After compiling an 8-1 dual meet record since October, including winning five straight since the start of February, the women's tennis team opened its Mid-American Conference schedule with two losses.
Friday afternoon the Bulls began their conference play with a 6-0 loss to Western Michigan before dropping a second match on Saturday to Bowling Green, 5-2.
The Broncos, ranked 67th in the latest poll by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, beat Buffalo in seven of nine match-ups.
The Broncos began the doubles matches with an 8-2 victory. Carrie Jeanmarie and Malena Remynse defeated sophomore Natalie Dean and Kristen Ortman, the lone senior on the squad. The Bulls' other victory came thanks to sophomore Andreea Novaceanu teaming up with sophomore Tina Jacob for an 8-5 doubles victory over Rattiya Hiranrat and Noriko Saruta.
Western Michigan responded with a doubles victory in the third slot as Parekh and Kerstin-Beeke Pahl defeated Buffalo's pairing of sophomore Smaranda Stan and junior Miglena Nenova 8-5.
In the singles matches, Novaceanu defeated Western Michigan's Reedhina Parekh in straight sets at third singles for her 20th victory on the season. Novaceanu used a 7-5 tiebreaker victory to close out the match after a 6-2 win in the opening set.
Novaceanu's last loss came over a month ago on February 10th against Syracuse.
Western Michigan surrounded Buffalo's only singles win with five wins of its own, winning matches in the first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth slots, all in straight sets.
In the first slot, Remnyse defeated Nenova 6-3 and 6-4 and was followed up by Jeanmarie beating Ortman 6-4, 7-5. After Novaceanu beat Parekh, Hinarat routed Dean 6-1, 6-2. Parekh followed up her loss with a convincing victory over Stan 6-2, 6-1. The Broncos closed the match with Pahl dusting off Jacob 6-0, 6-0.
On Saturday, like the day before, Buffalo managed only one singles victory out of the seven matches played. The only difference was that the Bulls won two out of three of the doubles against the Falcons (13-4, 2-0 MAC).
The team of Ortman and Dean defeated Bowling Green's Heidi Romer and Jenna Nussbaum in the first slot of doubles action 8-3. The Falcons responded by taking the middle sets behind the play of Ashley Jakupcin and Kelsey Jakupcin who defeated Buffalo's lone victorious doubles pair from the day before, Novaceanu and Jacob.
The final, clinching win for the Bulls came in the third slot of action as Nenova and Stan pulled out a victory against Andrea Meister and Andrea Volle 8-6.
The Bulls followed their victorious action in doubles play by falling in the first singles slot. Ashley Jakupcin defeated Nenova 6-4 and 6-3. Novaceanu once again was the only member of the Buffalo team to win a singles match. The sophomore defeated Jenna Nussbaum 6-1 and 6-3.
The Falcons won every slot remaining, starting with Romer's victory over Ortman 6-4, 6-4, 1-0 (10-7). Meister followed that up with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Dean, and Jakupcin beat Stan 7-5 and 6-2. Menoff defeated Jacob 6-2, 6-1 and Erica Wolfe defeated junior Katrin Fischer 8-1 to wrap up the day's action.
Buffalo now prepares for a match at Akron on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
