In its first match of the 2020-21 season, the Binghamton men’s tennis team returned to action against Buffalo on Saturday afternoon. The Bearcats picked up two points during the match but fell 5-2 to the Bulls (3-1, 1-0 Mid-American Conference).

BU’s first point was captured in the doubles matches. Binghamton (0-1, 0-1 MAC) opened the meet with a 6-0 loss but responded with two victories to secure the point. Sophomore Michael Pawlowicz and freshman Shourya Verma leveled the scoring with a 6-1 win, while sophomore Dan Pergel and freshman Joshua Kim rounded out the doubles matches 6-3 to take the point.

In singles, the Bearcats struggled, as they lost all but one of their matches, giving Buffalo all of its five points during the meet. The Bearcats’ only point in singles was provided by Verma, who won his match in two sets, 7-5 and 6-4.

“I was really happy with the start in doubles today, the guys had great energy and great commitment to movement over the middle and it paid off,” said Binghamton head coach Nick Zieziula, per bubearcats.com. “In singles, our inexperience showed through too much. I thought we maintained a positive mindset and great energy but we gave away too many free points and let them roll with momentum too long.”

Despite the loss, Binghamton managed to score two points with a relatively young roster. This season, the Bearcats added five new freshmen and returned four sophomores. There are no juniors or seniors on this year’s team.

The Bearcats finished their 2019-20 season 5-9, picking up the majority of their wins over the course of a one-month period. The team did not play a single conference match due to COVID-19 cancellations but will face all conference opponents this year, including another match against Buffalo in mid-April.

Next up for the Bearcats is a road matchup against Western Michigan on Saturday, March 20. The match is set to begin at noon at the Sorenson Courts in Kalamazoo, Michigan.