Stankovic saves the day, SBU 4 UB 3
3/19/2005

St. Bonaventure defeated upstate New York rival University at Buffalo 4-3 on senior day at the SBU Fitness Centre in front of a standing-room only crowd.  The Bonnies record improves to 10-8 with the victory. The Bonnies were led by sophomore Dejan Stankovic (pictured) who ensured the senior class of Mario Arce, Nikhil Murali, Sajeel Qureshi and Matt Cronmiller were sent out in style.

The Bonnies expected a tough match from Buffalo and the Bulls most certainly didn't disappoint.  At #1 doubles Arce and Murali were defeated in a rare 8-2 loss.  Shortly after the duo was defeated, the Bonnies sophomore #2 team of Alejandro Nery and Andrew Hart scored an 8-2 victory.  With the doubles inning knotted 1-1, the #3 team of Stankovic and freshman Antonio Farias were down a break 5-6.  Behind smart play and solid returns, the duo was able to secure and consummate the break for a 7-6 lead.  The Bulls duo was able to hold and eventually knotted the score to 8-8 and the doubles inning would come down to a tiebreaker.  Stankovic and Farias raced to an early 4-2 lead but then missed two floating volleys and the Bulls tied it.  The young Bonnie duo toughened up however and gutted out a 7-5 victory in the tiebreak and the 1-0 lead in the team match heading into singles.

Singles proved to have even more drama for these two teams.  At #2 singles, Nery dropped a straight set decision to nemesis Mike Rockman, knotting the team score at 1-1.  Shortly after, Murali, fighting a shoulder injury, dropped a straight-set decision and the Bulls had their first lead of the match at 2-1.  Hart survived a 3-5 first-set deficit to secure a 7-5, 6-1 victory at #4 to even the score at 2-2.   Arce said goodbye to the tennis centre in style, scoring a straight-set victory over fellow senior Nick Ziezula to give the Bonnies a 3-2 lead with Qureshi and Stankovic remaining on court. Qureshi battled hard in his final home match, but dropped a straight-set decision at #6 and only Stankovic remained on court.  When the score was tied 3-3, Stankovic dropped the first 6-2 and was on serve in the second set.  At 4-4 in the second set, Stankovic secured the first break of the set behind solid returning and was able to serve out the set and knot his match at 1 set all.  Stankovic then broke his opponent's serve in the first game of the third set and then kept rolling.  In perhaps one of the finest sets ever played at the SBU Fitness Centre, Stankovic picked his opponent apart point by point with a perfect blend of slice and sheer power.  Stankovic made only 1 unforced error and didn't miss a single return en route to a 6-0 third set victory and another 4-3 victory over UB.

The senior class was honored by Head Coach Michael Bates before and after the match.  Each senior thanked their coach and fans and gave advice to their younger teammates and friends who have many big matches, like yesterday's match, ahead of them.  Nery, Hart and Stankovic either won or were apart of 4 of the Bonnies 5 wins on Saturday - the keys to the fitness centre were most definitely handed over.   

 LOOKING AHEAD

The Bonnies will now travel to Washington D.C. for two away matches against American and perennial A-10 rival George Washington on 4/1.  This will be the Bonnies first meeting against American.  In contrast, the Bonnies and GW are no strangers to each other and have split the last two meetings.