Weekly Men's Tennis Release #5

Three league teams ranked in the nation's top 75. (3/2)

Men's Tennis Home HEADLINES Four MWC Tennis Teams Receive ITA Academic Accolades Mountain West Conference Announces Tennis Coaches of the Year Five Teams to Represent Mountain West Conference in 2009 NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Championships RELATED LINKS • Follow all of the college tennis action at CollegeSports.com • Email this to a friend

March 2, 2000

.PDF version of release

National Rankings:

Mtn. West Teams in Top-75
(Mar. 1)
Rk  Pvs School     Rec
39  40  BYU        6-2
57  53  New Mexico 2-7
61  60  UNLV       3-5

Mtn. West Player in Singles
(Mar. 1)
Rk Pvs  Individual, School
6   8   Matt Amgwerd, UNM

Mtn. West Player in Doubles
(Mar. 1)
15  22  Nic Losee/Carlos Lozano, BYU
22  15  Damien Ward/Gert Vilms, BYU
25  48  Matt Amgwerd/Nic Dubey, UNM

Gert Vilms, So., BYU
For the third consecutive week, the Mountain West Conference Men's and Women's Tennis Player of the Week awards were claimed by the same school. BYU's Kim Kelly (Sr., Salt Lake City, Utah) earned the women's honor and Gert Vilms (So., Tallin, Estonia) claimed the men's award. UNLV claimed both honors on Feb. 16 and San Diego State swept the honors last week. This is the first selection for BYU in men's or women's this season.

Vilms upset ranked opponents in singles and doubles play, despite the Cougars falling, 5-2, to No. 26 Boise State on Feb. 26. Vilms and partner Damien Ward are currently ranked No. 15 in doubles and defeated the No. 14 team of Leif Meineke and Wesley Moodie, 9-7, in the No. 1 slot. The duo has won 12 of its last 13 matches and improved to 23-7 overall and 6-1 in dual matches. Playing in his first singles match since Feb. 11 due to an injured hand, Vilms defeated No. 74-ranked Moodie, 6-2, 6-4, in the No. 2 position. The No. 40 ranked BYU men's team is now 6-2 on the season, losing only to higher ranked opponents (No. 19 USC and No. 26 Boise State).

Mountain West Conference Men's Tennis Players of the Week: Feb. 2 ­ Oliver Maiberger (Fr.) SDSU, Feb. 9 ­ Tom DeAngelis (Sr.) AFA, Feb. 16 ­ Danny Erez (Jr.) UNLV, Feb. 23 ­ Alex Waske (Sr.) SDSU, Mar. 1 ­ Gert Vilms (So.) BYU.

New Mexico Host of 2000 Mtn. West Men's Tennis Championship
The inaugural Mountain West Conference Men's Tennis Championship will be hosted by the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, N.M. All six Mtn. West mens' 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 Men's 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
Improving its home win streak to 16 matches dating back to last season, Air Force claimed three victories this past week. Freshman Eric Pittman went 3-0 for the week in the No. 4 singles position and posted two doubles wins. In this week's action, AFA plays host to Gustavus Adolphus on Saturday and Drake Sunday.

The highest ranked team in the conference at No. 39 in the nation, BYU suffered just its second loss of the season to No. 26 Boise State on Feb. 26 despite the efforts of player of the week Gert Vilms. The Cougars boast two doubles teams among the top-25 tandems in the nation. This week, BYU hosts Montana State Thursday, then plays a conference match at Utah Friday.

No. 57-ranked New Mexico suffered three losses to higher ranked teams at the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Louisville, Kent., this past week. Matt Amgwerd climbed to No. 6 in the singles rankings after going 3-0 in the No. 2 singles position during the tournament. Amgwerd and partner Nic Dubey are also ranked No. 25 in doubles. The Lobos will next compete at the HEB Invitational in Corpus Christi, Texas Mar. 3-5.

San Diego State swept through two added matches during the week, claiming a 7-0 win over Point Loma and a 9-0 victory at UC Riverside. Next up, the Aztecs host Michigan on Wednesday and send individuals to the Pacific Coast Doubles Tournament in LaJolla, Calif. Mar. 3-5.

UNLV and Utah were both idle last week. The Rebels will next compete in the prestigious HEB Invitational in Corpus Christi, Texas Mar. 3-5. The Utes host conference rival BYU on Friday, then are off until Mar. 11 at Pepperdine.