Sept. 15, 2010
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV men's tennis will host players from three nationally respected teams this weekend to kick off its fall tournament action as the program's 2010-11 schedule was released Wednesday.
Coming to campus for the UNLV Invite are representatives from Kentucky, which finished last season ranked 12th, Pepperdine (21st) and Fresno State (27), along with the Rebels (64th) in an individual tournament format. Matches are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. each day Friday through Sunday. Admission to the Fertitta Tennis Complex is free of charge.
Overall, no less than 13 of the Rebels' upcoming 24 dual-match opponents this season were included in the final Campbell ITA College Tennis Rankings in May.
"We have a challenging schedule starting with some quality competition coming in here for fall tournaments," UNLV seventh-year head coach Owen Hambrook said. "The spring duals will afford us a lot of opportunities to move up in the national rankings. We play a number of ranked opponents both here and on the road, which should prepare us well for the league schedule."
The fall season includes the annual USTA ITA Regional tournament on Oct. 20-24 at Las Vegas' Stacy Darling Tennis Center. The very next week, the Rebels will host the newly renamed Larry Easley Memorial Classic from Oct. 29-31 with players from Boise State, Arkansas, Auburn, Oregon and NAU scheduled to compete.
The dual season begins on January 21 against Texas Tech at 2 p.m. UNLV's first road trip comes in late January with matches at Arkansas and against SMU in Fayetteville. Hambrook's squad then enjoys a 10-match homestand vs. non-conference opponents, including Oklahoma State on Feb. 18, Fresno State on Feb. 25 and a rematch with Arkansas on Feb. 27.
After road matches vs. Nebraska (March 4) and then at Denver (March 5) in Colorado, the Mountain West Conference schedule sees UNLV head to Air Force on March 10 before playing at New Mexico on March 13.
BYU (April 7) and Utah (April 9) come to town as members of the league for the final time before UNLV travels to Fort Worth to play TCU on April 17. The home finale is set for April 23 when San Diego State comes to Fertitta.
The 2011 MWC Men's and Women's Tennis Championships will be played April 27-30 in Fort Collins, Colo., while the NCAA Round of 16 and individual championships are scheduled to be played this season at Stanford.
2010-11 UNLV MEN'S TENNIS SCHEDULEDATE OPPONENT LOCATION TIME (PT)Sept. 17-19 UNLV Invite Las Vegas All Day (Pepperdine, Kentucky, Fresno State)Oct. 2-10 ITA All-American Tulsa, OK All dayOct. 20-24 ITA Regional+ Las Vegas All DayOct. 29-31 Larry Easley Memorial Classic Las Vegas All Day (Boise State, Arkansas, Auburn, Oregon, NAU)Jan. 21 Texas Tech Las Vegas 2 pmJan. 23 Weber State Las Vegas 10 am Northern Arizona Las Vegas 2 pmJan. 28 at Arkansas Fayetteville, AR TBAJan. 29 vs. SMU Fayetteville, AR TBAFeb. 4 New Mexico State Las Vegas 10 amFeb. 5 Southern Miss Las Vegas 10 amFeb. 6 Cal Poly Las Vegas 10 amFeb. 10 Utah State Las Vegas 2 pmFeb. 12 UC Riverside Las Vegas 10 am Idaho State Las Vegas 2 pmFeb. 18 Oklahoma State Las Vegas 2 pmFeb. 20 UC Irvine Las Vegas 10 amFeb. 25 Fresno State Las Vegas 10 amFeb. 27 Arkansas Las Vegas 10 amMarch 4 vs. Nebraska Denver TBAMarch 5 at Denver Denver TBAMarch 10 at Air Force* Colorado Springs TBAMarch 12 vs. Texas Tech Albuquerque, NM 1 pmMarch 13 at New Mexico* Albuquerque, NM 12 pmApril 7 BYU* Las Vegas 2 pmApril 9 Utah* Las Vegas 10 amApril 17 at TCU* Fort Worth, TX TBAApril 23 San Diego State* Las Vegas TBAApril 27-30 MWC Championships Fort Collins, CO TBATBA NCAA Regionals TBA TBATBA NCAA Championships Palo Alto, CA TBA
+At Stacy Darling Tennis Center, Las Vegas*Mountain West Conference MatchHome matches played at Fertitta Tennis Complex
