Jan. 24, 2003

MALIBU, Calif. - The 68th-ranked UNLV men's tennis team opened its 2003 season short-handed and was shut out by No. 18 Pepperdine 7-0 at the Ralphs-Strauss Tennis Center Friday.

UNLV could only field five healthy players so the Waves began the match with wins at No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles before the teams even took the court. Pepperdine improved to 3-1 on the young season by sweeping both doubles matches played and then all six singles match-ups. In the only competitive singles match, No. 81-ranked Diego Acuna got by Aviram Salomon 6-4, 7-5 at the top spot.

The competition gets even tougher for UNLV as the Rebels travel to play preseason No. 1-ranked UCLA on Tuesday.

MEN'S TENNIS RESULTS
(#18) PEPPERDINE 7, (#68) UNLV 0
At Ralphs-Strauss Tennis Center, Malibu, CA
SINGLES-(PEPP EARNS SIX TEAM POINTS)
1. (81) Diego Acuna (P) def. Aviram Salomon (UNLV) 6-4, 7-52. Pedro Rico (P) def. Romain Massaro (UNLV)        6-1, 6-23. (103) Calle Hansen (P) def. Joel Kielbowicz (UNLV)   6-0, 6-14. Scott Doerner (P) def. Milos Blagojevic (UNLV)    6-0, 6-15. Kevin Borzenski (P) def. Ryan Barber (UNLV)      6-0, 6-06. Defaulted to Pepperdine for one team point
DOUBLES-(PEPP EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. Hansen/Acuna (P) def. Salomon/Massaro (UNLV)         8-62. Doerner/Rico (P) def. Blagojevic/Kielbowicz (UNLV)   8-03. Defaulted to Pepperdine