LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – Freshman Anton Ornberg rallied to win a thriller in a third-set tiebreaker to secure the UNLV men's tennis team's 4-3 triumph over UTSA on a sunny but breezy afternoon at the Fertitta Tennis Complex Sunday.
 
UNLV improved to 12-1 on the season, including 12-0 at home, while the Roadrunners fell to 5-6 after the three-hour-plus outing.
 
The Rebels, who had won the doubles point in nine of 12 matches coming in, were forced to rally after UTSA took two of three matches for a 1-0 lead.
 
In singles play, Eric Samuelsson evened the match with a straight-setter on court two to improve to 10-1 in duals as a senior; fellow-senior Alex Kobelt upped his overall record to 14-5 with a victory on court two; and local product Clayton Alenik finished off his opponent at the bottom of the lineup to secure the Rebels' first three points.
 
With the match eventually tied 3-3, all eyes moved to Ornberg's battle with Javier Rodriguez. After the Roadrunner took the first set, Ornberg won the second to move to a third set and then broke his opponent's serve to force a winner-take-all tiebreaker. Rodriguez built a modest 2-1 lead but Ornberg won the next six points to keep his team perfect in Las Vegas.
 
REBEL OF THE MATCH: Rookie Anton Ornberg improved to 16-3 overall and 9-1 in dual matches with his scintillating match-clincher on court five.  
 
QUOTABLE: "Rough start today in losing the doubles point against a very feisty opponent. It took a total team effort to battle back and win the match. UTSA certainly gave us all we could handle but the guys fought hard and got it done."
-UNLV Head Coach Owen Hambrook
 
NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV is right back on the court Sunday evening vs. Southern Utah starting at 5 p.m. Admission to all home matches is free of charge.
 
UNLV Men's Tennis Results
UNLV 4, UTSA 3
March 8, 2020, at Las Vegas, NV
(Fertitta Tennis Complex)

Singles competition
1. Alex Kobelt (UNLV) def. Kai Breitbach (UTSA) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
2. Eric Samuelsson (UNLV) def. Sebastian Rodriguez (UTSA) 6-1, 6-4
3. Juri Reckow (UTSA) def. Jordan Sauer (UNLV) 7-5, 6-3
4. Javier Gonzalez (UTSA) def. Tom Ciszewski (UNLV) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
5. Anton Ornberg (UNLV) def. Javier Rodriguez (UTSA) 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2)
6. Clayton Alenik (UNLV) def. Alan Sanson (UTSA) 6-4, 6-3

 Doubles competition
1. Alex Kobelt/Jordan Sauer (UNLV) def. Joao Alcantra/Sebastian Rodriguez (UTSA) 6-3
2. Joao Ceolin/Javier Gonzalez (UTSA) def. Eric Samuelsson/Clayton Alenik (UNLV) 6-1
3. Kai Breitbach/Juri Reckow (UTSA) def. Jackson Atherton/Milos Dabic (UNLV) 6-4

Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,1,3,6,4,5)