The men's tennis team has faced its fair share of struggles this season, but after ending a three-match road trip over spring break with back-to-back wins, a successful season is still in sight.
Entering spring break the Bulls (3-7) had a less than stellar record of 1-6, including a four game losing streak. Things would not turn around instantly as the Bulls would blow their first game of the road trip to a very impressive South Carolina State squad. However, they did win their next two against Citadel (4-10) and Duquesne (12-5).
"We're starting to find a groove," said head coach Lee Nickel. "It gave us the momentum that we need to start getting some confidence up. We're gaining confidence, winning a few doubles points, those are the things that prevented us from beating these teams in the beginning of the year. So hopefully doing that the past few matches will really help get the ball rolling."
At the start of the Citadel, things did not look promising, as standout freshman Damien David (17-6) would lose the first singles match of the day. David was the only player to earn a victory for the Bulls in their previous match against South Carolina State and has been one of the Bulls' lone bright spots throughout the young season.
However, the team was able to rally past David's defeat, winning its next five singles matches, and earning a 6-1 victory.
The Bulls rode their potential hot streak into Pittsburgh on March 17 to face a well-balanced Duquesne (12-5) squad.
After sweeping the three doubles matches, they took a 1-0 lead into singles. David would go on to win a thrilling 10-8 super-tiebreaker, and from then on the Bulls would never look back.
They swept the remaining singles matches, shutting out the Dukes 7-0. The win was arguably the most dominant performance the Bulls had all year, and it came against a quality opponent.
"We played really well against Duquesne who beat Cleveland State, a team we lost to," Nickel said. "I feel like we're starting to find the right groove and are going in the right direction."
The two-game win streak is just what the Bulls needed to gain some momentum heading into conference play. Although its record doesn't show it, Nickel feels his team is more than prepared for the upcoming conference tilts.
"Our goal is always to win the conference, that's what we're out to do." Nickel said. "The conference is wide open this year; no one has really separated themselves. Even though our record doesn't look that great I'd say we've competed in a high percentage of our matches against teams that are at a higher level of the teams that we'll face in the Mid-American Conference."
The Bulls still have two non-conference matches before their MAC schedule begins. They host St. Bonaventure on Wednesday in their first outdoor home match and then travel to Marist this weekend. The match on Wednesday is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. at the Ellicott Tennis Courts.
Spring Break Scores:
Buffalo-1, South Carolina State-6
Buffalo-6, Citadel-1
Buffalo-7, Duquesne-0
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Photo: Paul Hokanson/UB Athletics
