San Diego, Calif. (April 1st 2005)--It is no April Fools joke, the 58th ranked BYU men's tennis team upset the 40th ranked UNLV in the Conference opener.
After struggling early on in doubles, the Cougars were able to regroup in singles and pull out the huge win over the conference's highest ranked team.
"It was just a huge win for us," said head coach Brad Pearce. "Not only is it a key conference win for us, we also beat a top ranked team."
The started out ugly for the Cougs. UNLV easily took the doubles point as they nearly swept BYU's two doubles 8-1 followed by a 8-4 victory at one doubles. Chip Hand and Shane LaPorte denied the Rebels the sweep winning at 3 singles 8-5.
But the Cougars refused to die. They would tie the match at 2-2 with big wins from the red-hot Chip Hand 6-2,6-2 at five singles and a 6-4,6-2 win from Dominik Kaufhold at six singles. The win gives Chip his ninth straight singles victory dating back to TCU on February 11th.
Then with the match winding down James Ludlow, the man who has been consistent for BYU all year long, pulled out a 6-5,6-2 win at the two singles. Then almost simultaneously, Jeff Das put the nail in the coffin for BYU with his 6-1,6-4 at the four spot. That gave the Cougars the coveted 4th point and assured them the win.
The boys in blue and white take on host San Diego State tomorrow at 10 a.m. to complete the opening conference doubleheader. BYU is a perfect 1-0 in conference play and advances to 13-4 overall.
#58 Brigham Young 4, #40 UNLV 3
SDSU Tennis Stadium
Doubles
1. Kielbowicz-Campbell (UNLV) def. Lechuga-Roshan (BYU), 8-4
2. Nehles-Salomon (UNLV) def. Kaufhold-Ludlow (BYU), 8-1
3. Hand-LaPorte (BYU) def. Hooper-Redelinghuys (UNLV), 8-5
UNLV wins doubles point
Singles
1. Henner Nehles (UNLV) def. Nima Roshan (BYU), 6-3, 7-6(7), 10-3
2. James Ludlow (BYU) def. Avriam Salomon (UNLV), 6-5, 6-2
3. Joel Kielbowicz (UNLV) def. Shane LaPorte (BYU), 6-4, 6-3
4. Jeff Das (BYU) def. Romain Massaro (UNLV), 6-1, 6-4
5. Christian Hand (BYU) def. David Campbell (UNLV), 6-2, 6-2
6. Dominik Kaufhold (BYU) def. Jonathan Hooper (UNLV), 6-4, 6-2