Cornell
UB Drops Heartbreaker to No. 47 Cornell, 4-3
1/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
ITHACA, NY – UB men's tennis continued their tough run of nationally ranked opponents to begin their season with Friday's match against No. 47 Cornell University. After falling in doubles, the Bulls battled hard and challenged the Ivy League side in singles play, but they fell in a heartbreaking 4-3 final score.
MAC doubles pairing of the week Amar Hromic and Pablo Alvarez each earned wins for the Bulls in singles play. Hromic defeated David Volfson, 6-4, 6-2 in No. 1 singles, while Alvarez defeated Chris Vrabel in two sets, 6-4, 7-6. Ethan Nittolo also picked up a win in singles play with a three-set thriller over Bernardo Casares. It was a back and forth affair with Nitollo picking up the first set, 7-6, while dropping the following set, 2-6. Nitollo bunkered in and came away victorious in the super tie breaker, 12-10.
Noah Hajdu-Andersson battled hard against Karim Arem winning the first set, 6-4, but dropped the next two sets, 2-6, 1-6. Sergio Arevalillo fell in straight sets against Colin Sinclair, 4-6, 3-6. Akhil Mehta couldn't find much momentum dropping the No. 5 singles match against Stefan Vinti, 4-6, 1-6.
The Bulls played tight in doubles play with Cornell, but the hosts ended up winning two of the three matches. As a result, the No. 1 doubles match between Hromic/Alvarez and Casares/Vrabel was suspended with the score tied 6-6 due to the Big Red already clinching the point from doubles play. Hajdu-Andersson/Mehta fell, 5-7, to Volfson/Sinclair despite having a match point of their own overuled earlier in the match, while Vinti/Arem defeated Arevalillo/Nittolo by a score of 6-3.
"This is another example of how close we are to breaking through (in close matches). It comes down to the mental hurdles of closing out big matches right now. We had match points at two doubles matches and couldn't convert. I am really proud of our top-three singles guys for having 'upsets'. The rest of the lineup really fought hard."
Doubles:
1. Amar Hromic/Pablo Alvarez (UB) vs Bernardo Casares/Chris Vrabel (COR), 6-6 (suspended)
2. Colin Sinclair/David Volfson (COR) def. Noah Hajdu-Andersson/Akhil Mehta (UB), 7-5
3. Stefan Vinti/Karim Arem (COR) def. Sergio Arevalillo/Ethan Nittolo (UB), 6-3
Singles:
1. Amar Hromic (UB) def. No. 2 David Volfson (COR), 6-4, 6-2
2. Pablo Alvarez (UB) def. Chris Vrabel (COR), 6-4, 7-6 (1)
3. Ethan Nitollo (UB) def. Bernardo Casares (COR), 7-6 (5), 2-6, 12-10
4. Colin Sinclair (COR) def. Sergio Arevalillo (UB), 6-4, 6-3
5. Stefan Vinti (COR) def. Akhil Mehta (UB), 6-4, 6-1
6. Karim Aream (COR) def. Noah Hajdu-Andersson (UB), 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
