BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Western Michigan men's tennis team notched a solid round of singles play, but fell 4-3 to the Binghamton Bearcats in a match played in Buffalo on Saturday. With the loss, the Broncos fall to 11-11 on the season.
The Broncos took a 3-2 lead late in the match on the backs of strong singles play, bouncing back from a 2-0 deficit to take control of the match. Trailing 2-0 after losing the doubles point and the first singles match, WMU's Zeyad Montasser recorded his third straight singles win with a 6-1, 6-4 win in the No. 3 singles match over Bastian Bornkessel. Ross VanderPloeg won his ninth straight singles match to tie the match, beating Robin Lesage 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 4 match.
The Broncos took the lead with another singles victory, when Pablo Olivarez downed Ruben Devos in a 6-3, 7-5 affair in the No. 2 singles match. The win evened Olivarez's singles record at 17-17, putting him in contention for his first 20-win singles season. Despite this rally, the Bearcats took the final two singles matches on the courts to just barely overcome the Broncos.
WMU's top doubles pairing of VanderPloeg and Nadin Indre continued their recent strong play with their second straight victory, beating the Bearcats' duo of Bornkessel and Devos 8-5. That win tied the score of the doubles session, before the Bearcats won the No. 3 match to take the doubles point.
Binghamton 4, Western Michigan 3
Singles competition
1. Alexandre Haggai (BING) def. Nadin Indre (WMU) 6-2, 7-5
2. Pablo Olivarez (WMU) def. Ruben Devos (BING) 6-3, 7-5
3. Zeyad Montasser (WMU) def. Bastian Bornkessel (BING) 6-1, 6-4
4. Ross VanderPloeg (WMU) def. Robin Lesage (BING) 6-0, 6-0
5. Ismael Dinia (BING) def. Aaron Wong (WMU) 6-0, 6-1
6. Ruben Haggai (BING) def. Marc Shideler (WMU) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
Doubles competition
1. Nadin Indre/Ross VanderPloeg (WMU) def. Bastian Bornkessel/Ruben Devos (BING) 8-5
2. Alexandre Haggai/Ismael Dinia (BING) def. Pablo Olivarez/Aaron Wong (WMU) 8-4
3. Ruben Haggai/Robin Lesage (BING) def. Marc Shideler/Zeyad Montasser (WMU) 8-5
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (5,3,4,2,1,6)
