HAMILTON, Ohio - The Miami University women's tennis team dropped their first conference match of the 2018 season Friday, dropping a tough 6-1 decision to Buffalo. Miami falls to 6-8 overall on the season and slips to 2-1 in the Mid-American Conference.

The day's doubles matches were promising, as the RedHawks battled to win two-of-three doubles contests and claim the first point. On court one, senior tandem Anastasiia Vasiukhina and Nelli Ponomareva took down UB's top pairing of Martinez/Ogungbesan 6-4. Then after a Buffalo win on court two, Emily Struble and Melati Devi pulled through with their own 6-4 victory to give the 'Hawks the early lead.

This advantage would be short-lived however, as the Bulls stormed through singles matches on courts two, four, and six to take a 3-1 lead. The three remaining matches would all be extremely hard-fought and close, but Miami wouldn't be able to get over the hump and get back on the board. Buffalo took a three-set thriller on court one to clinch the win and won at third singles in the same fashion after Struble fought back from an early deficit. Freshman Lena Babunski nearly put another win on the board for the RedHawks in the day's last match but was clipped by the narrowest of margins in a tiebreak.

The day's full results can be found below.

Miami is back in action on Sunday when it hosts the Akron Zips at 1 p.m. The match is currently scheduled to take place on campus at the Miami Tennis Courts but could be moved indoors in case of inclement weather. Stay tuned to MiamiRedHawks.com and follow @MiamiOH_Tennis on Twitter for more.

Doubles:
1. Ponomareva/Vasiukhina (Miami) def. Martinez Blanco/Ogungbesan (Buffalo) 6-4
2. Savchenko/Stojanovska (Buffalo) def. Lyovsa/Kalita (Miami) 6-2
3. Struble/Devi (Miami) def. Abibula/Paules Aldrey (Buffalo) 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles:
1. Chantal Martinez Blanco (Buffalo) def. Nelli Ponomareva (Miami) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. Tanja Stojanovska (Buffalo) def. Milana Lysova (Miami) 6-1, 6-4
3. Lolade Ogungbesan (Buffalo) def. Emily Struble (Miami) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
4. Emel Abibula (Buffalo) def. Priyana Kalita (Miami) 7-5, 6-3
5. Sanjana Sudhir (Buffalo) def. Lena Babunski (Miami) 6-4, 5-7, 7-6
6. Arianna Paules Aldrey (Buffalo) def. Melati Devi (Miami) 7-5, 6-3

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