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Western Michigan
Bulls Score 4-3 Upset Win Over Western Michigan in MAC Opener
4/5/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
KALAMAZOO, MI – The University at Buffalo men's tennis team scored a 4-3 upset over Western Michigan at Sorensen Courts, the first time that the Bulls have defeated the Broncos in Kalamazoo.
UB (7-6, 1-0 Mid-American Conference), the 2012 regular season league champions, defeated the Broncos (16-8, 2-1 MAC), picked to win the 2013 title, with a sweep in doubles play and three singles victories including a pair that went three sets. The win by the Bulls also snapped an eight-match winning streak by Western Michigan that included a victory over Michigan State, ranked number 43 in the country.
The Bulls picked up victories in the number two and three doubles matches to earn the opening point. At number two, the duo of Akhil Mehta and Sebastian Ionescu knocked off Ross VanderPloeg and Stephen Payne, 8-3. The Bulls clinched the point as the number three tandem of Vusa Hove and Yevgeniy Jason Shkodnik downed Jim Beckwith and Aaron Wong, 8-5.
After Western Michigan tied the match at 2-2 with wins in first and sixth singles sandwiched between Pablo Alvarez's straight-sets win for the Bulls over Ruben Greiner, 6-3, 6-1, in the number four match, UB won the next two matches to conclude with three-set wins to earn the overall victory.
In the number two match, sophomore Damien David dropped the opening set to VanderPloeg, 6-3, but rallied with wins in the second and third sets, 6-3, 6-1, to claim the win. The victory was David's 13th of the season in singles play, tying him for the team lead with Hove.
The clincher was claimed by Ionescu, who joined the Bulls in January after playing as a freshman at Arizona in 2011-12, defeated Wong, the MAC Player of the Week the last two weeks, in the number three singles match. Ionescu opened with a 7-2 tiebreaker win in the opening set but Wong forced the match into a decisive third set with a 6-2 win in the second set. However, Ionescu was able to regroup and capture the deciding set, 6-2, and give the Bulls the overall victory. Ionescu improved to 8-4 in singles play as a member of the Bulls.
The win for the Bulls broke a three-match losing streak as UB dropped matches at Florida Atlantic, Lynn, ranked third in Division II and Ivy League foe Brown.
"This was a great college tennis match," stated UB head coach Lee Nickell. "This was a total team effort and I am very proud of the way we fought from start to finish."
UB travels to Toledo (18-7, 0-1 MAC) on Sunday to conclude the road trip against conference foes with first serve slated for 1:00 pm.
"We have another tough test on Sunday against Toledo," continued Nickell. "So now it is vital we get rest and rehydrate to be prepared for a long match with them."
Buffalo 4, Western Michigan 3
Doubles
1. Damien David/Ashwin Sharma (UB) led Nadin Indre/Ruben Greiner (WMU) 6-4 DNF
2. Akhil Mehta/Sebastian Ionescu (UB) def. Ross VanderPloeg/Stephen Payne (WMU) 8-3
3. Vusa Hove/Y.J. Shkodnik (UB) def. Jim Beckwith/Aaron Wong (WMU) 8-5
Order of finish: 2, 3
Singles
1. Nadin Indre (WMU) def. Vusa Hove (UB) 6-4, 6-0
2. Damien David (UB) def. Ross VanderPloeg (WMU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
3. Sebastian Ionescu (UB) def. Aaron Wong (WMU) 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 6-2
4. Pablo Alvarez (UB) def. Ruben Greiner (WMU) 6-3, 6-1
5. Pablo Mora (WMU) def. Sergio Arevalillo (UB) 6-3, 6-7, 5-1, retired
6. Andrew Cahn (WMU) def. Ashwin Sharma (UB) 6-1, 7-5
Order of finish: 1,4,6,2,3,5
