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Men's Tennis Senior Salutes: Damien David and Sebastian Ionescu honored Sunday

UB Athletics

Today's Men's Tennis match against Northern Illinois couldn't be much more important for Buffalo: A win guarantees UB a place in the four-team MAC Tournament and a share of the regular season conference title (along with three other teams at 3-2). A loss will send the Bulls into a tiebreaker with the loser of Ball State - Binghamton for the final spot in the tournament. UB defeated Ball State and lost to Binghamton earlier this season.

I'm only getting this up minutes before the match starts, so if you're not already at Ellicott and can't get there quickly, be prepared for updates to work their way from Twitter.

Before all that happens, though, it's Senior Day for the Bulls.

Damien David -- Montreal, Quebec

MTEN David HEadshot


Senior Stats:
Damien has had a tough MAC season, going 0-4 at second singles and 2-2 in doubles with Akhil Mehta. But in tournament play this past fall, David was as good as it gets, putting together a 16-3 singles record.

UB Career: For one, he's the reigning MAC Player of the Year. He's also been twice named First Team All-MAC and once Second Team. He's been so good for so long that he's climbed to #3 all-time at UB in career singles and career combined victories.

Senior Moment: You know how the Sabres will sometimes decide their Carubba Collision in the first period? I'm going to avoid that here. UB needs a win today to guarantee a spot in the MAC Tournament, and then they need two wins to claim the conference crown. If they're going to do it, it's going to be with Damien (and Pablo Alvarez) winning some points, so let's leave this unsaid for now.

Sebastian Ionescu -- Braila, Romania

MTEN Ionescu Headshot

Senior Stats: Sebastian has gone 2-2 in MAC play this year at #3 singles, and those wins have been critical as UB hasn't yet gotten a point in MAC play from the #1 or #2 spot. Overall in 2014-15, Ionescu is 14-13 in singles play and 7-8 in infrequent doubles action.

UB Career: After transferring from Arizona as a freshman, Sebastian posted a winning singles record at UB as a sophomore before improving to the All-MAC Second Team last season.

Senior Moment: Ionescu joined with the rest of UB's team in a stellar showing at the MAC Indoor Invitational at Western Michigan in the fall. Sebastian advanced to the finals of the Flight B singles bracket, and won Flight B of the doubles bracket along with Akhil Mehta.

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Thank you, Damien and Sebastian, for your time in Buffalo! The last few years have been great for Men's Tennis fans, and hopefully the best yet is only a few matches away.