Bulls fall in championship

In its first-ever Mid-American Conference championship, the women's tennis team was shutout by perennial powerhouse Western Michigan, 4-0.

The Bulls finished with their best regular season since entering the MAC in the 1999-2000 season, and head coach Kathy Twist is positive about the team's chances for next year.

"They were excellent today, every court was battling," Twist said. "I just think a little more experience and our team will be No. 1."

In the first match-ups of the day, the Bulls doubles team of junior Miglena Nenova and senior Kristen Ortman fell by a disappointing score of 8-1, while sophomores Tina Jacob and Andreea Novaceanu were defeated at first doubles by WMU's Carrie Jeanmaire and Malena Remynse. Jacob and Novaceanu's loss gave Western Michigan the point for the doubles matches.

The final doubles match was not finished due to the first two Western Michigan victories. In the third doubles spot, Bulls' sophomore Natalie Dean and junior Katrin Fischer were trailing 6-3 to Rattiya Hiranrat and Norika Saruta from WMU when the match was called.

The Bulls (16-5) came into the match the definite underdog to a strong Western Michigan team who has now won six MAC championships.

"We came in feeling like we had nothing to lose," Ortman said. "We were the underdogs and we knew it. We just left everything we had on the court."

In singles play the Bulls came out strong but could not hold off the Broncos' assault. Ortman fell to Hiranrat in a tough fought match, losing 6-1, 6-1 in the fourth singles spot.

This was Ortman's last match in a Bulls uniform. However, this will not be her last year with the Buffalo tennis program, as she has decided to stay and become an assistant coach next year.

"Kristen has left quite a legacy at Buffalo," Twist said. "She has done all she wanted to do as a player at the University at Buffalo, and now she's ready to move on."

Western Michigan clinched the victory in the fifth and sixth singles spots with Buffalo's Fischer falling to Priyanka Parekh, 6-3, 6-4 in the fifth spot, and Stan in the sixth singles position falling 6-4, 6-2 to the Bronco's Pahl.

The first, second, and third spots were not finished because the victory had already been clinched by the Broncos. Buffalo's Novaceanu was the lone Bull in the lead when the match was completed. Novaceanu took the first set in a tiebreaker, winning 7-6 (3), and leading in the second set, 3-2.

Hiranrat of Western Michigan also received the tournament MVP award for her victory over Ortman. Joining Hiranrat with All-Tournament pick honors were Priyanka Parekh and Pahl. For the Bulls, Novaceanu and Nenova were acknowledged as All-Tournament picks, while Miami's (Ohio) Remy Swain, and Eastern Michigan's Vanessa Fankowski were the final two picks.

The most notable award for the Bulls went to Twist, who received MAC Coach of the Year honors just prior to the tournament. Despite her own achievement, Twist drew attention to the team effort and made it clear that the quest to win it all was not over.

"I can't really pick out individuals," Twist said. "Some of us got individual awards. The whole team was really solid throughout the entire season. They made a commitment to be the best in the MAC, and we came really close. When we were taking the pictures everyone said, 'next year.' "

With the season now finished, Twist and the Bulls' coaching staff feel as if they know what they need to do for next year.

"With the young ladies I have, we just need to sharpen our skills a little bit," Twist said. "I couldn't expect anything else from them next year. They stayed in shape, took care of their schoolwork and just performed well every match. The only thing we need to do is sharpen our skills and work on a little more strategy to become No. 1 in the MAC."