Northern Illinois
MAC Championship Bound! UB Men's Tennis Upsets NIU, 4-2
4/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
DeKALB, IL – The University at Buffalo, State University of New York men's tennis team will play for a 2015 Mid-American Conference title Saturday after upsetting host Northern Illinois in the semifinals Friday at the West Tennis Courts. The fourth-seeded Bulls (11-10) defeated the top-seeded Huskies (18-6), 4-2. The Bulls will play the winner of second-seeded Western Michigan and third-seeded Binghamton at 2 pm ET Saturday with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line.
"This week we talked about consistency in the way we compete, and today we had seven guys compete throughout the match," said sixth-year head coach Lee Nickell. "I am very proud of these young men, but we know that there is one more brutally tough match ahead. We are focused on recovering and resting for tomorrow's championship."
It is the second straight season that UB has lost to the Huskies, 5-2, in the regular-season and defeated top-seeded NIU in the MAC semifinals, 4-2, as the four seed.
UB secured the doubles point in come-from-behind fashion. The Huskies' Simon Formont and Carlos Manzanas defeated senior Damien David and junior Akhil Mehta, 6-2, at third doubles moments before juniors Amar Hromic and Pablo Alvarez paired up at the second position for a 6-1 win over Frederic Cadieux and Louis-Philippe Hamel. With doubles knotted 1-1, junior Sergio Arevalillo and sophomore Jonathan Hannestad outlasted Kevin Daun and Georg Lundkvist, 6-4, to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Lundkvist evened the match, 1-1, defeating Arevalillo, 7-5, 6-4, at sixth singles, but Hromic answered with a straight-set victory over Manzanas at five, 6-4, 7-5. Alvarez pulled UB within one match of victory defeating Formont, 7-5, 7-5, at second singles. Not to be outdone, NIU's Tom Hjertonsson posted a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 win over Hannestad at the fourth position.
With a 3-2 edge, David was the difference maker for the Bulls clinching a three-setter at first singles to power UB to victory. He had breezed through the first set, 6-1, but Cadieux bounced back to take the second, 6-2. David, the 2014 MAC Player of the Year, outdid the Husky in the third, 6-3, to clinch UB a spot in the championship match.
Senior Sebastian Ionescu's third-singles match went unfinished in the favor of Hamel, 6-3, 3-6, 4-2.
The Bulls return to the title match for the fourth time in six seasons and second in as many years. Every UB championship appearance has come under Nickell's direction. In tournament play, the Bulls are 0-6 against Western Michigan, though have not yet faced the Bearcats in the postseason.
DOUBLES
No. 1: Hannestad/Arevalillo (UB) def. Daun/Lundkvist (NIU), 6-4
No. 2: Hromic/Alvarez (UB) def. Cadieux/Hamel (NIU), 6-1
No. 3: Formont/Manzanas (NIU) def. David/Mehta (UB), 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
SINGLES
No. 1: Damien David (UB) def. Frederic Cadieux (NIU), 6-1, 2-6, 6-3
No. 2: Pablo Alvarez (UB) def. Simon Formont (NIU), 7-5, 7-5
No. 3: Sebastian Ionescu (UB) vs. Louis-Philippe Hamel (NIU), DNF 3-6, 6-3, 2-4
No. 4: Tom Hjertonsson (NIU) def. Jonathan Hannestad (UB), 7-5, 2-6, 6-4
No. 5: Amar Hromic (UB) def. Carlos Manzanas (NIU), 6-4, 7-5
No. 6: Georg Lundkvist (NIU) def. Sergio Arevalillo (UB), 7-5, 6-4
Order of finish: 6, 5, 2, 4, 1
