Bearcats beat Buffalo and Rochester at St. Bonaventure Duals

OLEAN, N.Y. - Binghamton posted a pair of wins in day 1 of the St. Bonaventure Duals on Saturday, defeating both Buffalo (5-2) and Rochester (7-0). The Bearcats (5-3) won eight of the 10 singles matches on the day, and captured both doubles matches, which were worth two points apiece in the seven-point team scoring format.

"Despite missing a few bodies, we rallied today and looked solid," head coach Michael Starke said.

In the team's opening match against a Buffalo team BU edged 4-3 in the fall, the Bearcats received straight-set victories from top singles players Akshay Rao (New Delhi, India) and Brad Davidoff (Roslyn, N.Y.). Rao scored a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Fery Kasisman, and Davidoff posted a 7-6, 6-2 triumph. At the third spot, freshman Brian O'Connor (New Rochelle, N.Y./Iona Prep) took over for the injured Brad Sherwood and battled for a 6-3, 3-6, 10-5 victory.

In doubles, junior Steve Spencer (Plantation, Fla./Nova) teamed with sophomore Krishna Vallabhaneni (Lagrangeville, N.Y./Arlington) for a 6-3, 6-4 win.

The Bearcats then rolled in their match against Division III Rochester, winning in straight sets at all but one singles position. Rao, a sophomore, raised his record to 16-2 with a 6-1, 6-2 victory, and senior captain Davidoff scored a 6-3, 6-1 win to improve to 8-4 overall. Vallabhaneni paired with junior Rodrigo Valle (Queens, N.Y./Montessori Bilingcall, Bolivia) for a 6-4, 6-2 doubles win.

Binghamton will face Niagara on Sunday.

Binghamton 5, Buffalo 2

DOUBLES
Steve Spencer/Krishna Vallabhaneni (BU) def. Popcilarczyk/Raikar (Buff) 6-3, 6-4

SINGLES
Akshay Rao (BU) def. Fery Kaisman (Buff) 6-1, 6-4
Brad Davidoff (BU) def. Josh Leiderman (Buff) 7-6, 6-2
Brian O'Connor (BU) def. Nick Ziezula (Buff) 6-3, 3-6, 10-5
Rannga Prabudha (Buff) def. Rodrigo Valle (BU) 6-3, 6-4
Randy Rocchio (Buff) def. Jordan Steinberg (BU) 6-0, 6-0

Binghamton 7, Rochester 0

DOUBLES
Krishna Vallabhaneni/Rodrigo Valle (BU) def. Willford/Almog (R) 6-4, 6-2

SINGLES
Akshay Rao (BU) def. Anash Reddy (R) 6-4, 6-2
Brad Davidoff (BU) def. Colin Ryan (R) 6-3, 6-1
Brian O'Connor (BU) def. Brian Shenker (R) 6-3, 6-4
Steve Spencer (BU) def. Dan Schoenherr (R) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0
Ryan Rosenthal (BU) def. Josh Bruce-Black (R) 6-3, 6-4