It was an unusual season for UNLV men's tennis to say the least.

Considering that the Rebels fielded a continuously shrinking roster that included a star football player, no less than 13 doubles combinations and a senior forced by injury to essentially play with one arm, you could call 2001 a court odyssey.

That is not to say there were no successes for head coach Dr. Larry Easley's program.

"We did very well considering we had so many injuries, played almost all of our matches away from home and sometimes put only five guys on the court," Easley, who in his 10th season became the longest tenured tennis coach in school history, said. "We won some big matches against some highly ranked schools and were one match away from making the NCAAs."

With only eight players overall, UNLV was further hamstrung when two quality walk-ons walked off the program at mid-year. Furthermore, the new No. 7 player was starting linebacker Ryan Claridge, who joined the team in January after finishing up his freshman year on the bowl-bound Rebel football squad and had to split time between hitting balls and hitting running backs in spring practice.

The dual-match season began in familiar fashion. Two dates with top-15 Southern California schools produced losses before mid-February brought around the annual UNLV Spring Invitational at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.

The Rebels rolled into the finals after shutting out both Utah State and Northern Arizona. UNLV would face Colorado for the title for the third time in six seasons and after the teams traded points to forge a 3-3 tie, it was Nenad Zivkovic who survived a duel at the top singles spot to win it for the home team.

"Nenad was big time," Easley said after the match. "He has become a team leader in his senior season and he saved us today."

With a trip to the HEB Tennis Classic on tap, the 3-2 start pushed UNLV into the rankings for the first time since March 5, 2000. The Rebels responded by posting their biggest upset in years. Facing No. 18 Oklahoma State in the first round, UNLV won the doubles point and then got three-set victories from Danny Erez, Gregor Skorin and Leslie Eisinga to earn a 4-2 final. The Cowboys were the highest ranked team that UNLV defeated since No. 13 Harvard at the same tournament in 1996.

After shutting out Louisiana-Lafayette, UNLV had its five-match winning streak snapped by No. 15 South Alabama, 4-1, and then lost to No. 34 Middle Tennessee. The Rebels stayed on the road and headed to the prestigious Blue-Gray Invitational. Having moved up from 73rd to 55th in the poll, UNLV crushed No. 65 William & Mary with four straight-set wins and closed the day by outlasting No. 43 Harvard with a thrilling deciding win at No. 1 doubles.

The good news was that the Rebels improved to 7-4 overall and won their third match over a ranked team in less than a week. The bad news was that two starters suffered injuries vs. the Crimson and the team defaulted vs. Indiana State and headed home. Zivkovic had rotator cuff problems and was close to sitting out the rest of the season while Mr. Consistent No. 3 man Erez pulled a wrist muscle.

Back at Fertitta for the first time in more than a month, a depleted Rebel lineup defaulted at No. 6 and Zivkovic was forced to serve underhanded in a 4-0 loss to fifth-ranked TCU. However, UNLV then gutted out a key regional win over New Mexico State 4-3 and, just two days later, played its sixth and final home match of the season and downed No. 41 Tulsa 5-2 to celebrate Senior Day 2002.

Zivkovic's unique motion employed because of injury actually helped him beat some top-line opponents. "Nenad started playing underhand with a wicked little topspin serve and he became tough to beat," Easley said. "He proved he is a tough kid."

Now standing 32nd in the nation, which was the highest the Rebels ranked since March of 1998, UNLV opened MWC play with three matches in San Diego. Easley made the decision to rest Erez and his ailing wrist until the league tourney and simply default a singles and doubles match each day. This handicap as well as moving the remaining players up a spot did not prevent the Rebels from pulling out two 4-3 wins over Utah and No. 73 BYU, respectively, while stretching their record to 11-6.

The injuries finally caught up with the squad in a three-match losing streak - all to league opponents. A 5-1 loss at San Diego State was followed by a 4-2 setback to New Mexico and a shocking 4-2 defeat at the hands of Air Force on April 7 in the regular-season finale. The upset indoors was the Falcons' first-ever MWC victory and only second win over a ranked team in academy history.

"Losing to Air Force was the low-point of the season, no question about it," Easley said. "Fortunately, we got to redeem ourselves."

With three weeks until the conference tournament, UNLV had time to lick its wounds. Having moved down to 49th after three consecutive losses to unranked teams, the Rebels received the third seed in the annual event to be held at the Snowbird Canyon Racquet Club in Salt Lake City.

A first-round meeting with Air Force took on a different look this time around as a healthier UNLV breezed past the Falcons 4-0, including an Erez victory in his first action in more than a month.

The semifinals brought another rematch as the Rebels once again squared off with regional rival New Mexico. UNLV began the day by squeaking out the doubles point by taking two of three matches. In singles play, the injury bug continued to bite UNLV as Zivkovic turned an ankle and retired after dropping the first set to Takeshi Itoh, whom the senior had already beaten twice earlier in the season. Tied at one, UNLV picked up straight-set wins from Thomas Schneiter at No. 2 and Erez at No. 3 but lost on the sixth court. However, Skorin rallied at No. 4 after losing the first set and clinched the team match with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win.

"It sure was nice to get another shot at Air Force and New Mexico with our full lineup," Easley said.

Looking for its first conference title since being a member of the Big West in 1996, UNLV would have one more rematch - this time with unranked BYU on April 28. However, it was the unranked Cougars that avenged an earlier loss as they won the doubles point and took the first three completed singles matches for a 4-0 final.

"We had our chances today but they wanted it more," Easley said. "BYU had an advantage playing in its home altitude level and they just came out smoking."

With the automatic bid now out of reach, UNLV awaited word on an at-large spot in the NCAA tourney. The Rebels finished ranked No. 1 in Region VII with a 7-3 record and had seven solid victories over nationally ranked opponents. That resume, however, was not enough for a bid and the team sat out postseason play for only the second time in eight years and closed the year ranked 51st.

Zivkovic, ranked 82nd, earned a trip to the NCAA Singles Championships but with his shoulder needing more attention, he pulled himself out of the 64-man draw. The big Serb did wrap up his collegiate career by earning All-MWC honors in both singles and doubles and being named Regional Senior Player of the Year and a finalist for the ITA's John Van Nostrand Memorial Award. Joining Zivkovic on the 2001 all-league singles list was Schneiter, who finished strong at No. 2 after transferring in from Oregon.

Zivkovic and Skorin, who brought the school its third Grand Slam title and first No. 1 national ranking by winning the Clay Courts two years earlier, were the only repeat members on the doubles team. Go-to guy Erez, meanwhile, left with another MWC Player of the Week honor and ITA Scholar-Athlete Award.

"We had some good national wins and it's amazing we didn't get into the tournament," Easley, who was tabbed regional coach of the year, said. "All in all, I'd say it was a surprisingly solid year."