Weekly Men's Tennis Release #2
New Mexico's Matt Amgwerd climbs to eighth in the nation. (2/17)
Feb. 17, 2000
Mtn. West Teams in Top-75
(Feb. 16)
Rk Pvs School Rec
41 42 BYU 4-1
54 57 New Mexico 2-4
58 58 UNLV 3-3
Mtn. West Player in Singles
(Feb. 16)
Rk Pvs Individual
8 10 Matt Amgwerd, UNM
Mtn. West Player in Doubles
(Feb. 16)
15 26 Damien Ward/Gert Vilms, BYU
22 t16 Nic Losee/Carlos Lozano BYU
48 14 Matt Amgwerd/Nic Dubey, UNM
Athlete of the Week:
Danny Erez, Jr., UNLV
UNLV claimed both of this week¹s Mountain West Conference Men¹s and Women¹s Tennis Player of the Week awards. Danny Erez received the men¹s honor after he also registered three singles and three
doubles victories while leading the team to three non-conference wins and the championship of the UNLV Men¹s Tennis Invitational. Katarina Malec earned the women¹s honor for the second time after
posting three singles and three doubles wins against conference opponents, despite the Rebels going
1-2 as a team.
In helping the men¹s team claim the title at its own tournament for the fifth consecutive year, Erez
dropped just one set in singles play. The junior breezed through his opponents in the first two
rounds, but was the last match on the court on Sunday. With the match knotted at 3-3, Erez scored
the decisive point more than five hours after the team match began. He defeated Texas-Arlington¹s
Ola Bentzen, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the No. 3 position improving his overall record to 8-3 overall. Erez
started the week with a solid 6-2, 6-2 win over Utah State¹s Clayton Thomas in the No. 2 position on
Feb. 11, then handled Northern Arizona¹s Joel Kawicki 6-2, 7-6 in the No. 3 slot the following day.
Paired for the first time with Vladimir Pavicevic at No. 2 doubles, Erez rolled to victories in all
three matches.
Mountain West Conference Men¹s Tennis Players of the Week: Feb. 2 Oliver Maiberger (Fr.) SDSU,
Feb. 9 Tom DeAngelis (Sr.) AFA, Feb. 16 Danny Erez (Jr.) UNLV.
New Mexico Host of 2000 Mtn. West Men¹s Tennis Championship
The inaugural Mountain West Conference Men¹s Tennis Championship will be hosted by the University of
New Mexico in Albuquerque, N.M. All six Mtn. West mens¹ tennis teams will compete in the
single-elimination team event for the first league title April 20-22. Seedings will be decided by
regular-season dual match results in conference matches.
All requests for media credentials for the inaugural Mountain West Conference Men¹s Tennis
Championship should be submitted in writing to Director of Communications Elaine Adams at the Mtn.
West office or New Mexico Media Relations contact Georgette Lombardo prior to the event.
Team-by-Team Notes
Opening conference play on the road, Air Force suffered losses at BYU and Utah. Head coach Rich
Gugat remains just one shy of his 600th career victory. Currently ranked fifth among active Division
I coaches, Gugat owns a 599-155 slate in his 26th season. This week, AFA travels to Point Loma, the
Univ. of San Diego and San Diego State for weekend matches. Playing it first Mtn. West Conference
action, BYU swept Air Force, 7-0, on Friday. The Cougars have two doubles teams ranked among the
top-25 in the nation. Getting into the win column for the first time this season, No. 54 ranked New
Mexico posted a pair of non-conference wins over Colorado and Pennsylvania at home on Feb. 11 and
13. UNM¹s Matt Amgwerd boasts the highest singles ranking in the conference at No. 8 in the nation.
The Lobos are off until the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships begin on Feb. 24. Rains
hampered a trip up the California Coast for San Diego State as the Aztecs were forced indoors to
post a 4-2 win at Santa Clara, but were rained out at Stanford. This week, the Aztecs play at
Pepperdine on Friday, then return home to host Air Force on Sunday. UNLV claimed the title of its
own invitational team tournament as the Rebels earned their first three victories of the season.
UNLV defeated Utah state, Northern Arizona and Texas-Arlington en route to the title. The Rebels
travel to Tulsa, Okla., to take on former WAC rival Tulsa and Virginia Commonwealth on Friday and
Saturday. In its Mtn. West opener on Feb. 12, Utah claimed a 5-2 win over Air Force. The Utes added
a sweep of Idaho State on Feb. 16. This week, Utah plays host to Portland Saturday.
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