April 27, 2001
SALT LAKE CITY - UNLV's 49th-ranked men's tennis team earned a spot in Saturday's Mountain West Conference title match by downing defending champion New Mexico 4-2 in Friday's semifinal at the Snowbird Canyon Racquet Club.
The third-seeded Rebels improved to 13-9 overall and 4-3 in the league while the second-seeded and 68th-ranked Lobos saw their three-match winning streak snapped and fell to 16-6 and 4-2. The win avenged a 4-2 loss to UNM on April 6 when UNLV had to forfeit a singles and doubles match because of injuries.
The rematch began by UNLV squeaking out the doubles point by taking two of three matches. UNM won at the top spot but UNLV's Leslie Eisinga and Artin Tafazoli teamed to win the No. 3 match. At the second position, Danny Erez and Thomas Schneiter prevailed in a tiebreaker (7-2) to earn a 9-8 win and give the Rebels a 1-0 lead.
In singles play, the injury bug continued to bite UNLV as top player Nenad Zivkovic turned an ankle and retired after dropping the first set to Takeshi Itoh, whom the 92nd-ranked senior had already beaten twice this season. Tied at one, UNLV picked up straight-set wins from Schneiter at No. 2 and Erez at No. 3 but lost on the sixth court. However, Gregor Skorin rallied at No. 4 after losing the first set and clinched the team match with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Diego Garza. The match on the fifth court was then halted.
"It sure was nice to get another shot at New Mexico with our full lineup," UNLV head coach Larry Easley said. "We lost the first set on all three of the bottom courts so it didn't look good for a while. It was big for Gregor to come back and win that match on five. We are now back in the ballgame and we have a big match tomorrow for the title. I'm just hoping Nenad is ready to go on his ankle."
The Rebels will now face unranked and fourth-seeded BYU, who shocked the tournament's top seed, San Diego State, 4-1, in Friday's other semifinal. UNLV met the Cougars on March 31 on a neutral court in San Diego and the Rebels escaped with a 4-3 victory despite fielding a depleted lineup.
UNLV will be gunning for its fourth men's tennis league championship but first since 1996 when it was a member of the Big West Conference. The Rebels have lost only once when earning a spot in a conference final - having dropped a 4-3 decision to host TCU in the 1997 championship of the Western Athletic Conference.
UNLV MEN'S TENNIS RESULTS
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS - SEMIFINALS
UNLV 4, NEW MEXICO 2
At Snowbird Canyon Racquet Club, Salt Lake City
SINGLES --
1. Takeshi Itoh (UNM) def. Nenad Zivkovic (UNLV) 6-0, 2-0 retired2. Thomas Schneiter (UNLV) def. Michael Polasek (UNM)6-3, 6-33. Danny Erez (UNLV) def. Bart Scott (UNM) 6-1, 6-34. Gregor Skorin (UNLV) def. Diego Garza (UNM) 3-6, 6-4, 6-35. Artin Tafazoli (UNLV) vs. Andrew Irving (UNM) DNF6. John Kowalski (UNM) def. Leslie Eisinga (UNLV) 6-4, 7-6
DOUBLES -- (UNLV earns one team point)
1. Itoh/Scott (UNM) def. Zivkovic/Skorin (UNLV) 8-32. Erez/Schneiter (UNLV) def. Irving/Brent Salazar (UNM) 9-8 (2)3. Eisinga/Tafazoli (UNLV) def. Kyle Russell/Garza (UNM) 8-4
