The men's tennis team played for a Mid-American Conference regular season championship on Saturday.
The Bulls (9-9, 3-2 MAC) were seeking back-to-back regular season conference titles as undefeated Ball State (16-7, 5-0 MAC) stood in their way, seeking a conference title of its own.
Buffalo suffered an early loss in the doubles point and wasn't able to make it up in singles play, as it lost to the Cardinals 4-3.
"The trouble came in the doubles, to win in the MAC you have to win the doubles point," said senior Vusa Hove.
The doubles point was vital as they went on to split the singles matches 3-3. Hove was one of three Bulls to win their singles matches, with other wins coming from sophomore Damien David and freshman Pablo Alvarez.
The loss to Ball State was the Bulls' second consecutive game losing the doubles point - they lost both matches 4-3. Hove and head coach Lee Nickell said that after the game, changes will be made in the doubles pairing.
"The doubles point is vital," Nickell said. "This is two matches in a row that we would have won if we had come in better doubles... so we're going to switch some things up."
In Sunday's match against Northern Illinois (15-8, 3-2 MAC), Nickell did switch up his doubles lineup, but it didn't pay off.
The Bulls fell to the Huskies 4-3 and were unable to clinch the doubles point yet again.
Despites the losses, Nickell believes his team improved in doubles play.
"We actually played even better doubles today than we had in the past few games," Nickell said. "We switched our lineup up a little bit and had some different looks. We just aren't winning the big points like we should."
The win would have clinched the No. 2 seed for the Bulls in the MAC Tournament but now they are in a three-way tie for the second seed. The loss extends Buffalo's losing streak to three games (all scores of 4-3) to cap off the season.
For senior Vusa Hove, it was his last home match of his Buffalo career.
"Being the last game, it's very difficult to control your emotions," Hove said.
Hove overcame a case of bad nerves to win in three sets, 7-5, 4-6, 6-0. After falling ill, Hove returned to finish the final set and earn his team leading 18th singles victory of the season.
"Vusa [Hove] has meant so much to this program," Nickell said. "His work ethic, desire and fight are second to none. He will go down as the greatest Division I player in UB men's tennis history and he deserves it from all the effort he's put in."
Also winning in singles matches for the Bulls were sophomore Sebastian Ionescu and freshman Pablo Alvarez at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Ionescu won 6-4, 6-2 and Alvarez won 6-3, 6-2.
The Bulls now have their eyes set on the MAC Tournament, and Nickell believes his team can benefit from playing as an underdog.
"We've always embraced the underdog status and that's what we are now." Nickell said. "We got to play with nothing to lose. We're choking a little bit and maybe going in knowing we're the underdog in the tournament will loosen us up a little bit."
Last season, the Bulls placed second in the MAC Tournament. Buffalo will have to wait to find out what its seed will be for this year's competition, which is scheduled for this Friday and Saturday and will be hosted by Northern Illinois.
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Photo: Courtesy of UB Athletics
