After a three game failure, the men's tennis team finally regained their footing after they demolished the Purple Eagles at Niagara University.
Buffalo's 7-0 victory improved their overall record to 9-7, (0-3 Mid-American Conference), while Niagara fell to 9-5 overall.
In the first game of the match, junior Yules Hadisubroto and freshman Fred Duncan fell to the Purple Eagles' Justin McConkey and Dawson Peare, 8-6. This was the first time the two have worked together this season.
After the loss in first doubles the Bulls turned things around to win the rest of their matches. In second doubles, sophomore Nikesh Singh Panthlia and senior Matt Kennedy won a close match against Niagara's Walter Garcia and Alex Abji 9-7. This was also the first time that the two had been paired together.
The third doubles team, Mike Rockman and Albert Alant, sealed the game for the Bulls, defeating the Purple Eagles' Marc Dickinson and Steve Kopf by a score of 8-1.
Similar in doubles play, the Bulls dominated Niagara when the singles matches began. The closest match of the day came when Rockman battled with Garcia. The first set was won by Rockman 6-4, but in the second set Garcia rocked Rockman 6-2.
The match was then forced into a super tiebreaker and Rockman was declared the winner, taking the last set 10-3. The win improved his overall record to 16-11 for this season.
In the second singles match, Panthlia faced Abji. After a relatively close first set Panthlia dominated the second half of the challenge, giving him the 6-4, 6-1 victory.
In number three singles Hadisubroto faced off with Dickinson of the Purple Eagles. Dickinson nearly faced a shutout in the first set and battled back in the second, narrowly missing a super-tie breaker by one game. Hadibustro finally won with a score of 6-1, 7-6 (5). The win marks Hadisubroto's tenth victory of the season. Hadisubroto has shown improvement in singles play this year, though in the past he has been known as a leading doubles player.
Freshman Octavian Stane defeated Niagara's McConkey in the fourth singles match with scores of 6-3, 7-5. Stane has one of the best overall singles records for the Bulls, with 10-6 for the season.
The Bulls also dominated singles games in both the fifth and sixth spots. In the fifth singles game, senior Matthew Kennedy only surrendered two games to opponent Dawson Peare, winning 6-1, 6-1. Kennedy's record now stands at 14-11, but he has had a rough time finding his groove in the past few weeks. Prior to the victory over Peare he hadn't won a match since March 16.
Alant faced Niagara's Rueter in the sixth singles spot. Alant barreled over him 6-4, 6-0 victory. Alant was last year's most improved player and is known as an outstanding number six player.
With the shutout win on Tuesday, Buffalo remains third in the Mid-American Conference, trailing Ball State and Western Michigan.
The Bulls complete the MAC portion of the schedule this weekend with matches at Northern Illinois on Friday and IPFW on Sunday, both at 1 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
