Toledo, Ohio - The Toledo men's tennis team opens conference play against Binghamton and Buffalo in matches hosted by UB this weekend. The Rockets will face Binghamton on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and Buffalo on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Both matches will be held at Miller Tennis Center in Williamsville, N.Y.
 
The Rockets return from spring break with a two-match winning streak. The trip to South Carolina started off rocky with a 7-0 loss to Coastal Carolina on Saturday, March 2, but Toledo bounced back from the loss, sweeping Ashland 7-0 on Tuesday, March 5. Against the Eagles, UT posted five two-set sweeps in singles action. At the No. 2 singles spot, senior Vince Anzalone fought back after dropping the first set 4-6 to Stuart Brdicka, and won the second and third sets 6-4, 10-8.
 
UT continued its winning ways against The Citadel 6-1 in Charleston, S.C. Four Rockets posted two-set victories in singles play and junior Danilo Vukotic settled in for a three-set battle, defeating Jack Pyritz 6-2, 3-6, 7-6.
 
Prior to their respective matches against Toledo, Binghamton and Buffalo will face each other on Friday at 1:00 p.m.
 
Last Time Against Binghamton
The Rockets faced Binghamton on April 20, 2018, falling to the Bearcats in a close 4-3 match in Toledo. UT clinched the doubles point with wins from Anzalone/Reid Teatsorth and Juan Carranza/Serjen Olmedo on the No. 2 and No. 3 courts. In singles competition Anzalone swept Kushaan Nath in two sets at the No. 1 spot. Carranza earned Toledo's third point at the No. 6 position after a grueling three-set battle with Josh Druger (5-7, 7-6(7), 6-1).
 
Scouting Binghamton
Binghamton is currently 8-7 on the season, posting 7-0 sweeps over St. Bonaventure and Niagara. The Bearcats also edged out Navy 4-3, and defeated Army 5-2 in February.
 
Alejandro Pena currently has an 8-3 singles dual match record, going 7-2 at the No. 6 spot. The Bearcats' second best record on the season is Tiago Lourenco's 7-6 dual match record, going 2-1 at the No. 3 spot and 4-4 at the No. 4 position. Nath holds the third-best dual match record of 6-6, playing primarily at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions.
 
Duo Lourenco/Nath have posted the highest doubles record at this point in the season, going 6-6 in dual matches.
 
Last season the Bearcats went 5-17 (1-6 in the MAC), posting 7-0 sweeps over Niagara and St. Bonaventure, 4-3 edge-outs of George Mason and Toledo, and a 5-2 victory over Colgate. On seven occasions the Bearcats fell 6-1 to their opponents including Clemson, Brown, Temple, and Penn.
 
Last Time Against Buffalo
Toledo faced Buffalo on two separate occasions last season. The Rockets fell 6-1 to the Bulls in Toledo, with Vukotic scoring UT's sole point with a 7-6, 6-4 victory over Matthew Johnson at the No. 4 singles spot. Toledo later lost to the Bulls in Buffalo, 5-2. The second time around Luka Vitosevic earned a point at the No. 2 singles position, defeating Ethan Nittolo 6-3, 6-3, while Reid Teatsorth earned a point at the No. 6 spot with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Johnson.
 
Scouting Buffalo
The Bulls are currently 5-5 on the season, edging out Harvard and Mercer 4-3, UB has also posted a 7-0 sweep of Quinnipiac in February and defeated Xavier 5-2 earlier this month.
 
Hao Sheng Koay boasts the Bulls' best dual match singles record so far at 6-4 at the No. 3 spot. Switching between the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, Villhelm Fridell has racked up at 5-5 record, and an overall record of 13-9. On the doubles court Nittolo/Koay have a 4-2 record between the No. 1 and No. 2 courts.
 
Last season the Bulls went 13-10 (5-2 in the MAC), posting four sweeps on the season over UConn, Army, Cleveland State, and Monmouth. UB hosted the MAC Championship and was picked as the No. 2 seed. The Bulls edged out No. 3 seeded Northern Illinois 4-3 in the semifinals before falling to No. 1 seeded Western Michigan 4-2 in the final.