Jan. 22, 2010

LAS VEGAS - The 73rd-ranked UNLV men's tennis team opened its 2010 dual-match season with a 5-1 defeat at the hands of No. 39 Texas Tech at the Fertitta Tennis Complex on Friday.

With weather pushing the start time back, the teams agreed to begin with singles and doubles play was later canceled after the Red Raiders clinched the overall victory.

UNLV's top singles player, sophomore Mehdi Bouras, battled 25th-ranked Raony Carvalho at the top spot before succumbing 7-6, 7-6. In a battle of ranked opponents, No. 40 Tech's Gonzalo Escobar fought off No. 102 Luca Barlocchi 6-3, 7-6 at the second position.

The visitors earned three straight-set wins on courts 3-5 but the Rebels did get on the board when freshman Kasper Konyves won his first collegiate match in a dual format, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 over Raphael Pfister at No. 6.

"Today was very tough season opener vs. a very good Texas Tech team," said UNLV head coach Owen Hambrook. "We lost very close matches at 1 and 2 and if we win those we go to doubles play -- but hats off to Texas Tech, who played well today. We will take some positives from this and use them to get better as we move forward."

The Rebels will look to rebound by hosting a doubleheader next Friday. UNLV will play Utah State at 10 a.m. and then Northern Arizona starting at approximately 2 p.m. Admission to all matches is free of charge.

UNLV MEN'S TENNIS RESULTS#39 TEXAS TECH 5, #73 UNLV 1At Fertitta Tennis Complex, Las Vegas
Doubles CompetitionNot Played
Singles Competition1. #25 Raony Carvalho (TT) def. Mehdi Bouras (UNLV) 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2)2. #40 Gonzalo Escobar (TT) def. #102 Luca Barlocchi (UNLV) 6-3, 7-63. Rafael Garcia (TT) def. Attila Toth (UNLV) 6-2, 6-24. Andre Stabile (TT) def. Matthew Kunkel (UNLV) 6-4, 6-25. Vitor Manzini (TT) def. Johannes Markel (UNLV) 6-2, 6-46. Kasper Konyves (UNLV) def. Raphael Pfister (TT) 2-6, 6-3, 6-3