April 29, 2010

Box Score

LAS VEGAS - The 67th-ranked UNLV men's tennis team, seeded sixth, posted a thrilling 4-3 upset of third-seeded New Mexico in quarterfinal action Thursday at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.

The Rebels, who improved their record to 13-11 overall, will now play San Diego State in one of Friday's semifinals. Top-seeded BYU will take on fourth seeded TCU in the other. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. PT. The final will take place Saturday at 10 a.m.

Playing under increasingly breezy and cloudy conditions, the Rebels opened a 1-0 lead by winning the first two completed doubles matches. Attila Toth and Kasper Konyves won 8-1 at the third position and then Mehdi Bouras and Luca Barlocchi clinched it with an 8-3 victory on court one.

Things got a lot tighter in singles play. Konyves blanked Joe Wood 6-0, 6-0 at the sixth spot to make it 2-0 before UNM got a straight-set win at No. 2. UNLV pulled ahead 3-1 when Toth finished off Carl Ho 6-2, 6-3 at No. 3. The Lobos, however, got a pair of victories at four and five to knot things at 3.

All eyes turned to the No. 1 court where Bouras was battling Jason Philips. The All-MWC Rebel dropped the first set 6-3 but came back to win the second 6-4. He took a 4-1 lead in the deciding stanza before Phillips won three straight games. Bouras steadied himself and won the next two matches for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 triumph.

"This was an extremely close match, just like during the regular season (when UNLV also downed UNM 4-3 on April 9)," said head coach Owen Habmrook. "We feel fortunate to come out on the winning side. Everyone competed hard but I'm really proud of Mehdi Bouras for clinching it for us.

"We have a very tough match tomorrow vs. San Diego State Thanks to everyone who came out to support us today."

2010 MWC MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP#67 UNLV (6) 4, New Mexico (3) 3April 29, 2010, at Las Vegas(Fertitta Tennis Complex)
Singles competition1. Mehdi Bouras (UNLV) def. Jadon Phillips (UNM) 3-6, 6-4, 6-42. Ben Dunbar (UNM) def. Luca Barlocchi (UNLV) 6-1, 6-23. Attila Toth (UNLV) def. Carl Ho (UNM) 6-2, 6-34. Phil Anderson (UNM) def. Johannes Markel (UNLV) 6-4, 6-45. Conor Berg (UNM) def. Bernard Schoeman (UNLV) 2-6, 6-2, 6-26. Kasper Konyves (UNLV) def. Joe Wood (UNM) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition1. Bouras/Barlocchi (UNLV) def. Anderson/Phillips (UNM) 8-32. Berg/Dunbar (UNM) vs. Schoeman/Markel (UNLV) 5-4, unfinished3. Toth/Konyves (UNLV) def. Wood/Ho (UNM) 8-1Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (6,2,3,4,5,1)