Men’s tennis served loss early in tournament
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Rebels bounced from Regional Championships
The UNLV men’s tennis members took on competition at the Amanda and Stacy Darling Tennis Center for the 2011 USTA/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Mountain Regional Championships. The singles and doubles winners from the 23 other regional championships taking place around the country will advance to the 2011 USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships on Nov. 3-6 at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
Wednesday saw five of eight singles players and two of the four doubles teams advance to the round of 64. Rene Ruegamer took out a player from Montana 6-2, 6-2. Alex Bull also won his match 6-1, 6-2, respectively. Tamas Batyi, the highest ranked Rebel in the tournament at No. 13, held off his opponent in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. Bernard Schoeman cruised by his competition in the first set, 6-2, and then continued to win the match in the next set, 7-6. Two doubles also had close calls as Batyi and Brian Kenyon edged out the competition 9-8, while Bull and Ruegamer escaped with a win at, 9-7. Johannes Markel won a close first set, and took out his opponent from Montana State 7-6, 6-3.
“My friend [Rene Ruegamer] came one semester before me to UNLV,” Markel said. “The team needed another player and of course Vegas is a nice place to live.”
Thursday was a bad day for the Rebels. All five singles players were eliminated from the tournament. Batyi, Ruegamer and Bull advanced early in the day to the fourth round before they met their match as well. Batyi won his third round match 6-1, 6-3. Ruegamer handled his draw 6-1, 6-2. Bull struggled in the first game, but pulled it out in the second and third, 4-6, 6-2, and 6-2. As a plus, the Rebels still had a doubles team in the competition. Fourth-seeded teammates Bull and Ruegamer wrapped up their counterparts from Idaho 8-6.
Friday brought another day of misfortunes for the Rebels as it saw the end of their run in the tournament. Doubles team Bull and Ruegamer, 43rd ranked in the nation, fell to a squad from BYU, 8-5. The Rebels were confident going into the weekend, especially playing a tournament in their hometown.
“We have practiced here before,” Ruegamer said. “We have some fans coming out which gives us a bit of advantage.”
The Rebels will look to rebound when they close out their tournament schedule as they host the Easley Memorial Classic Oct. 28-30.
