April 20, 2000

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - UNLV advanced to the semifinals of the inaugural Mountain West Conference Men's Tennis Championship with a 4-1 victory over Air Force at the Lobo Tennis Club Thursday.

The third-seeded Rebels improved to 8-12 overall and 4-2 vs. MWC teams while six-seed Air Force closed its season at 18-10. The Rebels began the day by taking two of three doubles matches for one team point. Winning for UNLV were the teams of Nenad Zivkovic and Gregor Skorin and Vladimir Pavicevic and Danny Erez.

In singles, the Rebels got victories from Zivkovic at No. 2, Skorin at No. 5 and Robbie Parlade at No. 6. Air Force got its lone point at No. 4 and the remaining two matches were halted after UNLV clinched the victory.

"It was nice to get out and play after a long layoff," UNLV head coach Larry Easley, whose team had not played since April 2, said. "We looked a little ragged and we were slow in getting used to the altitude."

The Rebels will take on homestanding and second-seeded New Mexico on Friday. The other semifinal will feature San Diego State, which enjoyed a bye, vs. BYU, which downed Utah 4-0.

UNLV has already faced the Lobos twice this spring, defeating them 4-2 on a neutral court on March 4, and falling to them 4-3 at home on April 2.

"We are two pretty even teams," Easley said. "We'll be facing the noise of a big, rowdy crowd, so we'll have to play really well to win."

2000 MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPUNLV 4, AIR FORCE 1At Lobo Tennis Club, Albuquerque, NM


SINGLES--1.  Vladimir Pavicevic (UNLV) vs. Tom DeAngelis (AFA)   halted2.  Nenad Zivkovic (UNLV) def. Nolan Cooper (AFA)           6-1, 6-23.  Danny Erez (UNLV) vs. Rene Ramirez (AFA)        halted4.  Kyle Rainey (AFA) def. Tyler Roberts (UNLV)         6-0, 6-45.  Greg Skorin (UNLV) def. Eric Pittman (AFA)      6-2, 6-16.  Robbie Parlade (UNLV) def. Chris Zielinski (AFA)    6-1, 6-1


DOUBLES--1.  Zivkovic/Skorin (UNLV) def. Cooper/DeAngelis (AFA)  8-52.  Pavicevic/Erez (UNLV) def. Pittman/Ramirez (AFA)    9-73.  Zielinski/Greg Zielinski (AFA) def. Parlade/Roberts (UNLV) 8-5