March 8, 2005

LAS VEGAS - It was good news and bad news for the UNLV men's program as it got a new singles player and doubles team ranked for the first time while another player dropped out of the national rankings, which were released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on Tuesday.

Making his rankings debut at No. 91 is Las Vegas native Joel Kielbowicz. The junior, who plays primarily third in the Rebels' lineup, stands 11-5 overall and is 6-1 in dual matches this spring but continues to rise thanks mainly to a victory over East Tennessee State's Oscar Posada back on November 6. Posada, who was 105th at the time, is ranked 45th this week.

Also new to the rankings is the doubles team of Henner Nehles and Aviram Salomon. The pair of seniors was unranked only last week but now stands 17th in the nation with a record of 10-0. It is the highest a UNLV doubles team has been ranked since former Rebels Nenad Zivkovic and Gregor Skorin were 14th on April 20, 1999.

Unfortunately for Nehles, he dropped completely out of the singles rankings despite riding a seven-match winning streak. Even with an overall record of 16-5, Nehles has fallen from a career-high 38th in January because of not having defeated a ranked opponent this season. As a team the Rebels held at No. 71. They will get a great chance to improve on their ranking by facing No. 30 South Carolina on Wednesday beginning at noon.

On the women's side, the Lady Rebels held steady at No. 30 as a team while freshman Elena Gantcheva fell eight spots to No. 29 despite enjoying a five-match winning streak.

UNLV begins its toughest three-match stretch in school history on Thursday when it takes on No. 22 Notre Dame beginning at 2 p.m. The Lady Rebels then host No. 57 Pennsylvania on Friday at 1 p.m. and No. 7 William & Mary on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m.