April 23, 2009

ALBUQUERQUE - The sixth-seeded UNLV men's tennis team avenged a close regular-season loss to Utah by upsetting the third-seeded and 49th-ranked Utes 4-2 during Thursday's quarterfinal action at the 2009 Mountain West Conference Championships, which are being played at the Jerry Cline Tennis Center.

The Rebels, who fell 4-3 to Utah while playing indoors at Salt Lake City three weeks ago, this time rebounded from losing the doubles point to dominate singles play. UNLV improved to 14-11 overall and ended the Utes' season at 16-10.

Utah won a close doubles point to begin the day. UNLV's lone win came on court two where Wesley Burrows and Mehdi Bouras downed Timmy Allin and John Taylor 9-7.

The Rebels, however, barely broke a sweat in singles. Senior standout Elliot Wronski tied things with a quick 6-2, 6-1 win over Wes Hancock at the top of the lineup. Utah then scored its second point with a straight-set win on court six. UNLV quickly retied it when Luca Barlocchi finished off Taylor 6-0, 7-5 at No. 4 and then took the lead for good with a 7-5, 6-2 victory by MWC Freshman of the Year Bouras over Phillip Eilers at No. 2. With the Rebels also leading big on court five, the match ended when the squad's other senior, Burrows, closed out Benito Suriano 6-3, 6-2.

"After losing a very competitive doubles point, it was great to see everyone come out and compete really hard in singles," UNLV head coach Owen Hambrook said. "The guys were pretty fired up after losing a close one to them up at their place so we had a lot of energy on the team throughout the match and it felt good to get the job done. Now we have to turn around and face a very tough match tomorrow."

UNLV will take on 43rd-ranked New Mexico in one of Friday's semifinals beginning at 1 p.m. PT. The second-seeded Lobos downed Air Force 4-0 on Thursday to advance. UNM defeated the Rebels 5-2 during the regular season in a match that was played indoors in Colorado Springs.

2009 MWC MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINAL(6) UNLV 4, #49 (3) Utah 2April 23, 2009 at Albuquerque, N.M.Jerry Cline Tennis Center
SINGLES1. Elliot Wronski (UNLV) def. Wes Hancock (UU) 6-2, 6-12. Mehdi Bouras (UNLV) def. Phillip Eilers (UU) 7-5, 6-23. Wesley Burrows (UNLV) def. Benito Suriano (UU) 6-3, 6-24. Luca Barlocchi (UNLV) def. John Taylor (UU) 6-0, 7-55. Attila Toth (UNLV vs. Jason Smits (UU) 6-4, 5-3 unfinished6. Timmy Allin (UU) def. Bryan Miller (UNLV) 6-1, 6-2
DOUBLES1. #47 Hancock/Eilers (UU) def. #75 Wronski/Barlocchi (UNLV) 8-42. Burrows/Bouras (UNLV) def. Allin/Taylor (UTAH) 9-73. Suriano/Stephen Jacobs (UTAH) def. Toth/Nikolaj Wulff (UNLV) 8-6