With a flair for the dramatic, the men's tennis team took down the Toledo Rockets on Saturday night at the Village Glen Tennis Center in Williamsville.
Their second Mid-American Conference match of the year saw the Bulls (5-7 overall, 1-1 MAC) come up with a big comeback against the Rockets (6-9 overall, 0-1 MAC).
Due to more than three hours of high-level tennis the match was not only a physical fight, but a mental battle as well, and the Bulls came out on top.
"This week the team was determined to work hard keeping up an amazing display of intensity in practice. This intensity carried over into the match on Saturday against Toledo," said head coach Russ Crispell.
The hero for the Bulls was Josh Liederman, who was on the court for the final match of the day. With a score of 3-3 going into Liederman's match, he stepped up and delivered a victory.
After Liederman took the first set, 6-2, Toledo's Travis Curran fought back by winning the second set 6-4. That third set was more than just the deciding set for Liederman's match; it was the deciding set for the entire team.
"During the breaks I kept telling Josh that this match was only the battle, and that during our conference championships, we are bound to face Toledo again, and THAT will be a war," said Crispell.
Curran forced a tiebreaker in the third set, but Liederman finally put Curran away, winning the tiebreaker, the third set, and the match for UB by a score of 7-5.
"Josh was indeed the focus of our success this week. His hard work finally paid off. Two things provided Josh the success that he accomplished this past weekend. Determination to be motivated, to improve a little bit each week, and desire, desire to do what it takes to bring home a 'W'," said Crispell.
The Bulls' number one, Nick Zieziula, number two, Mike Rockman, and number three, Yules Hadisubroto, added the other three necessary single victories for the Bulls.
The Bulls' captain, Zieziula, played a solid match and knocked off Tony Tran, 6-1 6-4, while Rockman rolled over the Rockets' Josh Moran, 6-2 6-3.
Hadisubroto kept the first set tight but he finally took it in the tiebreaker, 7-4 and ultimately won the second set, 6-3.
"Yules has really stepped up his game. Again, hard work in practice, good preparation for the match equates to success during the match. I think Yules as well as the others were able to focus on the task of winning one point at a time regardless of what their opponents said or did on the court," said Crispell.
Toledo's three points included the doubles point by taking two out of the three matches, UB's only doubles victory came from its number one doubles team of Ziezula and Hadisubroto, as they scored a victory in the tiebreaker, 7-3 over Moran and Brian Rager to take the match in the end 9-8.
At fifth singles Matt Kennedy was defeated by Toledo's Freddy Gomez in a tough match 7-6(7) 6-3 and UB's number six Albert Alant fell to Cristobal Toral after a close first set 7-6(4) 6-4.
Despite the close final score, Crispell was duly impressed by the Bulls' ability to come out on top on Saturday.
"The (Mid-American) conference for men's tennis is extremely strong," Crispell said. "We knew that Toledo was going to bring their 'A' game and that they did. So did we. The result - one of the most dramatic wins ever in my coaching career here at UB."
The Bulls' next match is on Friday against Ball State. The Cardinals are coming off of a victory against Michigan State, a team currently ranked No. 52 in the nation.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
