Oct. 21, 2009

LAS VEGAS - A pair of UNLV singles players survived the first day of competition at the ITA Mountain Region Men's Tennis Championships being held at the Darling Memorial Tennis Center on Wednesday.

"We left a couple of matches slip away today," UNLV head coach Owen Hambrook said. "But there's a lot of tennis left to be played and we're looking forward to a big day tomorrow."

UNLV was led by fifth-seeded Mehdi Bouras, who enjoyed a first-round bye before fighting past New Mexico's Phil Anderson 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to stay alive. Eight seed Luca Barlocchi also had a bye and then eased past Nevada, Reno's Alex Daruty 6-1, 6-2. Matthew Kunkel won his first-round match, 6-4, 6-1 over Dakota Pate of Idaho State, before falling later in the day.

In doubles, sixth-seeded Barlocchi and Bouras enjoyed a bye while Kunkel and Toth fell to a team from Norther Arizona 8-6.

Wilson/ITA Regional Championships for NCAA Division I men and women are taking place this month at sites throughout the country. Both the singles and doubles champion from this event will earn spots in the November 5-8 ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships hosted by Yale University in New Haven, Conn.

2009 ITA MOUNTAIN REGION MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPSDarling Memorial Tennis Center, Las Vegas
SINGLES ROUND OF 128Matthew Kunkel (UNLV) def. Dakota Pate (IDAHO STATE) 6-4, 6-1(8) Luca Barlocchi (UNLV) bye(5) Mehdi Bouras (UNLV) byeHugo Ramadier (NAU) def. Attila Toth (UNLV) 7-6, 3-6, 6-4
SINGLES ROUND OF 64(16) George Batrakov (BYU) def. Kunkel (UNLV) 6-2, 6-2(8) Barlocchi (UNLV) def. Alex Daruty (UNR) 6-1, 6-2(5) Bouras (UNLV) def. Phil Anderson (UNM) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
SINGLES CONSOLATIONAlex Golding (UTAH) def. Toth (UNLV) 6-3, 6-2
DOUBLES ROUND OF 64Hugo Ramadier/Kevin Taylor (NAU) def. Kunkel/Toth (UNLV) 8-6(6) Barlocchi/Bouras (UNLV) bye