Looking for their first win of the year, the men's tennis team traveled to Cleveland, OH to face the Xavier Musketeers at a neutral playing site, the Cleveland Skating Club. Buffalo was not able to hold off the Musketeers, losing the match 5-2.
Senior Nikesh Singh Panthalia scored a 6-2, 6-4 victory in first singles for Buffalo (0-4) against Chris Herrlinger of the Musketeers. Freshman Marcelo Mazzetto was also victorious for Buffalo in second singles with a score of 6-4, 6-3 against J.T. Torbeck.
Two other singles matches went to three sets; the Bulls failed to win both. Sophomore Kirill Kolomytes lost to Xavier's (2-3) Ra'ees Ismail 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 in third singles. Junior Octavian Stane was defeated by Brian Starr 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 in fourth singles.
The Musketeers dominated in the last two singles matches, as Sophomore Ezra Bernstein lost to Mike Diecius in straight sets 6-2 and 6-0. In fifth singles, Brian Schubert of the Musketeers defeated sophomore Eric Rothstein 6-2, 6-3.
In doubles play, Mazzetto teamed up with Kolomytes and brought back an 8-4 victory against Xavier's team of Herrlinger and Doug Mathews. However, the Musketeers were able to bounce back and win the other two doubles matches.
The team of Panthlia and Stane lost a close match 8-6 to Starr and Torbeck. Bernstein and junior Alexis Lluis could not hang in with Xavier's team of Ismail and Anthony Palmenter, losing 8-5.
"Some of the players need to play with a better sense of urgency," said head coach Sherif Zaher.
Along with the loss on court, the Bulls lost battles off the court as well. The team is facing setbacks due to injuries as well as the loss of a freshman player that has been kept out of action due to paperwork issues.
"We're keeping our fingers crossed for him to be able to play this weekend," Zaher said. The player's name was not released.
Zaher's goal for the season is to get all six of his players playing at their highest level by the time the Mid-American Conference season starts. Zaher wants his players to "keep digging and chipping away."
This weekend, the team will travel to Ithaca for a contest with Cornell University on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 2 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
