Shamrock Bake: Rebs Beats Holiday Heat By Doubling Up 'Bows - University of Nevada Las Vegas Athletics

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The 61st-ranked UNLV men's tennis team closed out its non-conference schedule on Tuesday with a 4-2 win over future Mountain West member Hawai'i during the start of this week's record western heat wave on St. Patrick's Day at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.

With mid-March temperatures in the desert tickling the high '80s, the Rebels remained perfect in eight outings at home this season to improve to 10-4 overall while Rainbow Warriors, currently playing as part of the Big West Conference, fell to 8-5.

Doubles was more than competitive. UNLV notched a win at No. 2 when Illia Maksymchuk and Marko Maksimovic downed Azuma Visaya and Toa Maeda, 6-2, but both of the other matches would head to a tiebreaker. Ilia Snitari and Arda Karakas, ranked 58th in the nation, improved to 8-0 playing together with a 7-6 (7-2) victory over Timothy Li and Kosuke and Nakanishi at the top position to clinch the point.

The Rebels won four of the six first sets in singles play and eventually got the three requisite points to end it. Maksimovic was off first, 6-3, 6-1, over Li at No. 2; Snitari, ranked 61st, improved to an eye-popping 23-2 this season with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Visaya at the top; and, after the 'Bows won two matches at the bottom of the lineup, Vitaliy Horovoy toughed out a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Adriano Dzheney on court four to close the proceedings.

REBEL OF THE MATCH: Marko Maksimovic, already a three-time MW Freshman of the Week, teamed up for a quick doubles win and then breezed in his singles match to improve to 7-2 as a Rebel.

UP NEXT: UNLV will dive into a string of six consecutive Mountain West matches by playing its first conference road date on Friday at Utah State starting with doubles play at 2 p.m. PT.

Men's Tennis Match Results
#61 UNLV 4, HAWAI'I 2
March 17, 2026, at Las Vegas, NV
(Fertitta Tennis Complex)

Singles competition
1. #61 Ilia Snitari (UNLVMT) def. Azuma Visaya (UHM) 6-1, 6-3
2. Marko Maksimovic (UNLVMT) def. Timothy Li (UHM) 6-3, 6-1
3. Michael Kouame (UNLVMT) vs. Kosuke Nakanishi (UHM) 7-6, 3-5, unfinished
4. Vitaliy Horovoy (UNLVMT) def. Adriano Dzhenev (UHM) 6-4, 7-5
5. Kent Mueller (UHM) def. Taiyo Hirano (UNLVMT) 6-3, 7-6
6. Hikaru Takahashi (UHM) def. Arda Karakas (UNLVMT) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. #58 Ilia Snitari/Arda Karakas (UNLVMT) def. Timothy Li/Kosuke Nakanishi (UHM) 7-6 (7-2)
2. Illia Maksymchuk/Marko Maksimovic (UNLVMT) def. Azuma Visaya/Toa Maeda (UHM) 6-2
3. Taiyo Hirano/Michael Kouame (UNLVMT) vs. Adriano Dzhenev/Kent Mueller (UHM) 6-6, unfinished

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

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Players Mentioned

Taiyo Hirano

Vitaliy Horovoy

Arda Karakas

Michael Kouame

Marko Maksimovic

Illia Maksymchuk

Ilia Snitari

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