March 13, 2005
LAS VEGAS - UNLV men's tennis used good doubles play and a pair of freshmen to earn perhaps its biggest non-conference win in school history Sunday as the 71st-ranked Rebels shocked No. 10 Oklahoma State 4-3 at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.
UNLV won for the ninth time in the last 10 matches as it improved to 9-3 overall.
The Cowboys were the highest-ranked opponent UNLV's men's team has ever defeated, besting the 4-3 win over then-No. 13 Harvard on March 9, 1996. OSU, which also fell to 9-3 overall, had won its last four straight -- all against ranked teams -- including stunning then-seventh-ranked Stanford last month.
UNLV started the morning by taking two of three doubles matches for one team point. After Jonathan Hooper and Martin Redelinghuys won easily on court three, the Cowboys took the top spot 8-5. The point came down to Joel Kielbowicz and David Campbell at No. 2 and the Rebel duo outlasted Mark Van Elder and Daniel Byrnes 8-6 to grab the overall lead.
"I think we took them by surprise a bit in doubles," UNLV head coach Owen Hambrook said. "Even though we were missing our second-best player in Aviram Salomon because of injury, we came out ready to play and it paid off."
Moving to singles action, the visitors quickly took a 2-1 lead as 50th-ranked Van Elder cruised past Henner Nehles at the top position, 6-2, 6-2, and then Byrnes finished off Redelinghuys 6-2, 6-3 on No. 6.
Hooper was next to finish and tied the match with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over Juan Felipe Diaz on court four. A freshman from New Zealand, Hooper improved to 8-1 in his singles career. The Cowboys then took a 3-2 lead when Boris Kuharic rallied to squeak by Romain Massaro at No. 3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. However, Campbell, a rookie from Australia, evened the team score with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over Astsem Burmistrau on court five.
The match would come down to 91st-ranked Rebel Kielbowicz taking on Tomas Bohunicky at the second position. Kielbowicz, a junior from Las Vegas, continued his torrid play with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 victory, which was his ninth straight, and secured his team the big upset.
"Today was another step in the rebuilding of Rebel tennis and that was one of the most exciting matches I have ever witnessed," Hambrook, who is in his second year as head coach, said. "The lead kept going back and forth but our freshmen played unbelievable and Joel Kielbowicz is just on fire right now.
"I am so proud of this team because this is a well-deserved victory over one of the toughest opponents we will face. This showed that with all of our hard work, we are capable of doing some special things."
UNLV, which just completed a 10-match homestand, next travels to Boise, Idaho, to play three matches, beginning with Yale on Friday.
UNLV MEN'S TENNIS RESULTS#71 UNLV 4, #10 OKLAHOMA STATE 3At Fertitta Tennis Complex, Las Vegas
DOUBLES: (UNLV EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. Kuharic/Diaz (OSU) def. Nehles/Sean Hubbard (UNLV) 8-52. Kielbowicz/Campbell (UNLV) def. Van Elden/Byrnes (OSU) 8-63. Hooper/Redelinghuys (UNLV) def. Bohunicky/Burmistrau (OSU) 8-1
SINGLES: (UNLV EARNS THREE TEAM POINTS)1. #50 Mark Van Elden (OSU) def. Henner Nehles (UNLV) 6-2, 6-22. #91 Joel Kielbowicz (UNLV) def. Tomas Bohunicky (OSU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-13. Boris Kuharic (OSU) def. Romain Massaro (UNLV) 3-6, 6-3, 7-54. Jonathan Hooper (UNLV) def. Juan Felipe Diaz (OSU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-45. David Campbell (UNLV) def. Astsem Burmistrau (OSU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-46. Daniel Byrnes (OSU) def. Martin Redelinghuys (UNLV) 6-2, 6-3
