Bulls Knock Off IUPUI, 6-1, Claim Top Seed For MAC Championships

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MUNCIE, IN – The University at Buffalo men's tennis team defeated IUPUI, 6-1, on Sunday afternoon and secured the number one seed for the upcoming Mid-American Conference Tournament.

The Bulls (10-9, 4-1 MAC) swept the doubles matches with three new combinations. Wojciech Starakiewicz and Vusa Hove combined at number one to down Patrick O'Neill and Luke Bielawski, 8-5. At number two, Travis Zappia and Damien David defeated Taylor Tunis and Bren Vasalakis, 8-2. In the number three contest, Ivan Vereshchaga and Alex Kalinin defeated Deon Shafer and Ivan Moiseiev, 8-5.

UB won the top five singles matches with four victories in straight sets. David rolled to a 6-1, 6-1 decision of Moiseiev in the number one match with Hove defeating Chase Emerson, 6-3, 6-2 at number two. At number three, Starakiewicz downed Bielawski, 6-0, 6-4 and at number four Vereshchaga defeated Joel Modesitt, 6-1, 6-3. Kalinin, at number five, needed a super-tiebreaker to defeat Shafer, 6-3, 3-6, 1-0. Kalinin won the 10-point tiebreaker, 14-12. The lone loss for the Bulls was at number six as Yevgeniy Jason Shkodnik fell in straight sets to Louis Sacks, 6-3, 6-3.

The Bulls earned the number one seed for the upcoming MAC Tournament with their 4-1 league record. UB and Northern Illinois each finished with 4-1 marks but the Bulls gained the tiebreaker over the Huskies based on last week's head to head victory at NIU on April 14. This is the second in three seasons, that the Bulls have earned the top seed for the league tournament.

UB, with their number one seed, will meet the survivor between the number four and five seeds. The match will be on Friday, April 27 in Toledo, OH.

Buffalo 6, IUPUI 1

Doubles

1 Wojciech Starakiewicz/Vusa Hove (UB) d. Patrick O'Neill/Luke Bielawski (IUPUI), 8-5
2 Travis Zappia/Damien David (UB) d. Taylor Tunis/Bren Vasalakis (IUPUI), 8-2
3 Ivan Vereshchaga/Alex Kalinin (UB) d. Deon Shafer/Ivan Moiseiev (IUPUI), 8-5

Singles

1 Damien David (UB) d. Ivan Moiseiev (IUPUI), 6-1, 6-1
2 Vusa Hove (UB) d. Chase Emerson (IUPUI), 6-3, 6-2
3 Wojciech Starakiewicz (UB) d. Luke Bielawski (IUPUI), 6-0, 6-4
4 Ivan Vereshchaga (UB) d. Joel Modesitt (IUPUI), 6-1 6-3
5 Alex Kalinin (UB) d. Deon Shafer (UB), 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (14-12)
6 Louis Sacks (IUPUI) d. Yevgeniy Jason Shkodnik (UB), 6-3, 6-3