April 11, 2010

Box Score

LAS VEGAS - The 66th-ranked UNLV men's tennis team won its second straight Mountain West Conference match, 6-1 over Air Force, to close out its regular-season home schedule on Sunday at a windy Fertitta Tennis Complex.

The Rebels improved to 12-8 overall and 2-1 in the league while the Falcons fell to 10-9/0-4.

The visitors actually earned a 1-0 lead when they took two of three doubles matches to start the morning. UNLV's only win came on court three where the senior duo of Luca Barlocchi and Matthew Kunkel prevailed 8-4 over Sam Barnes and Alex Beaussart.

The Rebels lost only one set in singles play, however. With top player Mehdi Bouras taking the day off, freshman Johannes Markel moved to the top of the lineup and downed Lance Wilhelm 6-3, 6-3. Barlocchi needed a super-tiebreaker to get by Austin Francis at No. 2, 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7); Attila Toth beat Taylor Soster 6-3, 7-6 at No. 3; Bernard Schoeman won 6-0, 7-6 over Brett Rodgers at No. 4; Kasper Konyves won 6-1, 7-5 over Stephen Katrein at No. 5; and Charlie Alvarado prevailed 6-3, 6-3 over Barnes on court six.

"The Air Force men always compete hard, which showed in doubles today," said UNLV head coach Owen Hambrook. "The conditions were tough but the guys stayed positive and go the job done in singles. It was nice to see our two seniors, Luca and Matt, win on Senior Day. Now we have to prepare quickly for a tough road trip."

Next up, UNLV will travel to Utah for two matches this week, starting with Utah on Friday in Salt Lake City. The Rebels finished 12-5 at home during the regular season but will play at Fertitta at least once more when they host the MWC tournament from April 28-May 1.

Men's Tennis Match ResultsApril 11, 2010, at Las Vegas(Fertitta Tennis Complex)
#66 UNLV 6, Air Force 1
Singles competition1. Johannes Markel (UNLV) def. Lance Wilhelm (AFA) 6-3, 6-32. Luca Barlocchi (UNLV) def. Austin Francis (AFA) 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7)3. Attila Toth (UNLV) def. Taylor Soster (AFA) 6-3, 7-64. Bernard Schoeman (UNLV) def. Brett Rodgers (AFA) 6-0, 7-65. Kasper Konyves (UNLV) def. Stephen Katrein (AFA) 6-1, 7-56. Charlie Alvarado (UNLV) def. Sam Barnes (AFA) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles competition1. Rodgers/Soster (AFA) def. Markel/Schoeman (UNLV) 8-42. Francis/Wilhelm (AFA) def. Toth/Konyves (UNLV) 8-63. Barlocchi/Matthew Kunkel (UNLV) def. Alex Beaussart/Barnes (AFA) 8-4
ORDER OF FINISH:Doubles - 1,3,2*Singles - 1,6,5,3*,4,2*Clinching Match