Feb. 7, 2004

NEW ORLEANS - UNLV men's tennis standout Henner Nehles earned the biggest individual victory for his program in two years but it was not enough as No. 26 Tulane downed the unranked Rebels 5-2 at a cold and windy Goldring Tennis Center Saturday.

In what was Owen Hambrook's debut as interim head coach, UNLV (0-1) started the day by earning one win in doubles play before losing the team point to the Green Wave, which improved to 3-1.

In singles, TU was too tough at the bottom half of the lineup as it clinched the overall victory with three straight-set victories. However, the top three matches all came down to a third-set super-tiebreaker.

Nehles, a sophomore from Duisburg, Germany, rallied after dropping the first set to stun the nation's No. 8-ranked Michael Kogan, 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-4). Along with improving Nehles to 5-2 overall in singles, it marked the highest-ranked opponent to be defeated by a Rebel since former All-American Thomas Schneiter took down No. 1 Al Garland of Pepperdine on April 6, 2002.

UNLV's other point came from Court Three where Romain Massaro improved his record to 9-1 by putting away Hannu Piiroinen 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (10-6). However, after winning the first set on Court Two, Aviram Salomon lost his upset bid vs. No. 37 Dmitriy Koch, 6-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-5).

"Considering the rough weather and a big crowd on hand for Tulane, I was happy to see everyone compete well in a tough environment," Hambrook said. "Henner was very composed and played the big points well against one of the top players in the country, which is a good sign for the spring."

The Rebels continue their season-opening trip by facing 75th-ranked New Orleans on Sunday before returning home.

UNLV MEN'S TENNIS RESULTS
#26 TULANE 5, UNLV 2
At Goldring Tennis Center, New Orleans
DOUBLES: (TULANE EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)
1. Kogan/Goulet (TU) def. DiMartino/Salomon (UNLV) 8-32. Nehles/Kielbowicz (UNLV) def. Koch/Vasiljevic (TU) 8-23. Hernandez/Sottocorno (TU) def. Massaro/Blagojevic (UNLV) 8-2
SINGLES: (TULANE EARNS FOUR TEAM POINTS)
1. Henner Nehles (UNLV) def. #8 Michael Kogan (TU) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-4)2. #37 Dmitriy Koch (TU) def. Aviram Salomon (UNLV) 6-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-5)3. Romain Massaro (UNLV) def. Hannu Piiroinen (TU) 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (10-6)4. David Goulet (TU) def. David DiMartino (UNLV) 6-2, 6-35. Alberto Sottocorno (TU) def. Joel Kielbowicz (UNLV) 6-3, 6-46. Jacobo Hernandez (TU) def. Marko Blagojevic (UNLV) 6-2, 6-1