UNLV roundup: Women’s tennis team back in league semifinals

The top-seeded UNLV women’s tennis team will play in the Mountain West Championship semifinals for the fourth straight year after beating eighth-seeded San Jose State 4-0 in a quarterfinal Thursday in San Diego.

Aiwen Zhu and En-Pei Huang each won in singles and teamed for a doubles victory for the Rebels (15-6), who won their sixth straight match and fifth in the past six via shutout. They next face fifth-seeded Wyoming (14-7), which posted a 4-2 win over fourth-seeded New Mexico (12-9).

Zhu won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, Huang won 7-5, 6-2 at No. 3 singles, and they combined for a 6-3 victory at No. 1 doubles.

Connie Li won 6-4, 6-1 at No. 6 singles, and Izumi Asano and Anna Bogoslavets teamed for a 6-3 victory at No. 3 doubles.

UNLV has reached at least the league semifinals for the 18th time in the Mountain West’s 20 years of existence.

MEN’S TENNIS

At Fresno, Calif., Clayton Alenik posted the lone win for the fifth-seeded Rebels (13-9) in their season-ending 4-1 loss to fourth-seeded San Diego State (14-9) in a Mountain West Championship quarterfinal.

Alenik won 6-1, 6-4 at No. 6 singles and lost a 7-5 decision at No. 1 singles with Eric Samuelsson.

Samuelsson lost 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 at No. 1 singles, Olle Thestrup lost 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 singles, and Richard Solberg lost 6-1, 6-3 at No. 4 singles.

Solberg and Tom Ciszewski teamed for a 6-4 loss at No. 3 doubles.

With his win, Alenik, a sophomore, improved to 18-6 this season, including 14-1 in dual matches.

MEN’S SOCCER

Coach Rich Ryerson will play in a reunion game Friday in Cleveland to honor the 25th anniversary of the Cleveland Crunch winning the 1994 NPSL title.

Ryerson was one of two former Rebels to play for the 1994 Crunch, along with Scott Uderitz (1989-92). The two helped Cleveland top the St. Louis Ambush 3-1 in the best-of-five series, including a 17-15 double-overtime victory in the clinching match on April 26.

The NPSL indoor league was the United States’ lone professional soccer league until MLS debuted in 1996.