Although the men's tennis regular season did not end on a high note, the Bulls and their coaches remain unfazed. To them, the finale was a tune-up for the Mid-American Conference Championships this upcoming weekend.
"We just looked at this match as an opportunity to get some work in before the MAC Championships," said head tennis coach Russ Crispell.
Facing three-time defending America East champions Binghamton (15-6) is never an easy task, and with a regular Bulls player sitting out due to a slight injury, the team fell to the Bearcats 5-2 on Friday.
The first Bulls defeat came in the first doubles match. The No. 1 tandem of sophomore Nikesh Singh Panthlia and senior Matt Kennedy fell to Binghamton's Richemn Mourad and Aurelio Martinez, 8-6.
The No. 2 team made up of juniors Mike Rockman and Albert Alant also fell victim to Brian O'Connor and Alex Dorbin, 9-8. They forced their opponents into a tiebreaker, but were outmatched and fell, 7-3.
Crispell said a pre-match shuffle of the ordinary line-up gave his players an additional challenge.
"We moved our No. 2 team in the doubles to No. 1 and our No. 3 to No. 2, but they were still able to compete and those teams just barely lost," Crispell said.
The No. 3 team made up of Mike Zappone and Octavian Stane fell quickly to opponents Faisal Mohamed and Edwin Gerard, 8-1.
The sweep in the doubles competition did not bode well for the Bulls' hopes of victory, but they still looked to make some points back in singles competition.
The team picked up what proved to be its only two points on the day with victories in the first two singles matches.
Rockman quickly and efficiently mowed his opponent down. He won in straight sets against Mourad. Singh Panthlia followed suit by winning a close one against Brian O'Connor. Panthlia won the first set, but was defeated in the second, 6-4. He then pulled off the win in the 10-point tiebreaker, 11-9.
Injuries again complicated the Bulls' order in the singles matches as Stane moved into the third spot to fill in. Junior Yules Hadisubroto normally fills the third slot while Stane picks up the fourth.
"I sat Hadisubroto as a precautionary measure. We just did not want to take the chance of him further injuring himself," Crispell said.
Stane was not able to win, nor were any of the remaining Bulls. Stane fell to foe Martinez in a super tiebreaker. The Bull won the first set 4-6 and then lost the next two, 6-0, 1-0 (10-7).
In the No. 4 spot, Alant was defeated 6-3, 6-3. Rounding out the final two matches, Alejandro Galindo and Joe Popielarczyk lost in straight sets, 6-0,6-1 and 6-0,6-2, respectively.
The loss to Binghamton is not sticking in the minds of the Bulls tennis players or their coaches.
"This was all about preparing for the MAC Championships, and I think that we met our objectives for the match," Crispell said.
The Bulls now look towards the future as they eye the MAC Championships. The tournament begins on Thursday in Toledo and runs through Sunday. The team is the No. 4 seed of six.
"We have an extremely tough team mentally," Crispell said. "Tennis is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical, so with the right mindset, we can beat anyone."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
