MEN'S TENNIS DOWNS BUFFALO IN FIRST DUAL MATCH OF THE SEASON, 4-3
1/20/2008
GOLD RIVER, Calif. - Behind singles victories from junior Sven-David Rueff, sophomore Anton Stryhas and freshman Kiryl Harbatsiuk, and a sweep of the doubles point, Sacramento State's men's tennis team defeated the visiting Buffalo Bulls, 4-3, on Sunday, Jan. 20 at Rio Del Oro Racquet Club.
The match marked the first of the spring dual season for the men's team, who improve to 1-0, while Buffalo falls to 0-2.
The Hornets started the day strong with a sweep of the doubles point, as the No. 3 doubles tandem of Rueff and freshman Ronan Conlon started things off with an 8-2 victory over Alexis Lluis and Eric Rothstein. The No. 2 duo of freshman Artur Klimenka and sophomore Holden Ching then wrapped up the point with an 8-3 win over Nikesh Singh Panthlia and Octavian Stain. Even with the doubles point secured, the No. 1 tandem of Stryhas and Harbatsiuk fought hard to pull out a 9-8 victory over Kirill Kolomytes and Marcelo Mazzetto, as the duo one the tiebreak 10-8.
The singles action saw the Hornets victorious in the odd numeral positions, with Harbatsiuk, Stryhas and Rueff winning at the No. 1, 3, and 5 positions respectively. Harbatsiuk made short work of Singh Panthlia, 6-2, 6-2, while Stryhas downed Mazzetto by the same mark. Rueff was victorious by a large margin as well, defeating Lluis 6-2, 6-3.
The match served as a homecoming for Buffalo coach Sherif Zaher, who competed for the Hornets during the 2000-01 and 01-02 seasons, earning Big Sky MVP both seasons, before becoming the head coach at Sacramento State for three seasons (2002-03 through 2004-05).
GOLD RIVER, Calif. 
