Carpe Diem

Matches? Check. Bug repellant? Check. Canteens? Check. Rock and Roll? Check.

Camping supplies are expected to be onboard when the Boy Scouts go out of town, but there are no boys making this trip to Toledo. Just men.

"Obviously, we're looking to improve our record in the MAC conference," said head coach Russ Crispell. "It's been our goal all season long to play them and play them tough and we're hoping to take a 'W' from these guys."

From Randy Rocchio to Rangga Prayudha, every blue and white Bull is as fierce as a wolf on the court and as hungry as a lion to get a win. The Bulls are 7-11 overall but just 1-3 in the Mid-American Conference, with a final opportunity to improve both records at Toledo.

The Bulls have dropped five of their last seven matches, earning a combined six points in their losses while their opposition scored a total of 31.

In their most recent match, this past Sunday against Ball State, UB had two victories but only left with one point in their favor.

"Rock and Roll," as Rocchio and his doubles partner Nick Zieziula are called, won their number one match on Sunday against the Cardinals' Matt Baccarani and Patrick Thompson, 8-6. While the duo made their contribution to a possible doubles point, UB lost their numbers two and three doubles matches.

For a while, it looked as if Ball State had not only secured a win but were going to shut out the Bulls. Prayudha, who earned Athlete of the Week honors for his performance last week, put out the flame on Ball State's shutout by successfully defeating Brad Rhodes in the number five singles match, 6-4, 6-3.

"... Rannga, everything he did was really clicking and that's part of being in the zone, where you don't know exactly what you're doing because you are performing at such a high optimal level," said Crispell. "That's what he was doing last time and part of a coach's job is to try and get it that everyone is peaking around this time."

As for Toledo (7-7 overall, 0-0 MAC), Saturday's competition against the Bulls will be the second MAC match for the Rockets this season. The Rockets play their first MAC opponent, Western Michigan, today.

When Toledo played this past Saturday, they were able to go home with a 5-2 win over Kalamazoo College. The score could have been a shut out, but due to forfeits on the Rockets' behalf, Kalamazoo won the number six singles and number three doubles matches, garnering them the corresponding two points with no resistance.

Freddy Gomez was dominating during both singles and doubles competitions. He took the number one singles match 6-0, 6-3 and was half of the number one doubles duo that won 8-6. Gomez's other half, Carlos Toral, also won his number four singles match, 6-2, 6-2.

This weekend, however, Gomez will not have the opportunity to dominate, as he has been called back to his home country of Oman to play in the Davis Cup.

"All of a sudden now it gives us even better of an opportunity and the guys know it and boy are they going to seize the day," Crispell said. "Talk about carpe diem."

Tomorrow's match between UB and Toledo is set for 1 p.m.

Battle at the bottom

Trying to snap a four-match conference losing streak, the UB Women's tennis team has sunk to the bottom of the MAC, owning a 0-6 MAC record, 7-8 overall.

Fortunately, the Bulls will play their final home match of the season against another winless team today when they host Akron.

UB will look to number two singles player Kristen Ortman to lead the Bulls to victory. On the season, Ortman holds a 9-2 overall record, 4-2 in the MAC. The question is: will the Bulls be able to snap the losing streak and ink their first MAC conference win?

Entering Friday's match, The Akron Zips are coming off of a 6-1 defeat of their own, courtesy of the Marshall Thundering Herd. With the loss, the Zips dropped to 0-6 in the MAC, 7-10 overall.

Akron is led by number one singles player Irina Strembitsky. Strembitsky is unbeaten in the 2003-2004 season, holding a 15-0 record.

The match will be played at 1 p.m. at the Village Glen Tennis Club in Williamsville.