LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – For the first time since 1996, UNLV men's tennis will send more than one player to the NCAA Division I Singles Championship as the field was officially announced Monday.
 
Ilia Snitari (Kishinev, Moldova) and Illia Maksymchuk (Kharkiv, Ukraine) both earned automatic bids to the 64-player national championship draw by reaching the final round of the ITA Mountain West Regional staged last month.
 
It will mark the first time any UNLV tennis player – men's or women's – will be a part of the NCAA field since Christopher Bulus went in 2022. The only previous year that UNLV sent more than one player was 1996 when senior Roger Pettersson and junior Luke Smith both earned at-large bids.
 
"We are excited for Ilia and Illia to make the prestigious NCAA singles tournament," said UNLV head coach Andy Jackson. "The event has a long history of players going on to be good professionals. Both of our guys have that same goal. Featuring multiple players in the NCAA tournaments is generally the mark of a top 25 program, which is where we want UNLV to be again."
 
Including the newest duo, 14 Rebels have been selected to compete at the final event of the college season with some spectacular results. Smith went to two tournaments and, as a senior in 1997, rolled through the field to win the school's first tennis national championship. He then teamed with Tim Blenkiron a few hours later to win the doubles title as well.
 
This year's singles and doubles competition will be conducted Nov. 18-23 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando. Both players will learn their first round opponent when the draw is released on Saturday. Singles and doubles participants qualified via competition in approved qualifying pathway events.
 
-UNLV-