April 12, 2002

SALT LAKE CITY - UNLV, ranked 56th, failed in its quest to earn at least a share of its first regular-season Mountain West Conference men's tennis title when it was upset by unranked BYU 6-1 on neutral courts Friday.

The Rebels fell to 9-10 overall and 2-2 in the league while the red-hot Cougars won their fifth straight to improve to 12-7 and take over sole possession of first place with a 3-0 mark.

In a close doubles tangle to begin the morning meeting, the teams spit the first two matches before BYU claimed the team point with an 8-5 win at No. 3.

In singles play, 84th-ranked Thomas Schneiter continued his domination of the conference with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win over Carlos Lozano at the top spot to score his team's only point. Schneiter won for the 14th time in his last 15 outings to improve to 21-6 on the season. He is 14-3 in dual matches, including 4-0 vs. MWC opponents this spring.

BYU won three matches in straight sets and prevailed in two monumental tiebreakers. Eric Nyman got by Aviram Salomon 7-6 (14-12 in the tiebreaker), 7-6 (5) at No. 3 while Jeff Harbach rallied to outlast Andreas Maurer by the incredible score of 5-7, 7-6 (3) and 7-6 (20).

The Rebels will close out their regular season by taking on unranked Utah Saturday. The match will help decide the school's seeding for the MWC championship, which will be held April 25-27 in Las Vegas.

MEN'S TENNIS RESULTS
BYU 6, (#56) UNLV 1
At Canyons Tennis Club, Salt Lake City
SINGLES-(BYU EARNS FIVE TEAM POINTS)1. (85) Thomas Schneiter (UNLV) def. Carlos Lozano (BYU)6-3, 5-7, 6-32. Gert Vilms (BYU) def. Romain Tug (UNLV)         7-5, 6-13. Erik Nyman (BYU) def. Aviram Salomon (UNLV)         7-6 (12), 7-6 (5)4. Nick Losee (BYU) def. Thomas Michaud (UNLV)     6-4, 7-55. Jeff Olsen (BYU) def. Leslie Eisinga (UNLV)     6-4, 6-46. Jeff Harbach (BYU) def. Andreas Maurer (UNLV)   5-7, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (20)
DOUBLES-(BYU EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. (16) Vilms/Lozano (BYU) def. Eisinga/Salomon (UNLV)  8-42. Schneiter/Maurer (UNLV) def. Nyman/Losee (BYU)   8-43. Harbach/Olsen (BYU) def. Michaud/Tug (UNLV)      8-5