Oct. 19, 2005
LAS VEGAS - After hosting the event for the past eight seasons, UNLV played across town for the first time in the Wilson/ITA Region 7 Men's Tennis Championships at the new Darling Memorial Tennis Center.
However, the short trip did nothing to hinder the Rebels' success during the first day of competition as UNLV's five entries turned in a combined 5-3 singles record on Wednesday, including a perfect first round.
Top UNLV player Joel Kielbowicz, ranked 85th nationally and seeded 11th, enjoyed a first-round bye and then advanced to the round of 32 with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Steve Flaks of the University of Denver. Joining him in the main draw was senior Romain Massaro, who also had a bye before cruising past Jake Berriochoa of Montana State in the second round 6-3, 6-1.
UNLV's first loss of the day was a heartbreaker as sophomore Jonathan Hooper was outlasted by the region's top seed, 13th-ranked Luke Shields of Boise State, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the second round.
Rebel freshman Wes Burrows won his first collegiate match -- 6-2, 6-3 over Joel Trudel of Idaho - before falling in the second round. Sophomore Martin Redelinghuys went the same route, winning 6-1, 6-1 over Kyle Cruzat of Eastern Washington before going down later in the day to second-seeded Adam Holmstrom of DU. All three Rebels will compete in the consolation draw beginning Thursday.
In doubles play, Kielbowicz and Burrows, seeded 13th, had the day off with a bye, while Hooper and Redelinghuys won their first-round match 8-3 over Dantley Young and Jonas Tiden of Utah State to move into the round of 32.
"Considering our guys faced the top two seeds in singles, we had a successful day," UNLV head coach Owen Hambrook said. "It's a good sign of where our team is at but we have another long day of tennis ahead of us Thursday and we need to come out strong."
Members from 16 western teams are facing off as individuals through Sunday in both singles and doubles. No less than 17 Wilson/ITA Regional Championships for NCAA Division I men and women are taking place over the last two weekends of October at campuses throughout the country. The singles finalists and doubles champion from this event will earn spots in the November 3-6 ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships hosted by The Ohio State University at the Racquet Club of Columbus.
2005 WILSON/ITA REGION 7 MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPSDarling Memorial Tennis Center, Las Vegas
SINGLES ROUND OF 128(11) No. 85 Joel Kielbowicz (UNLV) bye(28) Romain Massaro (UNLV) byeWes Burrows (UNLV) def. Joel Trudel (Idaho) 6-2, 6-3Jonathan Hooper (UNLV) def. Chris Arena (NAU) 7-5, 6-1Martin Redelinghuys (UNLV) def. Kyle Cruzat (EWU) 6-1, 6-1
SINGLES ROUND OF 64(11) No. 85 Kielbowicz (UNLV) def. Steve Flaks (DU) 7-5, 6-2(28) Massaro (UNLV) def. Jake Berriochoa (MSU) 6-3, 6-1(19) Viktor Zetterholm (DU) def. Burrows (UNLV) 6-4, 7-5(1) No. 13 Luke Shields (BSU) def. Hooper (UNLV) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4(2) No. 44 Adam Holmstrom (DU) def. Redelinghuys (UNLV) 6-1, 6-1
DOUBLES ROUND OF 64(13) Kielbowicz/Burrows (UNLV) byeRedelinghuys/Hooper (UNLV) def. Jonas Tyden/Dantley Young (USU) 8-3
SCHOOL ABBREVIATION KEYAir Force (AFA)Boise State (BSU)BYUColorado (CU)University of Denver (DU)IdahoIdaho State (ISU)Montana (UM)Montana State (MSU)UNLVNew Mexico (UNM)New Mexico State (NMSU)Northern Arizona (NAU)Utah (UU)Utah State (USU)Weber State (WSU)
