April 22, 2009

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV men's tennis team is seeded sixth and will face third-seeded Utah on Thursday to open play at the Mountain West Conference Championships, which will be played this year at the Jerry Cline Tennis Center in Albuquerque, N.M.

The Rebels stand 13-11 overall and went 2-4 in conference play this spring. The 49th-ranked Utes are 16-8 overall and finished 4-2. The two teams played each other earlier this month in Salt Lake City and Utah squeaked by UNLV 4-3 while playing indoors.

The teams have met five times in the nine-year history of the league event. The Rebels have won two of those matchups, including the most recent - a first-round meeting in 2007 as head coach Owen Hambrook's squad began its drive for its tournament title.

Action at the 2009 MWC Championship gets underway with No. 4 BYU and No. 5 San Diego State taking the court, followed by Utah vs. UNLV and No. 2 New Mexico vs. No. 7 Air Force at 3 p.m. PT. Top-seeded TCU earned a quarterfinal bye and awaits the winner of the BYU/San Diego State match. Semifinal contests will be played on Friday, with the championship set for 1 p.m. PT on Saturday.

2009 MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Thursday, April 239 a.m. PTQuarterfinal Match #1No. 4 BYU vs. No. 5 San Diego State
12 p.m. PTQuarterfinal Match #2No. 3 Utah vs. No. 6 UNLV
3 p.m. PTQuarterfinal Match #3No. 2 New Mexico vs. No. 7 Air Force
Friday, April 249 a.m. PTSemifinal Match #1No. 1 TCU vs. BYU/SDSU Winner
1 p.m. PTSemifinal Match #2Utah/UNLV Winner vs. UNM/AFA Winner
Saturday, April 251 p.m. PTChampionship Match