Tony Miller comeback clinches Buffalo Men's Tennis win over rival Binghamton in MAC Opener

UB got out on the right foot with the doubles point, Pablo Alvarez claimed his 100th and 101st career victories, and Western New York native Tony Miller claimed the decisive victory at #6 singles as Men's Tennis claimed a 4-3 MAC-opening win over Binghamton Friday afternoon at the Miller Tennis Center.

The match grew much tighter later, but on the opening salvo UB scored a decisive victory, easily rolling over the Bearcats at #1 and #3 singles to claim the doubles point. There were no surprises in the lineups here, and the point came quickly as Amar Hromic and Pablo Alvarez won 6-2 and Sergio Arevalillo and Ethan Nittolo took their set 6-1.

Singles was a different story. To start, Akhil Mehta moved up to #4 singles, with Nittolo moving down to #5. The latter, a freshman who started the season at #3 singles, hadn't yet played outside of #3 or #4 this spring. Otherwise, nothing shocking, with Coach NIckell using the same sextet for doubles as for singles.

UB couldn't capitalize on their lead heading into the singles matches, however, and got locked into a back-and-forth battle. The top three singles matches finished first, all in straight sets, with Alvarez and Arevalillo winning, but only after Hromic went down very quickly against Binghamton's #1, Eliott Hureau.

The good news for Buffalo at that point was a 3-1 lead, just one match from a team victory. The bad news was that each of Mehta, Nittolo, and Miller had dropped their first sets in the remaining matches. Nittolo bowed out first, 6-2, 6-2, and Miller couldn't force a third set from 5-6 in the second, losing a very narrow straight set decision 7-6, 7-5.

But Miller rebounded from a 7-6 first set loss himself to take the second and bounce to a 3-0 lead in the deciding third set; the only singles match that went the distance on the day. He'd finish the clincher in style, not suffering a game against in the third set to win the match for UB, the deciding point coming on an ace.

Doubles

1. Hromic/Alvarez (UB) def. Hureau/Cestarollo (BING); 6-2
2. Mehta/Miller (UB) trailed Kote/Caputo (BING); 3-2, abandoned
3. Arevalillo/Nittolo (UB) def. Hazarika/Bouchet (BING); 6-1

Singles

1. Hureau (BING) def. Hromic (UB); 6-0, 6-2
2. Alvarez (UB) def. Hazarika (BING); 6-4, 6-3
3. Arevalillo (UB) def. Caputo (BING); 6-3, 6-1
4. Cestarollo (BING) def. Mehta (UB); 7-6, 7-5
5. Bouchet (BING) def. Nittolo (UB); 6-2. 6-2
6. Miller (UB) def. Kote (BING); 6-7, 6-2, 3-0