May 23, 2002

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Senior Thomas Schneiter became UNLV's first men's tennis All-American in half a decade by winning his second-round match in the NCAA Singles Championship at the Texas A&M Tennis Center Thursday.

Schneiter, a native of Worb, Switzerland, stunned 10th-ranked Tobias Clemens of UCLA 6-4, 6-3 to earn a spot in the round of 16, which automatically earns Schneiter All-America status. He is only the fifth male All-American in Rebel tennis history and the first since Luke Smith and Tim Blenkiron both earned the honor by winning the 1997 NCAA singles (Smith) and doubles (Smith and Blenkiron) titles.

Schneiter, ranked 62nd before the tournament, has won both his matches in straight sets to improve his overall record to 24-7, including taking 17 of his last 19.

"Thomas really played well and I'm proud of him," UNLV head coach Larry Easley said. "He played a smart game and really grinded the guy into the ground. He had to serve for the match a couple of times so the pressure was on and he hung in there."

Schneiter, who is by far the lowest-ranked player remaining, will have an even bigger challenge in Friday's third round when he faces No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Matias Boeker (21-3) of Georgia beginning at 11 a.m. PDT. Boeker, a junior from Buenos Aries, Argentina, nearly was knocked out in the second round but rallied to win 10 straight games to get past David Loewenthal of Wake Forest, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.

Friday will mark the second time this season Schneiter has faced college tennis' top-ranked player as he upset then-No. 1 Al Garland of Pepperdine on April 6 in Malibu, Calif., 3-6, 6-4, 7-6. Garland, who is also still alive at the NCAA championship, is currently ranked third.

Joining Schneiter in the round of 16 from the Mountain West Conference is 26th-ranked Oliver Maiberger of San Diego State, who squeaked by No. 22 Marcin Matkowski of UCLA 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.