History always has a way of repeating itself.
The Bulls' lone point on Sunday came from senior Katrin Fischer's 6-2, 6-2 victory over Emily Dudzik. Fischer ended the season with an unblemished record of 8-0 against conference opponents.
Western Michigan's doubles teams took the first point of the match with consecutive wins. Kerstin Pahl and Priyanka Parekh defeated the senior team of Miglena Nenova and Natalie Dean, 8-3. Buffalo's Fischer and Tina Jacob then fell on the losing end of an 8-2 match against Carrie Jeanmarie and Emily Dudzikm 8-2 to clinch the point for the Broncos.
Nenova's senior campaign ended on a low note as Jeanmarie, the tournament's most valuable player, defeated her 6-1, 7-5. The second set was at one point deadlocked at 5-5 before Jeanmarie pulled away for the win. Nenova, a two-time MAC Player of the Week this year, leaves the Bulls as the program's all-time leader in singles and doubles victories.
Freshman Denise Harijanto lost to Pahl (6-3, 6-2) in the No. 2 match, leaving Western Michigan one victory away from claiming their second consecutive championship. That needed victory came when Parekh beat junior Andrea Novaceanu of the Bulls, by a score of 6-3, 6-3 in the third singles match. Parekh was later named to the All-MAC Tournament Team.
The Bulls' road to the championship began on Friday when they defeated Ball State, 4-0. The pairing of Novaceanu and Harijanto and the tandem of Fischer and Jacob scored victories to earn the Buffalo the doubles point. Harijanto, Novaceanu and Dean then went on to win their singles matches to seal the victory. The win set up a match against host Toledo, whom the Bulls defeated 4-3 on April 13.
The Bulls steam-rolled right through the Toledo Rockets on Saturday afternoon, with a 4-1 victory. The doubles teams of Novaceanu/Harijanto and Nenova/Dean scored victories for the Bulls after Fischer and Jacob were defeated. Harijanto, Novaceanu, and Fischer scored singles wins for the Bulls.
A slew of awards also were bestowed upon members of the tennis team this week. Dean and Fischer were named to the All-MAC Tournament Team for their efforts. Nenova was named to the first team All-MAC for the third time in her career. Novaceanu and Harijanto were named to the All-MAC Second Team. Fisher was also named the recipient of the MAC's LeAnn Grimes Davidge Sportsmanship Award, marking the first time a Buffalo player has won the award.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
