Buffalo Bulls Tennis gets Men's-Women's sweep of Youngstown State

Friday afternoon brought a rare pair of home matches for UB's Tennis teams, and the Bulls, each off to strong starts this spring, did not disappoint, the men grabbing their second straight 5-2 decision and the women getting back on the winning side with a 6-1 victory themselves.

Women

It's a rare match this season that UB drops the doubles point, but they did today, as #2 and #3 both finished relatively quickly, leaving Tanja Stojanovska and Chantal Martinez Blanco to claim the point. They'd ultimately fall in a tiebreaker, giving the Penguins the point. It's worth pointing out that Coach Maines shuffled the pairings a bit today, as Margarita Kotok and Dayana Agasieva split instead of holding down the fort at #1.

Singles matches went substantially better for the Bulls, who swept all six, three in straight sets. We don't know the order of finish, but I do think Stojanovska clinched the win with a forceful three-set comeback: after dropping her first set in a tiebreaker, she took each of the final two sets 6-2. Mercedes Losada Rubio and Christine Haraldson both came from behind as well to secure the singles sweep. It's again notable that neither Agasieva nor Kotok competed in singles today.

The women will host Binghamton tomorrow.

Doubles:

1. Annina Brendel/Ana Stroe (YSU) def. Tanja Stojanovska/Chantal Martinez Blanco (UB); 7-6
2. Dayana Agasieva/Laura Holterbosch (UB) def. Sofia Macias/ Noëlly Longi Nsimba (YSU); 6-3
3. Dominika Lackova/Julianna Heino (YSU) def. Margarita Kotok/Christine Haraldson (UB); 6-2

Singles:

1. Tanja Stojanovska (UB) def. Dominika Lackova (YSU); 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-2
2. Chantal Martinez Blanco (UB) def. Annina Brendel (YSU); 6-2, 6-2
3. Mercedes Losada Rubio (UB) def. Sofia Macias (YSU); 4-6, 6-1, 6-3
4. Laura Holterbosch (UB) def. Noëlly Longi Nsimba (YSU); 6-0, 6-2
5. Sanjana Sudhir (UB) def. Ana Stroe (YSU); 6-0, 6-3
6. Christine Haraldson (UB) def. Julianna Heino (YSU); 4-6, 6-2, 10-8

Men

The men are on a winning streak with a second consecutive 5-2 victory, doing it the way we'd expect from the senior-heavy squad, with a cruising doubles performance and wins from the top half of the singles lineup.

UB didn't actually clinch the victory until the penultimate match, where Pablo Alvarez took his match at #2 singles 6-2, 6-2, but got wins from #1, 2, and 3, in addition to Artur Culicovschi at #6, who rebounded from a second-set loss with a dominant 6-0 sweep of the third.

Ethan Nittolo couldn't complete a comeback and Noah Hajdu-Andersson, back in the lineup, also dropped his match from Youngstown's two points.

The Men also face Binghamton next, but for them it's a conference match and the first meeting of the two teams since UB memorably came from behind on the Bearcats to claim the 2015 MAC Championship.

Doubles:

1. Amar Hromic/Pablo Alvarez (UB) def. Morth/Dahan (YS); 6-2
2. Tony Miller/Akhil Mehta (UB) def. Kritzinger/Purser (YS); 6-3
3. Sergio Arevalillo/Ethan Nittolo (UB) def. Mekawi/Tolesani (YS); 6-1

Singles:

1. Amar Hromic (UB) def. Morth (YS); 6-4, 7-6
2. Pablo Alvarez (UB) def. Dahan (YS); 6-2, 6-2
3. Sergio Arevalillo (UB) def. Purser (YS); 7-5, 6-3
4. Dahan (YS) def. Nittolo (UB); 7-6, 3-6, 6-4
5. Mekawi (YS) def. Noah Hajdu-Andersson (UB); 6-4, 6-4
6. Artur Culicovschi (UB) def. Tolesani (YS); 6-4, 4-6, 6-0

Order of finish: 5, 3, 6, 4,2, 1