Oct. 18, 2006

LAS VEGAS - UNLV players turned in an impressive 7-3 overall singles record during Wednesday's first two rounds of the ITA Region 7 Men's Tennis Championships being held at the Darling Memorial Tennis Center.

"We had a good showing across the board today even though I felt we let a few slip away," UNLV head coach Owen Hambrook said. "There's a long weekend ahead of us so we need to come out strong again tomorrow and fight hard on every court."

Four Rebels, including one freshman playing his first collegiate tournament, will play in the Round of 32 on Thursday.

Sophomore Elliot Wronski, seeded 11th, enjoyed a bye before rolling over BYU's Jonathan Sanchez 6-4, 6-2 to advance. Jonathan Hooper took three sets to oust Timo Kienie of Denver in the second round, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Senior Brett Hunter, seeded 21st, blanked Chris Williams of Weber State 6-0, 6-0 in his second-round match.

Also still alive is Swiss rookie Luca Barlocchi who defeated John Hieb of Idaho 6-2, 6-0 and then rallied to stun 15th-seeded New Mexico State senior Stjepan Beg 3-6, 6-0, 6-4.

UNLV's David Campbell and Wesley Burrows both won their first-round matches before falling later in the day.

In doubles, a pair of Rebel teams enjoyed first-round byes but Barlocchi and Hooper were nipped 9-7 by the BYU duo of Cassidy Mears and Cale Planck.

Members from 14 western teams are facing off as individuals through Sunday in both singles and doubles. No less than 17 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 November's ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships.

2006 ITA REGION 7 MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Darling Memorial Tennis Center, Las Vegas
SINGLES ROUND OF 128(21) Brett Hunter (UNLV) bye(11) Elliot Wronski (UNLV) byeJonathan Hooper (UNLV) byeLuca Barlocchi (UNLV) def. John Hieb (Idaho) 6-2, 6-0Wes Burrows (UNLV) def. Mario Schnabl (Weber State) 6-4, 7-5Mike Banks (Utah State) def. Matt Kunkel (UNLV) 6-7, 6-1, 7-5David Campbell (UNLV) def. Othman Ouariti (Utah) 5-7, 7-6, 6-3
SINGLES ROUND OF 64(21) Brett Hunter (UNLV) def. Chris Williams (Weber State) 6-0, 6-0(11) Elliot Wronski (UNLV) def. Jonathan Sanchez (BYU) 6-4, 6-2Jonathan Hooper (UNLV) def. (29) Timo Kienie (Denver) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3Luca Barlocchi (UNLV) def. (15) Stjepan Beg (New Mexico State) 3-6, 6-0, 6-4Jason Smits (Utah) def. Wes Burrows (UNLV) 6-1, 6-4(2) Adam Holmstrom (Denver) def. David Campbell (UNLV) 6-0, 6-3
DOUBLES ROUND OF 64(16) Hunter/Wronski (UNLV) bye(14) Burrows/Campbell (UNLV) byeCassidy Mears/Cale Planck (BYU) def. Barlocchi/Hooper (UNLV) 9-7