April 2, 2006

LAS VEGAS - The 61st-ranked UNLV men's tennis team was upended 5-2 by No. 72 San Diego State on a sunny Sunday at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.

With the Senior Day loss, the Rebels fell to 13-5 overall and 2-1 in the Mountain West Conference. They also failed in their attempt to post the program's first perfect home record since moving to division one by finishing 9-1, but are still an impressive 28-4 at Fertitta under third-year head coach Owen Hambrook.

With the win, the surging Aztecs (3-0) took sole possession of first place while improving to 10-6 overall.

SDSU began the afternoon by winning on all three courts to take the doubles point.

In singles the Rebels rallied to win three first sets and lose another in a tiebreaker. Ultimately, however, the hosts would win at the top and bottom of the lineup but nowhere in between.

Senior Joel Kielbowicz, a Las Vegas native, enjoyed his final home appearance by earning his 50th career singles victory, 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 over Benedikt Stronk at the top position.

On court six, freshman Wesley Burrows improved his dual-match record to 9-2 with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Robert Sabo.

"We started off flat in doubles, which didn't help," Hambrook said. "However, everyone gave a great effort in singles but it just wasn't enough as San Diego State was just too good today. I was proud of the way Joel Kielbowicz finished playing in front of his home crowd with a win over one of the best players in the Mountain West Conference."

The Rebels will take next weekend off before heading to Salt Lake City for three MWC matches, beginning with BYU on April 14.

UNLV MEN'S TENNIS RESULTS#72 SAN DIEGO STATE 5, #61 UNLV 2At Fertitta Tennis Complex, Las Vegas, NV
DOUBLES: (SDSU EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. Stronk/Dickhardt (SDSU) def.Kielbowicz/David Campbell (UNLV) 8-32. Stephan Timu/Gomez (SDSU) def.Wronski/Hunter (UNLV) 8-23. Groh/Eugenio Romero (SDSU) def.Massaro/Burrows (UNLV) 8-6
SINGLES: (SDSU EARNS FOUR TEAM POINTS)1. Joel Kielbowicz (UNLV) def. Benedikt Stronk (SDSU) 6-1, 5-7, 6-12. Christian Groh (SDSU) def. Elliot Wronski (UNLV) 7-5, 6-23. #116 Markus Dickhardt (SDSU) def. Romain Massaro (UNLV) 6-4, 6-04. Stephan Timu (SDSU) def. Brett Hunter (UNLV) 7-6, 6-7, 6-35. Anthony Gomez (SDSU) def. Jonathan Hooper (UNLV) 5-7, 6-4, 6-26. Wesley Burrows (UNLV) def. Robert Sabo (SDSU) 6-4, 6-4