Box Score

SAN DIEGO (UNLVRebels.com) - Fourth-seeded UNLV is headed back to the Mountain West Men's Tennis Championship semifinals for the third straight season after posting an intense 4-2 victory over fifth-seeded UNR on Thursday afternoon at the Aztec Tennis Center.

The Rebels, who are looking to advance to their third consecutive conference final, improved to 14-9 on the season, while the Wolf Pack wrapped up the 2018 campaign at 15-8.

Just 11 days ago, the Wolf Pack won the regular-season meeting between the teams 4-1 when it was played indoors in Reno. With today's avenging win, the Rebels managed to split the three points in the Governor's Series presented by NV Energy and Barrick Gold. The competition between UNLV and UNR is in its fifth year and is a head-to-head athletic and academic challenge between the longtime rivals.

This time playing in the sea-level heat of Southern California, UNLV opened by taking the always-important doubles point. After the teams split the first two completed matches, the Rebels won 6-4 on court three to take the point.

In singles, the Wolf Pack rallied to win the first set on four of the six matches. However, the bottom half of the Rebel lineup proved superior, winning all three matches to end things. Mountain West Player of the Year and 96th-ranked Alexandr Cozbinov struggled at the top of the lineup against Julien Evrard but gutted out a second-set tiebreaker to move into a third set, which he was leading 3-1 before it was halted.

REBEL OF THE MATCH: Richard Solberg teamed with Jordan Sauer to win their doubles match to clinch the point on court three and then the man they call "The Closer" clinched the overall victory with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 win over Augustin Delahodde at the fifth position.

NET NOTE: The Rebels knocked the Wolf Pack out of the MW event for the second straight season. UNLV won last year's quarterfinal matchup 4-0 in Boise, Idaho.

QUOTABLE: "The guys came out with great energy and really wanted to take care of business against UNR. We played a solid doubles point to grab the momentum and even though the Pack battled back in singles, the Rebels kept their focus and proved to be the better team today."

-Head Coach Owen Hambrook

NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV takes on two-time defending tournament champion Utah State Friday starting with doubles play at 11 a.m. PT. The same two programs met in the 2017 final where the Aggies won 4-0. Every match of the tournament will be broadcast live and for free on the Mountain West Network. For more information on the 2018 Mountain West Men's Tennis Championship, including live stream and live results links, visit the Championship Central Page on TheMWC.com.

Men's Tennis Match ResultsMOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONSHIP - QUARTERFINALSUNLV 4, UNR 2April 26, 2018, at San Diego(Aztec Tennis Center)
 Singles competition1. #96 Alexandr Cozbinov (UNLV) vs. Julien Evrard (UNR) 4-6, 7-6, 3-1, unfinished2. Kostya Nesterenko (UNR) def. Courtney Lock (UNLV) 6-2, 7-63. Robert Margitfalvi (UNR) def. Ruben Alberts (UNLV) 6-2, 6-24. Eric Samuelsson (UNLV) def. Jeremy Merville (UNR) 6-4, 6-15. Richard Solberg (UNLV) def. Augustin Delahodde (UNR) 5-7, 6-3, 6-06. Jordan Sauer (UNLV) def. Peter O'Donovan (UNR) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
 Doubles competition 1. Kostya Nesterenko/Julien Evrard (UNR) def. Alexandr Cozbinov/Courtney Lock (UNLV) 6-12. Eric Samuelsson/Clayton Alenik (UNLV) def. Robert Margitfalvi/Jeremy Merville (UNR) 6-43. Jordan Sauer/Richard Solberg (UNLV) def. Augustin Delahodde/Peter O'Donovan (UNR) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,4,2,6,5)