Bulls Defeat Western Michigan in Epic Showdown

Friday, March 7

Kalamazoo, MI

1:00pm

University at Buffalo

Western Michigan

Photo by: Paul Hokanson / UB Athletics

Bulls Defeat Western Michigan in Epic Showdown

3/7/2025 5:01:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

KALAMAZOO, MI – The University at Buffalo men's tennis team (8-4, 1-0 MAC) made a statement as they went on the road and took down defending regular season champion Western Michigan 4-3 in their Mid-American Conference opener at the West Hills Athletic Club on Friday afternoon.

Buffalo started the match on a high note as they took the doubles point in a grueling battle that lasted over an hour. Sophomore Michael Malkin and Yu-Shiang Huang won 7-6(4) at first doubles and Cheng Tang and Daniils Snaiders followed with a tiebreak victory of their own, 7-6(5), at the second position to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead in the match.

Malkin continued his strong play in singles action as he picked up a 7-6, 6-4 victory at fifth singles to give the Bulls a 2-1 lead, but the hosts answered with wins at the second and fourth positions to go up 3-2. The final two matches went to a third set as junior Faiz Nasyam won 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 at sixth singles and Clement Mainguy, playing in his first MAC match, followed with a thriller of his own, saving six match points to win a third set tiebreaker set 12-10 and clinch the match with a 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 victory at third singles.

"Today was an incredible college tennis match," said head coach Lee Nickell. "We are doing a really good job of staying poised in these pressure situations and the results speak to that. Western is a very good team, and we knew it would come down to a couple of points. We must regroup and let the emotions subside a bit before we go play a good Ball State squad."

Up next, Buffalo will close out the weekend at Ball State on Sunday, March 9 at 11am.

For all the latest on UB men's tennis, follow @UBmenstennis on Twitter/X and Instagram and like the UB Men's Tennis Facebook page.

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