Princeton
Bulls Split Road Weekend
3/1/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
PRINCETON, NJ - The Buffalo men's tennis team continued to thrive with a bullseye on its back, but the 56th-ranked Bulls were unable to sweep a challenging weekend schedule, losing to Ivy League foe 4-3 on Saturday morning after overcoming a 3-0 hole to down NJIT 4-3 Friday afternoon.
Against the Highlanders, the Bulls found themselves down 3-0 after losing the doubles point and matches at first and third singles. It would be the biggest deficit the team had faced since losing at Dartmouth, but the team would rally that was sparked by a convincing win by Damien David at second singles, 6-3, 6-3. Akhil Mehta would also score a straight-set win, going 7-6(5), 6-2 at sixth singles to tighten the match. A pair of three-set finishes would complete the comeback, as Jonathan Hannestad and Sergio Arevalillo would win at fourth and fifth, respectively, for the win. Hannestad won 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, while Arevalillo snapped a brief personal losing streak with a big 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 win.
Against the Tigers on Saturday, the Bulls would take the doubles point after 8-6 wins at second and third, but Princeton would take four singles matches to come back and win. All six of the singles matches would come in straight sets, with David and Arevalillo winning at second and sixth singles.
"This was another tough turnaround for our team. I am proud of the way we fought and of our energy," head coach Lee Nickell said. "After taking NJIT's best shot yesterday we just didn't have enough in the tank at spots today against a good Princeton team. We are excited to work this week to prepare for another great road trip."
The Bulls will have an even longer weekend coming up, as it will head back to East coast for three matches in three days. It begins Friday against Bryant, before another Ivy League foe in Brown on Saturday and Boston University on Sunday.
Buffalo 4, NJIT 3
Doubles
1.Artursson/Andres (NJIT) def. David/Mehta(Buffalo) 8-6
2. Schultz/Norregaard (NJIT) def. Hannestad/Arevalillo (Buffalo) 8-5
3. Ionescu/Alvarez (Buffalo) def. Holl/Jedlinski(NJIT) 8-3
Singles
1. Markus Schultz (NJIT) def. Sebastian Ionescu (Buffalo) 7-6(4), 6-2
2. Damien David (Buffalo) def. Holger Norregaard (NJIT) 6-3, 6-3
3. Andres Alban (NJIT) def. Pablo Alvarez (Buffalo) 7-6(4), 6-2
4. Jonathan Hannestad (Buffalo) def. Erik Artursson (NJIT) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
5. Sergio Arevallio (Buffalo) def. Arnaud Holl (NJIT) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
6. Akhil Mehta (Buffalo) def. Carl Jedlinski (NJIT) 7-6(5), 6-2
Princeton 4, Buffalo 3
Doubles
1. Day/McCourt (P) def. David/Mehta (B), 8-2
2. Arevalillo/Hannestad (B) 8-6 def. Bloom/Davies (P), 8-6
3. Alvarez/Ionescu (B) 8-6 def. Colautti/Yablon (P), 8-6
Singles
1. (108) Zack McCourt (P) def. Sebastian Ionescu (B), 6-1, 6-3
2. Damien David (B) def. Alex Day (P), 6-1, 6-2
3. Tom Colautti (P) def. Pablo Alvarez (B), 6-3, 6-4
4. Josh Yablon (P) def. Jonathan Hannestad (B), 6-4, 6-2
5. Augie Bloom (P) def. Akhil Mehta (B), 6-3, 7-5
6. Sergio Arevalillo (B) def. Dan Davies (P), 6-1, 6-4
