March 7, 2009

LAS VEGAS - The 72nd-ranked UNLV men's tennis team lost 5-2 to No. 40 Fresno State at the Fertitta Tennis Complex on Saturday.

The Rebels fell to 9-5 with their third straight loss.

The visitors opened the day by taking two of three doubles matches for one team point. UNLV's only triumph came on court one where Elliot Wronski and Luca Barlocchi upset 47th-ranked Mirko Zapletal and Rudolf Siwy in a tiebreaker, 8-7.

In singles play, freshman Mehdi Bouras continued to impress with a 7-6, 6-3 win at No. 2 over Zapletal to improve to 12-2 on the year. The Rebels' other point came on court five where another rookie, Attila Toth, swept Tejesvi Veerepalli 6-2, 6-3.

"We had a lot of opportunities on a lot of courts today but let them slip away," said head coach Owen Hambrook. "But we'll learn from that and it will make us a better team in the long run."

UNLV will host Ball State on Thursday beginning with doubles play at 2 p.m. Admission is free of charge.

UNLV MEN'S TENNIS RESULTS#40 FRESNO STATE 5, #72 UNLV 2At Fertitta Tennis Complex, Las Vegas
DOUBLES -- (FS EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. Wronski/Barlocchi (UNLV) def. #47 Zapletal/Siwy (FS) 8-72. de Villiers/Boutillier (FS) def. Burrows/Miller (UNLV) 8-23. Leiby/Veerepali (FS) def. Toth/Bouras (UNLV) 8-5
SINGLES - (FS EARNS FOUR TEAM POINTS)1. #44 Rudolf Siwy (FS) def. Elliot Wronski (UNLV) 7-6, 6-12. Mehdi Bouras (UNLV) def. Mirko Zapletal (FS) 7-6, 6-33. Rikus de Villiers (FS) def. Luca Barlocchi (UNLV) 7-6, 7-54. Remi Boutillier (FS) def. Wesley Burrows (UNLV) 6-2, 7-55. Attila Toth (UNLV) def. Tejesvi Veerepalli (FS) 6-2, 6-36. Sidarth Alapati (FS) def. Nikolaj Wulff (UNLV) 6-2, 6-2