April 25, 2002

LAS VEGAS - The 53rd-ranked UNLV men's tennis team, which is hosting a conference championship tournament for the first time, fell flat in the opening round and got clipped by unranked Utah for the second time in two weeks, 4-3, at the Fertitta Tennis Complex Thursday.

The Utes, seeded fourth, improved to 15-10 and 3-3 in the league while the fifth-seeded Rebels fell to 9-12 and 2-4.

Utah, which downed UNLV 5-2 at home on April 13, began the Friday by winning two of three doubles matches for one team point.

In singles play, Utah took the first set on four courts and Tyler Poulson quickly won in straight sets at number five to make it 2-0.

The Rebels, however, rallied. No. 65 Thomas Schneiter got revenge for his only league loss by cruising past David Mercier 6-0, 6-2 at the top spot. Romain Tug then won a tense tiebreaker to get by Corrie Scheepers at No. 2, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (5). Aviram Salomon then completed the sweep at the top half of the lineup by coming back to down Nick Yip 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to give UNLV a 3-2 lead.

Utah's Daniel Carlsson then finished off Thomas Michaud at the fourth position 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to tie things at three and move all attention to court six. Daniel Lohff and Andreas Maurer played for more than three hours before Lohff finally broke the Rebel freshman's serve in the final set and eventually won 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 to give Utah the team win.

"This is the first match all year that we won when none of our seniors won," Utah head coach F.D. Robbins said. "I am proud of our guys at 4-5-6 for coming through. It takes getting used to playing at this altitude (compared to Salt Lake City) and we knew it would be tough playing the Rebs on their home courts. We fought well and I feel fortunate to have come out on top."

The Utes advance to play top seed San Diego State while Friday's other semifinal will pit New Mexico vs. BYU. UNLV and Air Force will play for fifth place to round out the day.

Mountain West Conference Men's Tennis Championship
(4) UTAH 4, (5) #53 UNLV 3
First Round
At Fertitta Tennis Complex, Las Vegas
SINGLES-(UTAH EARNS THREE TEAM POINTS)1. (65) Thomas Schneiter (UNLV) def. David Mercier (UU)  6-0, 6-22. Romain Tug (UNLV) def. Corrie Scheepers (UU)    6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (5)3. Aviram Salomon (UNLV) def. Nick Yip (UU)        4-6, 6-2, 6-34. Daniel Carlsson (UU) def. Thomas Michaud (UNLV)     6-3, 4-6, 6-45. Tyler Poulson (UU) def. Leslie Eisinga (UNLV)   6-3, 6-16. Daniel Lohff (UU) def. Andreas Maurer (UNLV)    6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3
DOUBLES-(UTAH EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. Mercier/Yip (UU) def. Schneiter/Maurer (UNLV)    8-62. Carlsson/Poulson (UU) def. Tug/Michaud (UNLV)    8-43. Eisinga/Salomon (UNLV) def. Lohff/Scheepers (UU) 8-3