The weather on campus has been frigid as of late, but the woman's tennis team has been bringing the heat. The Bulls are riding a streak of shutouts, defeating Duquesne on Saturday, 7-0.
The win over the non-conference opponent improved Buffalo's record to 5-1.
Going into the match, the Bulls had changed their lineup every match. Sunday was no different as junior Miglena Nenova started at first singles. In Pittsburgh, Nenova went into the meet as one of two players with four overall losses.
Nenova added her ninth win defeating the Dukes' Johanna Bezjak 6-3, 6-2 and is second in win totals to senior Kristen Ortman, who claimed her 13th win of the season on Sunday. Ortman faced off against the Dukes' Jacqueline Hughes at the No. 2 spot.
Ortman's match was grueling as she and Hughes split the opening set with each player taking a 7-5 victory. In the 10-point super tiebreaker, Ortman prevailed, downing Hughes, 13-11.
"We were a lot more focused than the other team," said head coach Kathy Twist. "They actually are a strong team and defeated us 4-3 last season"
Saturday was also the debut of a new Bull on the courts, the team's newest addition, sophomore Smaranda Stan. Stan has seen limited action since transferring in January.
Stan played in the fifth spot and beat the Dukes' Alexandria Albano 6-3, 7-6. Stan would also see play in No. 3 spot doubles.
"Smaranda was nervous and was smart enough to keep the ball in play and fight through points," Twist said.
In other singles action, the Bulls were flawless. At No. 3, sophomore Andreea Novaceanu defeated Rebecca Poole, 6-2, 6-1. At No. 4, sophomore Natalie Dean secured her eighth win defeating Andrea Sailer, 6-1, 7-6. At the No. 6 spot, sophomore Tina Jacob defeated the Dukes' Alicia McNamara, 6-2, 6-0.
Junior Katrin Fischer dueled against the Dukes' Abigail Bell and the match ended with a score of 8-5, improving Fischer's record to 8-3 on the season.
"We keep building on the mental exercise," Twist said.
On Saturday, the Bulls also were able to claim wins in all three doubles matches. At No. 1 Ortman and Dean combined to down Hughes and Poole, 8-4. It was the first time this season that the Ortman and Dean combination had played first doubles.
At the No. 2 spot, Novaceanu and Jacob knocked off Bezjak and Albano of the Dukes, 8-5. The most exciting match of the day came at No. 3 doubles where Stan and Nenova faced off against Sailer and McDermott of Duquense.
The match went into overtime as the Buffalo duo needed a 7-5-tiebreaker victory to claim the 9-8 decision.
A Mid-American Conference pre-season poll placed the current red-hot Bulls in third place, behind Western Michigan and Miami (Ohio).
"For me, the poll is on paper and you need to be emotionally ready for every match," Twist said.
The Bulls will play at home on Sunday, hosting Niagara University.
This will be the second home match of the season for the Bulls who play at the Village Glen Tennis Center in Williamsville. Buffalo defeated Cleveland State, 7-0, on Feb. 5 at the Village Glen.
Niagara heads into the Western New York match up with a 4-4 record, after a 4-2 victory at Loyola on Sunday.
"Expect us to come out focused and ready to take on (our) hometown rival," said Twist.
The match will begin at noon.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
