Men's Tennis

Golden Eagles Grounded

March 14, 2004

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV men's tennis team won a match for the first time all season after losing the doubles point by rallying for a 4-3 victory over Southern Mississippi at the Fertitta Tennis Complex Sunday.

Playing in excessive heat for mid-March, the Rebels improved to 6-4 overall while the Golden Eagles fell to 3-8.

USM started the day by taking two of three doubles matches for one team point even though the Rebels' top duo of Henner Nehles and Joel Kielbowicz won 8-6 on Court One. In the previous four outings where UNLV lost the doubles point, the Rebels had gone on to lose the overall match.

In singles play, Kielbowicz and David DiMartnio won their matches at No. 4 and 5, respectively, in quick straight-setters. After Aviram Salomon closed out his match on No. 2, the Rebels led 3-1.

However, David Canudas upset 57th-ranked Nehles at the top spot and Romain Massaro rolled an ankle in the middle of his second set to put the match in doubt. But down on Court Six, Marko Blagojevic picked up the biggest win of his career by rallying past Dylan Mezey 1-6, 7-6, 6-0. With the match clinched, Massaro then retired early in the third set to give USM its final point.

"Considering we had a slow start in doubles and a player go down in singles, we showed a lot as a team today," UNLV head coach Owen Hambrook said. "The bottom half of the lineup really came through against an underrated opponent. This was a great team victory to end the weekend."

The Rebels will close out their non-conference home schedule by hosting Idaho State on Friday beginning at 1:30 p.m.

UNLV MEN'S TENNIS RESULTSUNLV 4, SOUTHERN MISS 3At Fertitta Tennis Complex, Las Vegas

DOUBLES: (USM EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)
1. Nehles/Kielbowicz (UNLV) def. Canudas/Mezey (USM) 8-62. Garzon/Funke (USM) def. Massaro/Salomon (UNLV) 8-43. Rea/Bourgeois (USM) def. DiMartino/Blagojevic (UNLV) 8-5
SINGLES: (UNLV EARNS FOUR TEAM POINTS)1. David Canudas (USM) def. #57 Henner Nehles (UNLV) 7-5, 6-32. Aviram Salomon (UNLV) def. Juan Garzon (USM) 6-2, 6-23. Chris Rea (USM) def. Romain Massaro (UNLV) 6-7, 6-4, 2-1 retired4. Joel Kielbowicz (UNLV) def. Reid Bourgeois (USM) 6-1, 6-45. David DiMartino (UNLV) def. Thomas Funke (USM) 6-0, 6-16. Marko Blagojevic (UNLV) def. Dylan Mezey (USM) 1-6, 7-6, 6-0
Print Friendly Version