April 27, 1998
Las Vegas - After winning the school's first and second tennis NCAA championships on the same day last May, what can the UNLV men's tennis team possibly do for an encore in 1998?
The good new is that when Luke Smith won the national singles title and then teamed with Tim Blenkiron to win the doubles title, UNLV tennis earned a spot in the NCAA record books.
The bad news is that both champions are gone now. Smith is forging a strong professional career while Blenkiron helps out as a coach while finishing up his degree.
Instead of intending to steer a repeat, Head Coach Larry Easley suddenly finds himself facing the task of rebuilding his program. It is a project that comes after a four-year cycle that saw the Rebels win three league titles, field seven All-Americans and culminated in the two national championships.
"We had an incredible finish to last season but we're basically starting over this year," Easley says. "We have a lot of freshmen. It's almost a completely new team."
Not a team without talent to be sure.
A key returnee and a big, impressive recruiting class will do their best to make sure UNLV isn't going anywhere after finally breaking into the national level of college tennis this past half-decade.
The man given the proverbial keys to car this spring will be junior Asaf Tishler (25-9 singles record in 1997). His progression from No. 4 player as a freshman to No. 2 player last year continues to the top this season.
"Asaf is a great player to have back," Easley says. "Of anyone who could handle the pressure of following a national champion No. 1 player - it's Asaf. It's a big step from the second spot to the top and he's got big shoes to fill but he is so solid. He doesn't have the big game that Luke and Roger Pettersson (1994-96) had but he finds a way to be successful because he's so strong mentally."
The 1997 Second-Team All-WAC honoree heads into dual play with a career-high ranking of No. 55 after posting a 9-3 fall record.
Taking over Tishler's No. 2 role will be one of the four talented freshmen, Nenad Zivkovic, the No. 1-ranked player out of Yugoslavia. The lanky, no-nonsense netter debuted with a 5-2 singles record this fall and has the stuff that could one day see him atop the lineup.
"Nenad brings a big game and is really talented," Easley says. "He's young but will develop into a top player."
Lending some experience to the middle of the lineup will be two-school veteran Damu Bobb (13-9) who comes by way of Howard and San Jose State, which dropped its program after last year.
"Damu is an experienced No. 1 player at San Jose State," his coach says. "He'll definitely be a solid part of our team playing in the heart of our lineup as a junior."
Another Yugoslavian, freshman Gregor Skorin, hit town and posted a 6-2 fall mark. The former junior doubles partner of Zivkovic, the pair won the national championship before heading to college. Look for him in the 3-5 positions this spring.
"Gregor is another big guy with an all-around game. Just like Nenad, he'll only get better every year."
A late addition to the team but just as important to the bottom half of the lineup is freshman Danny Erez. The fellow-countryman of Tishler came to UNLV after three years in the Israeli army and sports a similarly solid game.
"Danny is an older freshman," says Easley. "He is new but is experienced. We hope he has the same results as Asaf did when he came two years ago."
The fourth freshman, much-decorated junior Brandon Fallon, will be counted on to upgrade the bottom spot. "Brandon is a Southern California guy who will be a good six for us in singles. I'm looking for good things from him as he develops."
Senior Mike Imber (8-12) and junior Andy Tapernoux (4-7) will add depth to the eight-man squad.
Without the guaranteed wins at No. 1 like years past, the Rebels will rely even more on their doubles teams to open matches with a point.
"We hope to be better overall in doubles," Easley says. "Last year we had one great team, one good team and nothing at three. We just need someone functional down there to give us a fighting chance and I think we'll have three good teams."
After fielding the nation's No. 2-ranked doubles team for two years running, look for different combinations to make it into the mix this spring. Tishler, who has been ranked off and on during his two years in town, will most likely stick with Erez at No. 2. Zivkovic and Fallon will begin the year at the top spot while Bobb and Skorin make up a nice pair at No. 3.
With only one starter returning, the lineup order could undergo wholesale changes more than once.
"This is the biggest player turnover I've ever had in one season," Easley says. "I don't really know what to expect but I hope to be peaking by the end of the year. We're stronger at doubles and probably stronger at No. 6. Talent-wise we're not too far off from last year."
The schedule features the annual home invitational in February, another entry to the HEB Team Tournament in March and a spring break trip to the always-tough Blue-Gray in Alabama. The usual visits to powers such as UCLA and USC are designed to help make UNLV tournament-ready come April and May.
The Rebels won three straight Big West titles from 1994-96 before heading to the Western Athletic Conference last year. With 1997's maddeningly narrow runner-up finish in Fort Worth still stinging, UNLV is hoping to earn its first crown in the new league.
Opportunities to reach another goal will squarely hit Las Vegas come mid-May when the school hosts the NCAA men's regional for the third consecutive year. The Rebels are still looking for their first finals appearance in that event and perhaps, even, the program's first team appearance in the NCAA championships.
But first things first, says Easley. The initial test will be to make this collection of newcomers come together to form a functional college tennis team.
"The new guys are inexperienced and we're going to throw them into the fire," Easley says. "However, I find that things will work out if you have six players competing hard together. I'm doing my job if I get them competing hard, no matter what we accomplish."
