Northern Illinois
Bulls Fall to Conference Leader Northern Illinois
4/18/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
DEKALB, IL - The UB men's tennis team were able to feel the fresh air in its first outdoor match of the Mid-American Conference season but were unable to take down MAC-leader Northern Illinois (18-5, 4-0 MAC), falling to the Huskies 5-2 Friday afternoon. Damien David earned a pair of wins for the Bulls (11-6, 1-2 MAC).
David continued his hot streak, winning his match at first singles in straight sets over Dor Amir, 6-4, 7-5. That came after he teamed up with Pablo Alvarez to earn an equally dominating 8-1 win at third doubles. The team's only other point on the day would come from Sebastian Ionescu, who also won in straight sets. He downed Axel Lagerlof 6-3, 7-5 at second singles. The Huskies would claim three-set victories at third and sixth singles to swing the match in their favor.
"Today wasn't our best match, but I'm happy with our fight despite some of our guys being under the weather," head coach Lee Nickell said. "Right now we're going to move on and focus our attention on Ball State and improving our seeding going into the MAC tournament."
The team will face a tough test in the 2014 regular-season finale, taking on Ball State Sunday at 2 pm. The Cardinals are also vying to a spot in the MAC tournament, a tournament that they will host.
Northern Illinois 5, Buffalo, 2
Singles
1. Damien David (Buffalo) def. Dor Amir (NIU) 6-4, 7-5
2. Sebastian Ionescu (Buffalo) def. Axel Lagerlof (NIU) 6-3, 7-5
3. Frederic Cadieux (NIU) def. Pablo Alvarez (Buffalo) 6-1, 5-7, 6-1
4. Jovan Zeljkovic (NIU) def. Sergio Arevalillo (Buffalo) 6-1, 6-1
5. Simon Formont (NIU) def. Jon Hannestad (Buffalo) 6-4, 6-4
6. Matt Lynch (NIU) def. Akhil Mehta (Buffalo) 7-5, 2-6, (10-1)
Doubles
1. Lagerlof/Amir (NIU) def. Hannestad/Arevalillo (Buffalo) 8-4
2. Cadieux/Formont (NIU) def. Ionescu/Mehta (Buffalo) 8-6
3. David/Alvarez (Buffalo) def. Lynch/Zeljkovic (NIU) 8-1
