March 9, 2005
LAS VEGAS - The 71st-ranked UNLV men's tennis team just missed posting its biggest dual-match victory in half-a-decade as the Rebels fell 4-3 to No. 30 South Carolina on a beautiful day at the Fertitta Tennis Complex Wednesday.
UNLV, which had not played since Feb. 20, had its seven-match winning streak snapped and lost at home for the first time this season as it fell to 7-3 overall. The Gamecocks, who were fresh from upsetting then-No. 9 LSU on Sunday, improved to 12-3 overall.
The Rebels were forced to shuffle their lineup because a knee injury kept senior Aviram Salomon off the courts. However, the hosts still opened the afternoon by winning the doubles point in thrilling fashion. Henner Nehles, who with regular partner Salomon is ranked 17th in the nation, played instead with Sean Hubbard at No. 2 and won over Tom Eklund and Jaime Cuellar 8-6. USC tied things with a 9-7 squeaker at No. 3 before Joel Kielbowicz and David Campbell forced a tiebreaker and then cruised 9-8 (7-0) at the top spot over Pedro Rodrigues and Geraldo Knorr.
Needing to split six singles matches to earn the upset, UNLV managed only two wins. No. 91 Joel Kielbowicz, moving up to Salomon's regular singles position, flew past Rodrigues 6-2, 6-1 at the second spot for his seventh straight victory. Also, freshman Jonathan Hooper outlasted Dmitry Babenko at No. 5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5) to improve to 7-0 in his young career. The Gamecocks proved too strong as 45th-ranked Eklund won the deciding third set over Nehles at the top position 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 for the clincher.
"I am proud of our effort against a team from the powerful Southeastern Conference, especially since we were missing our court leader in Aviram Salomon" UNLV head coach Owen Hambrook said. "We played very well in doubles and I hope we can keep that energy going into our next match."
UNLV will take a day off before hosting No. 60 Ball State on Friday beginning at 1:30 p.m.
UNLV MEN'S TENNIS RESULTS#30 SOUTH CAROLINA 4, #71 UNLV 3At Fertitta Tennis Complex, Las Vegas
DOUBLES: (UNLV EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. Kielbowicz/Campbell (UNLV) def. Rodrigues/Knorr (USC) 9-8 (0)2. Nehles/Sean Hubard (UNLV) def. Eklund/Cuellar (USC) 8-63. Atkinson/Babenko (USC) def. Hooper/Redelinghuys (UNLV) 9-7
SINGLES: (USC EARNS FOUR TEAM POINTS)1. #45 Tom Eklund (USC) def. Henner Nehles (UNLV) 6-3, 1-6, 6-32. #91 Joel Kielbowicz (UNLV) def. Pedro Rodrigues (USC) 6-2, 6-13. Geraldo Knorr (USC) def. Romain Massaro (UNLV) 7-6 (5), 6-04. Jamie Cuellar (USC) def. David Campbell (USC) 6-3, 6-35. Jonathan Hooper (UNLV) def. Dmitry Babenko (USC) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5)6. Ben Atkinson (USC) def. Martin Redelinghuys (UNLV) 6-3, 7-5
