The UB men's tennis team camped out at the end of last week and began a three-match road trip, where the Bulls appeared comparable to a pack of charitable cub scouts.
Armed with the camping supplies necessary to "rough it" in their trademark tents for two nights, the Bulls checked any resemblance to a charitable attitude at the Alumni Arena door. They then set out, equipped with a fierce competitive spirit and the desire to add a few victories to their record.
On Friday, they defeated Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne (IPFW), a member of the MAC, affiliated for men's tennis only. Buffalo quickly captured its first Mid-American Conference win of the season with a convincing 7-0 victory.
The Bulls (7-9, 1-1 MAC) downed the Mastodons (7-9, 0-1) in convincing fashion, sweeping all seven singles matches, highlighted by a 13-11 first-set tie breaker won by number one singles player Randy Rocchio.
Rocchio was 2-0 on the day, winning his singles match 7-6 (13), 6-4 while teaming up with Yules Hadisubroto at number one doubles to help UB secure the doubles point.
The rest of the singles lineup for the Bulls had little trouble downing IPFW, with Nick Zieziula demolishing his opponent 6-0, 6-1 at number two singles. At number three, Mike Rockman won 6-2, 6-2 while Josh Liederman was successful at number four, capturing a 6-1, 6-4 win. Rangga Prayudha won his number five singles match 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8) while Hadisubroto rounded out the sweep with a 6-2, 6-2 victory at number six for the Bulls.
Despite the success enjoyed by UB on Friday in the sweep of IPFW, Saturday's trip to Dekalb, Ill. told a vastly different story where Buffalo was unable to pull out the brooms. This time it was the Bulls suffering the sweep, falling to the Northern Illinois Huskies 7-0.
UB (7-10, 1-2) was winless on the day, losing all nine matches played. Rocchio and Hadisubroto were quickly disposed of in their number one doubles match, falling 8-1. The number two doubles team of Zieziula and Albert Alant lost 8-5 while the number three team of Rangga Prayudha and Liederman went on to lose 8-4.
The Huskies (13-3, 1-0 MAC) took a bite out of the Bulls in all six singles matches in straight sets with Rocchio losing 3-6, 0-6 at number one, Zieziula falling at number two 3-6, 2-6 and Rockman losing at number three 0-6, 2-6.
Number four singles player Liederman took the most games from his opponent, winning 7 games in the 3-6, 4-6 loss.
Prayudha and Hadisubroto rounded out the sweep at number five and number six singles, falling to their opponents 1-6, 1-6 and 1-6, 2-6 respectively.
Next up for the Bulls is a final road trip to Toledo on April 10 at 1 p.m. This match will serve as a final warm up for the Bulls before they participate in the MAC championships in Muncie, Ill. April 22-25.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
