The dreams of a championship ended abruptly on Thursday afternoon for the men's tennis team.
The Bulls were eliminated in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Championships, held in Fort Wayne Ind., as they fell to Northern Illinois by a score of 4-0.
The Huskies took the doubles point with victories from their second and third pairings, forcing the first doubles match to be abandoned at a 7-7 deadlock. The Huskies'Alex Friesen and Jimmy Chu defeated Buffalo's Octavian Stane and Kirill Kolomytes, 8-6, in the number two match. Alfonso Monroy and Diego Zeggarra-Ballon of Northern Illinois defeated the Bulls' third team of Mike Rockman and Albert Alant with an 8-5 decision.
The Huskies then won three consecutive singles matches, to seal the victory. Nikesh Singh Panthlia fell, 6-3, 6-3 to Brian Livingston in first singles. Rockman was defeated by Friesen, 6-1, 6-4, in the second singles match, and number four Yules Hadisubroto fell to Chu by a score of 6-2, 6-4. The other three matches were abandoned, as they would not affect the match's final outcome.
It was the last match for seniors Alant, Hadisubroto and Rockman, all of whom have been with the program for their four-year collegiate careers. Rockman leaves Buffalo as the winningest singles player in school history with 83 singles victories.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
