March 2, 2006

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The 74th-ranked UNLV men's tennis team was without its winningest player because of sickness and the result was a 4-1 loss to No. 59 Western Michigan in Thursday's first round of the HEB College Team Invitational.

Playing for the first time since Feb. 18, the Rebels sorely missed freshman Elliot Wronski and his 8-1 singles record and 6-1 doubles mark near the top of the lineup. UNLV fell to 7-3 overall while the surging Broncos won their 11th straight to improve to 13-1 on the year.

The Rebels lost the doubles point when their second and third teams went down by the identical score of 8-4. Then, in singles play, senior Las Vegas native Joel Kielbowicz turned in a nice 6-2, 6-3 victory over Brady Crosby at the top spot for his team's only point.

However, Romain Massaro fell at the second spot, David Campbell was a tough-luck 7-6, 7-6 loser at No. 4 and Jonathan Hooper was swept on court five. Playing tournament-style scoring, the match ended as soon as WMU clinched its fourth point. The remaining matches, with Brett Hunter on No. 3 and Wesley Burrows on court six, were halted in their third set.

Moving into the losers' bracket, the Rebels on Friday will play the loser of Nebraska vs. Texas-San Antonio.

UNLV MEN'S TENNIS RESULTSHEB COLLEGE INVITATIONAL#59 WESTERN MICHIGAN 4, #74 UNLV 1At HEB Tennis Center, Corpus Christi, TX
DOUBLES: (WMU EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. Kielbowicz/Campbell (UNLV) vs. Crosby/Bryan Norville (WMU) DNF2. Orozco/Birchmeier (WMU) def. Hooper/Hunter (UNLV) 8-43. French/Bradshaw (WMU) def. Massaro/Burrows (UNLV) 8-4
SINGLES: (WMU EARNS THREE TEAM POINTS)1. Joel Kielbowicz (UNLV) def. Brady Crosby (WMU) 6-2, 6-32. Tim Bradshaw (WMU) def. Romain Massaro (UNLV) 6-3, 7-53. Brett Hunter (UNLV) vs. Jose Orozco (WMU) DNF4. Alex Birchmeier (WMU) def. David Campbell (UNLV) 7-6, 7-65. Kevin Hayward (WMU) def. Jonathan Hooper (UNLV) 6-2, 6-36. Wesley Burrows (UNLV) vs. Jeff French (WMU) DNF