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Western Michigan
Bulls Fall Short in MAC Semifinal Loss to Western Michigan
4/26/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
DEKALB, IL – The University at Buffalo men's tennis team saw its season come to an end Friday afternoon as the third-seeded Bulls were defeated by second-seeded Western Michigan, 4-2, in the Mid-American Conference semifinals at the Huskie Varsity Courts.
Senior Vusa Hove claimed one of UB's points in the final match of his career. Hove needed three sets to dispose of Nadin Indre, 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 for his team-leading 19th of the season. The win was Hove's 74th of his singles career, second on UB's all-time list, and his sixth consecutive win, five of which came in three-set matches. Hove was named to the All-Tournament squad for the second consecutive season and will leave UB with 123 combined singles and doubles wins, third on that list.
Freshman Pablo Alvarez, at fourth singles, also scored a victory with his 6-4, 6-2 win over Ruben Greiner. Alvarez finished the season with three straight wins from his singles slot.
In the lone match to be abandoned when the Broncos claimed the fourth point, sophomore Sebastian Ionescu held a lead over Aaron Wong. Ionescu won the first-set tiebreaker, 7-5, and led 2-1 when play was stopped.
Western Michigan took the all-important doubles point with wins in the number two and three matches, though the Bulls extended both matches to their limits. The Bulls scored a win in the number one match as the duo of Hove and Damien David easily downed Indre and Ruben Greiner, 8-1.
"Our season came down to mental toughness and we just couldn't overcome our hurdles," said head coach Lee Nickell. "We spent more than enough time on court practicing, but failed when it came down to sport psychology. That being said, we have a great group of guys who have done everything that we have asked."
Nickell later cited Hove in particular. "I am very sad to see Vusa Hove be done with a great career. He is by far the hardest worker and toughest competitor this program has seen. We will miss him dearly."
The Bulls completed the season 9-10.
Western Michigan 4, Buffalo 2
MAC Semifinals
Doubles
1 Vusa Hove/Damien David d. Nadin Indre/Ruben Greiner (WMU), 8-1
2 Jim Beckwith/Aaron Wong (WMU) d. Sebastian Ionescu/Akhil Mehta (UB), 9-7
3 Ross VanderPloeg/Andrew Cahn (WMU) d. Yevgeniy Jason Shkodnik/Sergio Arevalillo (UB), 9-8 (4)
Order of finish: 1,2,3
Singles
1 Vusa Hove (UB) d. Nadin Indre (WMU), 6-2, 1-6, 6-2
2 Ross VanderPloeg (WMU) d. Damien David (UB), 7-5, 6-2
3 Sebastian Ionescu (UB ) led Aaron Wong (WMU), 7-6 (5), 2-1 DNF
4 Pablo Alvarez (UB) d. Ruben Greiner (WMU), 6-4, 6-2
5 Andrew Cahn (WMU) d. Sergio Arevalillo (UB), 6-3, 6-0
6 Pablo Mora (WMU) d. Akhil Mehta (UB), 6-3, 7-5
Order of finish: 5,1,6,4,2
