???The Ellicott Tennis Courts were a sight for sore eyes at the end of a long weekend for the men's tennis team. After returning home from Kalamazoo, Mich., the sweet blue surface never looked better.
???Buffalo (7-8, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) concluded their two-match weekend road trip with a loss to the Western Michigan Broncos (12-8, 2-0 MAC) on Sunday, 7-0.
Although the Bulls are on a six-match losing streak, the team returns home for their last three matches of the season following seven consecutive road matches.
???Head coach Sherif Zaher stressed the need for his team to increase their psychological strength.
???"We have to be mentally tougher," Zaher said. "We need to be 100 percent mentally into the match until the end. Plus, we need players to step up."
???The only win for the Bulls came in the doubles portion of the match. Buffalo's top doubles team, which consisted of junior Kirill Kolomyts and sophomore Marcelo Mazzetto, won the tiebreaker 7-3 over Michael Calderone and Kazuya Komada for the 8-7 overall win.
???Western Michigan followed by winning the lone doubles point with victories in the No. 2 and No. 3 matches. Buffalo freshman Guilherme Smaniotto and sophomore Mitch Zenaty lost 4-8 in the second match and the freshman tandem of Kalinin and senior Octavian Stane lost the third match-up, 3-8.
???The Bulls did not perform any better in the singles part of the match, dropping all six matches.
???Zaher attributes the team's difficulty on the road to the team's inexperience.
???"It is a combination of things," Zaher said. "While our schedule has gotten harder, the biggest factor is our youth. We have a young team and we lost some close matches on the road. That takes a toll on you."
???The closest chance to a victory was in Kalinin's event for the third singles event. Kalinin won the first set against Komado 6-3, but could not hold on to the lead, losing the second set 5-7 and the third-set super-tiebreaker, 7-10. In the first singles event for the Bulls, Mazzetto could not maintain the momentum from his doubles win and was beaten 3-6, 2-6 by Kevin Hayward.
???At the second singles match, Kolomyts took Calderone to a tiebreaker in the first set but eventually lost 6-7 (2), 2-6. In the fourth match, Stane could not rebound from his doubles loss, losing 1-6, 3-6 to Casey Cullen.
???In his event, Bulls freshman Kristof Custers played into a first set tiebreaker, but eventually was defeated by his opponent Pablo Olivarez, at fifth singles 6-7(4), 0-6. In the sixth singles event, Buffalo senior Alexis Lluis fared no better, losing to Zeyad Montasser 4-6, 1-6.
???Zaher said he is glad to be back home, where the Bulls are 4-0.
???"That was a long stretch of road matches. We had our difficulties, but we have to be positive," Zaher said. "We are undefeated [at home], so that's good for the final matches of the season."
???During those seven matches, the team went 1-6. On the road, the Bulls finished with a 3-7 record. Prior to their six-match skid, Buffalo won seven of their first nine matches.
???The Bulls look to turn things around and keep their undefeated record at home intact when they host the Ball State Cardinals on Saturday at 5 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
