3 ret. inj.