UB’s men’s and women’s tennis teams finished the fall season on a high note.
The men’s team traveled to Kalamazoo, MI for the Mid-American Conference Indoor Tournament hosted by Western Michigan to finish up its fall season.
In doubles play, sophomore Finn Macnamara and freshman Daniils Snaiders bounced back from a first round loss to win the consolation bracket in second doubles. The duo won the match 8-4 against Toledo.
In the third doubles flight, junior Greg Hastings and sophomore Tom Owens finished in third. The pair won its first match, 8-6, before losing in the semifinals, 8-6, and dominating Binghamton, 8-3.
Senior Simon Wibler advanced to the finals of the second singles flight after winning his first match 7-5, 7-6. He recovered from a first set loss in the semifinals with a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 win. After winning the first set, he lost three consecutive sets in the finals.
Freshman Cheng Tang competed at first singles and lost his first two matches. Tang finished with a 7-6, 6-1 victory on Sunday to end the weekend on a positive note. Macnamara also lost his first match before defeating Binghamton graduate student Anshumat Srivastava 6-4, 6-3 in his first consolation bracket match. Macnamara was defeated Sunday morning 6-4, 6-4.
Snaiders won his second match in the fourth singles flight with a 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 victory. Hastings participated in the fifth singles flight as well, securing a 6-4, 6-3 victory on the final day.
The women’s tennis team hosted the UB Fall Invite over the weekend in hidden dual format. Competition was stiff in the form of teams such as Cornell, St. John’s, Syracuse and Niagara.
The Bulls won two of their three doubles matches against Cornell on Friday. Senior Hsin-Yuan Shih and junior Azra Deniz Comlek earned a 6-2 victory at second doubles. Junior Ambre Amat and junior Lolina Schietekat Sedas won 6-4 at third doubles.
Shih defeated her opponent in three sets at second singles. Comlek found an easy victory at third singles, scoring 6-2, 6-4. Senior Nikoleta Antoniou-Karademitrou was victorious at sixth singles, scoring 6-1, 3-6, 10-5.
UB finished with another pair of doubles victories on Saturday after facing St. John’s. Shih and Comlek won 6-0 while Amat and Schietekat Sedas won 6-4. Shih dominated second singles, securing a 6-3, 6-1 victory. Fifth year Gabriella Akopyan won at fourth singles, 6-3, 6-7, 10-3. Amat won at fifth singles, 6-7, 7-5, 13-11.
On the final day of the invite, Schietekat Sedas and Amat defeated Niagara University graduates Megan Gamble and Elena Mayet 7-5. Senior Pia Schwarz beat Syracuse’s Shorti Ito in singles 6-3, 6-2. Comlek beat Niagara in third singles 6-3, 6-2 while Akopyan was not far behind, winning 6-1, 6-1. Amat mustered a 6-3, 6-4 win while Antoniou-Karademitriou still managed a dominant 6-1, 6-0 victory at six, despite losing one match.
This marks the end of the fall season for the Bulls’ tennis program. Both teams will look to build off this momentum when the spring season begins in early February.
The sports desk can be reached at sports@ubspectrum.com
Kayla Sterner is an assistant sports editor at The Spectrum. She is studying communications with the hopes of being a sideline reporter. In her spare time, she can be found in the gym, watching football or vibing to Mac Miller. Kayla is on Twitter @kaylasterner.
