April 9, 2010

Box Score

LAS VEGAS - The 66th-ranked UNLV men's tennis team held off New Mexico for its first Mountain West Conference victory of the season, 4-3, Friday afternoon in a nearly five-hour match at a sunny Fertitta Tennis Complex.

The Rebels improved to 11-8 overall and 1-1 in the league while the Lobos fell to 6-9/1-2.

UNLV opened the day by rallying to take two of three doubles matches to earn a 1-0 lead. After UNM won at the second spot, Attila Toth and Kasper Konyves prevailed 8-6 at No. 3. The point would come down to court one where Mehdi Bouras and Luca Barlocchi teamed up to get by Jadon Phillips and Phil Anderson 9-8.

The teams went on to split the six singles matches. The Lobos got straight-set victories on courts 4-6 but the Rebels earned a pair of their own sweeps in the top half of the lineup. Bouras downed Ben Dunbar 6-3, 6-2 at the top spot and Johannes Markel defeated Phillips 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3. With the match tied at 3-3, it came down to court two where Barlocchi lost the first set and was down 4-1 in the second before the senior came from way back to clinch it for UNLV, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 over Carl Ho.

"New Mexico is always a tough, well-coached team," said UNLV head coach Owen Hambrook. "It was extremely close but in the end we managed to pull it out. Luca Barlocchi again lived up to his nickname - The Swiss Wizard - today."

UNLV will host its annual Senior Day on Sunday with a match vs. Air Force. Admission is free of charge. The home finale will honor Barlocchi and Matthew Kunkel.

Men's Tennis Results#66 UNLV 4, NEW MEXICO 3April 9, 2010, at Las Vegas(Fertitta Tennis Complex)
Singles competition1. Mehdi Bouras (UNLV) def. Ben Dunbar (UNM) 6-3, 6-22. Luca Barlocchi (UNLV) def. Carl Ho (UNM) 3-6, 7-6, 6-33. Johannes Markel (UNLV) def. Jadon Phillips (UNM) 6-3, 6-34. Phil Anderson (UNM) def. Attila Toth (UNLV) 6-0, 6-25. Joe Wood (UNM) def. Bernard Schoeman (UNLV) 7-5, 6-46. Conor Berg (UNM) def. Kasper Konyves (UNLV) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles competition1. Bouras/Barlocchi (UNLV) def. Phillips/Anderson (UNM) 9-82. Dunbar/Berg (UNM) def. Schoeman/Markel (UNLV) 8-63. Toth/Konyves (UNLV) def. Wood/Ho (UNM) 8-6
Order of FinishDoubles: 2,3,1Singles: 4,3,6,1,5,2