The third time's a charm. With their victory over the top-seeded Western Michigan Broncos on Sunday afternoon in the Mid-American Conference Championships, the women's tennis team is guaranteed a berth in the NCAA tournament. They also became the first Buffalo team to win a MAC title since the school joined the conference in 1999.
This was the third consecutive year that the Bulls and Broncos battled against one another in the MAC final. The previous two years, the Broncos hoisted the trophy. This year it was the Bulls that were celebrating in the end.
"The feeling right now is relief and I am very proud of this team," said Head Coach Kathy Twist. "We made history and I hope this is the first of many MAC tournaments for this great university. I'm sure you are going to see more teams hold trophies like we are today."
The first-seeded Broncos (17-7, 8-0 MAC) took the doubles point by winning two of the three matches. The tandem of Kerstin Pahl and Priyanka Parekh defeated Buffalo's first doubles team of freshman Diana Popscu and sophomore Denise Harijanto, 8-3.
Western Michigan's third doubles team of Yumi Matsuto and Emily Dudzik downed seniors Andreea Novaceanu and Tina Jacob by a score of 8-2. Senior Smaranda Stan and sophomore Diana Toia were leading their match, 6-2, before it was suspended due to the Broncos clinching the doubles point.
Western Michigan carried their momentum from doubles into singles matches by winning the first two points in sixth and first singles. In the sixth, Amanda Moccia defeated Jacob, 6-0, 6-1. Novaceanu lost in straight sets in first singles to Pahl, 6-4, 6-0.
Down 3-0, the Bulls started their comeback by taking the point in third singles. Popescu bested Noriko Saruta by the scores of 6-3, 6-2.
Next, Toia breezed by in the first set against Ashley Moccia. In the second set, Moccia challenged Toia to a close set, but it wasn't enough. Toia won 7-5 in the set to give Buffalo a second point.
In second singles, sophomore Denise Harijanto fought a three set match and defeated Parekh, 6-3, 0-6, 6-4. Harijanto's victory put the fate of the championship in the hands of junior Smaranda Stan in fourth singles.
As soon as the crowd roared after Harijanto's victory, Stan put a smile on her face and nodded her head.
"At that point I knew we were going to win," Stan said. "I trusted myself and I clinched two matches before and knew I was going to win this one. I just believe in myself."
Stan fell in the first set to Dudzik, 6-3. She bounced back to take the second set by a score of 7-5, after being down, 3-0. In the third set Stan was down at numerous points but continually fought back. In the end, she rose up to the challenge and delivered the first MAC Championship to the school by winning in three sets over.
"I play better when I'm down," Stan said. "I get more confidence and I know I can come back at any point. I believe in myself that I can win at any score."
Stan was named MVP of the tournament for her efforts. Harijanto was also named to the All-Tournament team.
The Bulls entered the tournament as the sixth seed after finishing with a 4-4 MAC record, but felt optimistic heading into the weekend.
"I was hoping everything would come together in this tournament because we were seeded sixth," Twist said. "I don't know if anybody has ever come back as the number six. We knew who we were at the beginning of this tournament. We knew we could beat anybody. We saw everybody's game and we said 'they're nothing.' They are good players but they are not any better than we are."
To reach Sunday's championship, Buffalo upset third-seeded Toledo on Friday and two-seeded Miami University on Saturday.
Buffalo's win over Toledo (13-6, 5-4 MAC) on Saturday was a nail-biter, as the Bulls battled back from a 3-2 deficit to win the match 4-3.
Toledo took the point from doubles competition, as Martina Wodzinski and Maha Guirguis doubled-up on Buffalo's first pairing of Popescu and Harijanto, 8-4. The Rockets second doubles pairing of Ashley Frey and Nadia Zoubareva teamed-up to beat the Bulls' duo of Toia and Stan also by 8-4, clinching the doubles win for their squad.
The Rockets doubled their lead to 2-0 after the first match of singles play. Toledo's Frey beat Harijanto in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4. Popescu led the charge for the Bulls, scoring a 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 victory at the third-singles position. Jacob took the sixth-spot match-up convincingly, 6-3, 6-1, tying the match at two. Zoubareva regained the lead for Toledo, beating Toia in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
With Buffalo's collective back against the wall, Novaceanu began to mount the comeback from the first-singles position, as she took her match, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 from Wodzinski. With a second set lead of 5-2, Wodzinski was one game away from clinching the match for the Rockets, but failed to close the deal as Novaceanu clawed her way back and forced a tie-breaker. Novaceanu controlled the tie-breaker and the decisive third set. The victory brought the match to a 3-3 tie with only one match remaining.
The fourth-singles match-up proved to be the one that decided the day again. Stan won the pivotal match over Toledo's Jenny Belsky, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
With the win, Buffalo moved on to Saturday's semi-final against the Miami RedHawks.
Saturday's match was delayed due to weather, but once the rain subsided and the courts dried, Buffalo came-out fighting. Buffalo's first-doubles' pairing of Harijanto and Popescu did their part, beating Miami partners Anastasia Dracheva and Brintney Larson 8-4. The Bulls' Stan and Toia failed to put the doubles point away, however, dropping their match 8-3.
Jacob and Novaceanu clinched the point for the Bulls, winning the third position doubles match-up over Miami's (14-7, 8-2 MAC) combo of Leda Pesatova and Syndee Bridger, 9-8 (6).
Toia stumbled at fifth-singles, losing her match 6-2, 6-2 and allowed Miami to tie the match at one. Harijanto regained the lead for the Bulls with a 6-3, 6-2 win in the singles second slot. Miami tied the match again, 2-2, when freshman Cara Wald took the sixth-singles match against Buffalo's Jacob. Popescu won the Bulls their third point of the match with her 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory in the third singles position. Buffalo clinched the match when Stan defeated the RedHawks' Meghan Martzolf in three sets, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-4.
"We've been the comeback kids from the beginning of the tournament," Twist said. "We've struggled with mental toughness and leadership throughout the year, but we just kept working. We didn't get down on each other and showed up at practice to just get better and work harder and stick together as a group."
Twist is proud of the resiliency that her team showed from the beginning of the season in the fall all the way to the MAC tournament.
"All year long, we knew we could win," Twist said. "We just had to stick to our game, stick to our mental toughness and our discipline. We've been working on that every day and we knew if we were down, these guys believe in themselves and know they can come back and that's so great for a coach. We wanted to battle and show them that when you come to Buffalo, this is how we fight. I don't think any other team fought better than the University at Buffalo."
The Bulls will find out who their opponent for the NCAA tournament will be when the selection is announced live on ESPNEWS at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
