SAN DIEGO (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV men's tennis team rallied after trailing big to upend San Diego State, 4-3, Thursday afternoon at the Aztec Tennis Center.
 
The Rebels won their second straight to improve to 10-8 overall and 2-1 in the Mountain West while the Aztecs dropped to 1-11 and 0-2 in the league.
 
The hosts took an early 1-0 lead by winning the first two completed doubles matches.
 
In singles play, Maxim Verboven was first off the court with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Johannes Seeman at the top of the lineup. The Aztecs responded with two straight-set victories to build a 3-1 lead before Thomas Navarro won a pair of tiebreakers to fend off Liam Spiers, 7-6, 7-6, at the sixth position.
 
The final two matches went to three sets as Aaron Bailey got by Bora Sengul, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, at No. 3 and then reigning MW Freshman of the Week Dusan Rsovac outlasted Eugenio Firtmaurice, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, to complete the comeback.
 
REBEL OF THE MATCH: Thomas Navarro stepped into the lineup at No. 6 for the first time in league play and came through in thrilling fashion with his double-tiebreaker victory that kept his team alive.
 
QUOTABLE: "Being down 1-0 after doubles, Max stepped up and got us on the board quickly. After they got two more wins, our backs were against the wall but the remaining guys battled to get the overall win in what was a total team effort."
-UNLV Head Coach Owen Hambrook
 
UP NEXT: UNLV is off until hosting UNR on Friday, April 14 starting at 3 p.m. Admission to all matches is free of charge. The meeting between the in-state rivals is part of the Silver State Series presented by America One Credit Union.
 
Men's Tennis Match Results
UNLV 4, SAN DIEGO STATE 3
April 6, 2023, at San Diego
(Aztec Tennis Center)

Singles competition
1. Maxim Verboven (UNLV) def. Johannes Seeman (SDSU) 6-3, 6-4
2. Chikaya Sato (SDSU) def. Anton Ornberg (UNLV) 6-3, 6-4
3. Aaron Bailey (UNLV) def. Bora Sengul (SDSU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
4. Aleander Mandma (SDSU) def. Milos Dabic (UNLV) 6-3, 6-1
5. Dusan Rsovac (UNLV) def. Eugenio Fitzmaurice (SDSU) 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-4
6. Thomas Navarro (UNLV) def. Liam Spiers (SDSU) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2)
 
 Doubles competition
1. Johannes Seeman/Chikaya Sato (SDSU) def. Maxim Verboven/Milos Dabic (UNLV) 6-3
2. Aleander Mandma/Bora Sengul (SDSU) def. Aaron Bailey/Dusan Rsovac (UNLV) 6-1
3. Lenny Melzer/Andre Saleh (SDSU) vs. Jackson Atherton/Anton Ornberg (UNLV) 3-4, unfinished
 
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (1,4,2,6,3,5)