March 11, 2004

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV men's tennis team won its fourth straight match by upending Illinois State 6-1 at the Fertitta Tennis Complex Thursday.

Enjoying a gorgeous March day, the Rebels improved to 5-3 overall while the Redbirds fell to 4-5.

UNLV started the day by sweeping three doubles matches for one team point.

In singles play, three Rebels won in straight sets: Joel Kielbowicz at No. 4, David DiMartino at No. 5 and Aviram Salomon at No. 3.

UNLV's Henner Nehles, ranked 57th nationally, had to rally past Ben Pettinari at the top spot, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, while Romain Massaro won a super-tiebreaker to give his team its sixth point, 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7) over Djordje Uskokovic.

The Rebels will look to earn their first victory over a ranked team this season by hosting No. 33 Oklahoma State Friday beginning at 1:30 p.m. Admission, as always, is free of charge.

UNLV MEN'S TENNIS RESULTSUNLV 6, ILLINOIS STATE 1At Fertitta Tennis Complex, Las Vegas
DOUBLES: (UNLV EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. Nehles/Kielbowicz (UNLV) def. Uskokovic/Pettinari (ISU) 8-32. Massaro/Salomon (UNLV) def. Renard/Cozad (ISU) 8-63. DiMartino/Blagojevic (UNLV) def. Gomez/Tim Link (ISU) 8-5
SINGLES: (UNLV EARNS FIVE TEAM POINTS)1. #57 Henner Nehles (UNLV) def. Ben Pettinari (ISU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-12. Romain Massaro (UNLV) def. Djordje Uskokovic (ISU) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7)3. Aviram Salomon (UNLV) def. Chris Cozad (ISU) 6-4, 7-54. Joel Kielbowicz (UNLV) def. Guillermo Gomez (ISU) 6-2, 6-25. David DiMartino (UNLV) def. Alban Renard (ISU) 7-6, 6-06. Alfredo Lagarda (ISU) def. Marko Blagojevic (UNLV) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2