From two wins before he took over to 12 in his first season to 16 in his second, UNLV head coach Owen Hambrook has quickly and decisively got the Rebels men back to not only respectability but also to a factor capable of making news nationally.
Just ask the seven ranked teams they defeated in 2005.
"We saw a big jump in the results of the team last year," Hambrook said. "2005 was successful in a lot of ways while also being frustrating because of not having one our best players healthy (Aviram Salomon) for most of the year. We still had some big wins and showed that UNLV is definitely a program that is making strides on the national scene again." Undermanned while still waiting for two of its incoming freshmen, the Rebels stumbled to an 0-2 start on the road before coming back to Las Vegas for an 11-match homestand.
Now with a full roster, the Rebels turned in three straight 7-0 shutouts over NAU, Loyola Marymount and Weber State. However, a huge road block suddenly appeared in the form of a key injury. Senior leader and 100th-ranked singles stalwart Salomon would miss nearly two months because of a knee injury. The two-time all-conference performer and clutch competitor exited the lineup just before his team hosted its own annual spring invitational from Feb. 11-13.
Still, Hambrook's horde battled through soggy conditions to turn in a 4-1 victory over Utah State and then got by San Francisco 4-0 in a late-night semifinal. A meeting with 72nd-ranked Denver awaited in the championship and UNLV rallied to claim the doubles point and then used that momentum to defeat the Pioneers and take its own tournament's title for the first time since 2002.
Buoyed by a six-match winning streak, the Rebels earned a national ranking from the ITA for the first time in nearly a year at No. 72 and looked to steam into a home clash with 41st-ranked Oklahoma on Feb. 18. Unusually rainy desert conditions washed out the meeting but cleared long enough for 5-2 win over Hawaii one day later.
Making his rankings debut at No. 91 was Las Vegas native Joel Kielbowicz. Also new to the rankings was the doubles team of Henner Nehles and Salomon. The pair of seniors went from unranked all the way to 17th in the nation with a record of 10-0, but would soon fall out because of Salomon's injury.
Now standing 7-2, the Rebels got another shot at a top-50 win when 30th-ranked South Carolina came calling. After a 19-day layoff, UNLV had its seven-match winning streak snapped and lost at home for the first and only time of the season, 4-3.
Even without Salomon, the hosts opened the afternoon by winning the doubles point in thrilling fashion. Needing to split six singles matches to earn the upset, UNLV managed only two wins. Kielbowicz, moving up to Salomon's regular singles position, won easily. Also, freshman Jonathan Hooper won a third-set tiebreaker. The Gamecocks proved too strong, however, taking the deciding third set over Nehles at the top position for the clincher.
Shaking off the disappointment, the Rebels flexed their muscle in the top half of the singles lineup en route to upsetting No. 60 Ball State 4-3. While impressive, that win gave no indication of what would transpire just two days later as UNLV notched the biggest non-conference win in school history by shocking No. 10 Oklahoma State 4-3.
The Cowboys were the highest-ranked opponent UNLV's men's team had ever defeated, besting the 4-3 win over then-No. 13 Harvard on March 9, 1996. UNLV started the morning by taking two of three doubles matches for one team point. Moving to singles action, the visitors quickly took a 2-1 lead with wins at Nos. 1 and 6. Hooper was next to finish and tied the match with a win on court four. The Cowboys then took a 3-2 lead with a squeaker at No. 3. However, Campbell evened the team score with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win on court five. The match would come down to Kielbowicz taking on Tomas Bohunicky at the second position. The Las Vegas native 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 said. "I am so proud of this team because this is a well-deserved victory and showed that with all of our hard work, we are capable of doing some special things."
The team broke a school record with a 24-spot jump in the next week's national rankings. The Rebels were now No. 47 in the nation after coming in at 71 a week earlier. Just two seasons removed from setting a different kind of record with a program-low two victories in 2003, UNLV was now back in the top 50 for the first time since May 9, 2001.
Leaving the comfy confines of Fertitta for the first time since January, UNLV traveled to Boise once again for a trio of matches. After a come-from-behind win over Yale, the Rebels were shut out by homestanding Boise State, before gutting out a win over ranked Portland to salvage the trip. An early Senior Day brought another SEC opponent in the form of No. 71 Arkansas. In his final home match, Nehles scorched 57th-ranked Rojan Gajjar 6-4, 6-4, while Salomon said good-bye with a rusty return to the lineup and a super-tiebreaker loss. The 5-2 final improved the Rebels to 12-4 overall and gave them their best home record -- 10-1 -- since posting the same mark in 1997.
MWC play opened on April Fool's Day but the Rebels, now ranked a season-high 40th, were not in a joking mood as No. 58 BYU upset them 4-3 in San Diego. The squad rebounded nicely the next day by grinding out a 4-3 victory over 57th-ranked Utah.
UNLV's hope for a first-ever MWC regular-season title were ended when host San Diego State took a 5-2 victory. Playing their fourth match in as many days, the Rebels lost only one set en route to a 7-0 whitewashing of unranked UC Riverside.
After a 5-2 win at Air Force, UNLV closed its regular season with a 5-2 loss at the hands of No. 60 New Mexico. Back in San Diego for the league tourney, Nehles became the first UNLV tennis player to win a conference MVP award in nine years as he was named the 2005 Mountain West Player of the Year at the league's annual banquet. Nehles turned in a perfect 5-0 run in MWC play and was an impressive 19-5 in doubles with three different partners.
The native of Duisburg, Germany, became only the third Rebel to earn his league's highest award and first since Roger Pettersson in 1996. Also earning all-conference status in singles was Kielbowicz, who went 4-1 vs. MWC opponents. He and partner Campbell also earned a place on the All-MWC Doubles Team after posting an 8-6 mark.
UNLV drew a pesky Utah in the first round and turned in a nice 4-1 victory.
The next day, 55th-ranked UNLV came within one set of posting one of another big upset but ultimately fell to top-seeded and 41st-ranked SDSU 4-3. The Aztecs, who rolled to a perfect record in the league during the spring, won a spirited doubles session to claim a 1-0 lead. In singles play, UNLV rallied behind Nehles, who won again at the top spot. Salomon took three sets to finish off his ranked opponent on court three and the Rebels eventually tied the match when Massaro rallied past his opponent at the fifth position. A trip to the finals eventually came down to court two where Kielbowicz won his first set 6-4 over No. 125 Markus Dickhardt. However, the home-standing Aztec came back to take the final two sets, 6-4, 6-2 to earn his team the win.
Closing their season at 16-8 and ranked 57, the Rebels posted their most victories since 1997 and tied for the fifth-most wins since 1984. Just a few days later, Nehles was named the ITA's Mountain Region Senior Player of the Year - the fourth Rebel to earn the honor and the first since 2002. "Henner was by far the most dominant senior and arguably the best player overall in our region this year and it is nice to see him getting the recognition he deserves," said his coach.
Nehles extended his personal winning streak to 11 matches as he cruised to victory in the first round of the NCAA Singles Championship in College Station, Texas, sweeping 39th-ranked Scott Brown of Vanderbilt 6-2, 6-4. However, just one win away from All-America status, the Rebel star saw his career come to an end by falling to 16th-ranked Franticek Babej of South Alabama, who held on 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 to notch his 26th straight singles victory.
"Henner was always the ultimate team player and just a great presence on the court," Hambrook said. "Then you talk about Avi, who was a great college tennis player -- a fighter who was extremely tough mentally. He always had a shot no matter who he played. They both had outstanding college careers and will be hard to replace."
