Contact: John Hartrick (hartrick@binghamton.edu)

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. - Binghamton men's tennis grinded out a 5-2 win over longtime SUNY rival and current Mid-American Conference foe Buffalo in an emotional four+ hour match Wednesday afternoon at the Binghamton Tennis Center.

The Bearcats captured the doubles point with tiebreak wins at No. 1 and No. 3 and then won the first three completed singles matches to seal the team victory. Senior captain Robin Lesage clinched the win with a three-set triumph at second singles.   

The win, BU's first in the MAC in their inaugural season, opened the door for the Bearcats to make a run at qualifying for the MAC Championship in late April. The top four teams advance. Binghamton, which had dropped its first two MAC contests by narrow 4-3 scores, currently sits in fourth place with two conference duals remaining. 

"What a great college tennis match today from both schools," head coach Nick Zieziula said. "I'm so proud of our team. We have faced a lot of adversity this year and when you lose that many matches in a row it's easy for people to check out. But this group has continued to work hard, pull together and trust themselves." 

Holding a 1-0 lead after doubles, Binghamton swept the top four singles spots, with senior No. 3 Ismael Dinia winning a 6-3, 6-4 match to pave the way. Junior No. 4 Eliott Hureau gave BU a 3-0 lead with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win. After Lesage clinched it, junior No. 1 Sid Hazarika won in a tight 7-6 tiebreak in the third set to seize his match. 

After the match was decided, Buffalo won the final two singles matches to get on the board. 

"The doubles point was critical today," Zieziula said. "There were three tiebreakers and we won two of them and led in the third. We stayed with the game plan and kept being aggressive with our feet. Our seniors have been stepping up big when we need them the most, Ismael (Dinia) played another great doubles match today and then for the second straight match gave us a 2-0 lead by finishing his opponent in singles with efficiency. Robin (Lesage) rebounded after a tough loss in the first set to just dominate the second set.

"Our work has only just begun for the week- we need to be ready for a tough Toledo squad on Saturday."  

Binghamton hosts Toledo at 2 p.m. on Saturday. 

Binghamton 5, Buffalo 2
DOUBLES
1. Lesage/Hureau (BU) def. Arevalillo/Hannestad (Buffalo), 7-6 (3)
2. Dinia/Shah (BU) led Alvarez/Hromic (Buffalo), 6-5 in tiebreak
3. Hazarika/Kote (BU) def. David/Mehta (Buffalo), 7-6 (4)

Order of Finish: 3,1

SINGLES
1. Sid Hazarika (BU) def. Pablo Alvarez (Buffalo), 7-5, 6-7 (1), 7-6 (5)
2. Robin Lesage (BU) def. Damien David (Buffalo), 5-7, 6-1, 6-4
3. Ismael Dinia (BU) def. Sebastian Ionescu (Buffalo), 6-3, 6-4
4. Eliott Hureau (BU) def. Amar Hromic (Buffalo), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
5. Jonathan Hannestad (Buffalo) def. Thomas Caputo (BU), 7-6 (4), 6-3
6. Sergio Arevalillo (Buffalo) def. Frenk Kote (BU), 7-5, 6-2

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