Box Score

April 29, 2017

BOISE, ID. (UNLVRebels.com) - Just one point from losing 4-0, the third-seeded UNLV men's tennis team staged a monumental rally to defeat second-seeded Fresno State, 4-3, Saturday afternoon and advance to the title match of the 2017 Mountain West Men's Tennis Championship.

The Rebels improved their record to 19-8 overall and will be making their second consecutive appearance in the league final. The Bulldogs concluded their season with a 18-13 overall mark. Fresno State won the doubles point to jump out to a 1-0 advantage. All-MW conference duo Jakob Amilon and Evaldo Neto were the lone Rebels to win a doubles match, beating Patrik Pech and Euan McIntosh 6-2 at the top of the lineup.

Moving to singles, the Bulldogs started to build momentum, earning the first two points in singles to build a 3-0 lead. However, Fresno State's Youssef Hassan was battling it out with Charlie Croxford on court six, but Croxford bounced back and won the first set, ultimately defeating Hassan 7-5, 7-5. Richard Solberg beat Henrique Orosio 7-6 (5), 4-1 when Orosio retired early with an injury.

Two Rebels then came back after dropping their first sets. All-MW honoree Alexandr Cozbinov edged Euan McIntosh, 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1 and UNLV would grab the victory in the middle of the lineup where junior Ruben Alberts was down 3-1 in the final stanza before roaring back and downing Zdenek Derkas 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

"To come back from match point down and end up winning was unbelievable," said UNLV head coach Owen Hambrook. "I'm just so proud of the guys for staying positive and finding a way to win against a very good team."

UNLV, looking for its third MW tournament title under Hambrook, is set to play No. 1 seed Utah State at the Appleton Tennis Center at 12:30 p.m. PT. Sunday's championship match can be streamed for free on the Mountain West Network. Live scoring updates of UNLV matches will be available at www.unlvrebels.com.

For more information on the 2017 Mountain West Men's Tennis Championship, including live stats and live video links, visit the championship page at the Championship Central page at TheMW.com.

Mountain West Men's Tennis ChampionshipSemifinal No. 1April 29, 2017 at Boise, Idaho (Appleton Tennis Center)
#4 UNLV 4, #2 Fresno State 3
Doubles competition1. Jakob Amilon/Evaldo Neto (UNLV) def. Euan McIntosh/Patrik Pech (FS) 6-22. Xander Veys/Mantas Bugailiskis (FS) def. Adam Gage-Brown/Ruben Alberts (UNLV) 7-6 (7-5)3. Youssef Hassan/Zdenek Derkas (FS) def. Richard Solberg/Alexandr Cozbinov (UNLV) 7-5Order of finish: 1,2,3
Singles competition1. Xander Veys (FS) def. Jakob Amilon (UNLV) 6-4, 6-12. Alexandr Cozbinov (UNLV) def. Euan McIntosh (FS) 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-13. Ruben Alberts (UNLV) def. Zdenek Derkas (FS) 5-7, 6-4, 6-44. Mantas Bugailiskis (FS) def. Evaldo Neto (UNLV) 6-3, 6-35. Richard Solberg (UNLV) def. Henrique Orosio (FS) 7-6 (5), 4-1, retired6. Charlie Croxford (UNLV) def. Youssef Hassan (FS) 7-5, 7-5Order of finish: 4,1,6,5,2,3