RENO, Nev. – For the first time since 2014, the Nevada men's tennis team (13-6, 3-3 MW) defeated intrastate rival UNLV (13-9, 3-4 MW) 4-1 on Sunday. Sophomore Julien Evrard defeated Alexandr Cozbinov, ranked No. 89 in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, in three sets to help push the Wolf Pack to victory.

With a 3-1 lead in the match, freshman Jeremy Merville came back from losing the first set on court No. 4 to defeat Eric Samuelsson 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5. Nevada will head into its final conference match of the season this Saturday at home against Fresno State to conclude conference play.

The Pack won its 17th doubles point of the season, beginning with a 6-3 victory on court No. 2 by senior Robert Margitfalvi and Merville. Evrard and sophomore teammate Kostya Nesterenko defeated Cozbinov and Courtney Lock on court No. 1 by a score of 6-2 to give Nevada a 1-0 lead on the afternoon.

Playing at the Lakeridge Tennis Club, only four courts were available for singles play. The Rebels took the first match on each of the four competing courts.

That's when the Wolf Pack began its comeback.

Courts No. 1, 2 and 4 all came back from one set down to send their matches to a third and final set. The Rebels came away with a 6-2, 6-2 victory on court No. 2, but it would be their lone point of the day.

Evrard finished his conference season on a three-match win streak when he defeated No. 89 Cozbinov 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 on court No. 1. The sophomore is 10-3 on court No. 1 this spring and finished Mountain West play 4-1.

Margitfalvi came back to win on court No. 3, making it 3-1 in the Pack's advantage. Defeating Reuben Alberts 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, the senior finished conference play with a 4-2 record and is 9-5 on the season on court No. 3.

Merville's match-clinching victory on court No. 4 was the biggest of the freshman's career. Trailing 5-4 in the third set, Merville rattled off three straight points in the Governor's Series matchup presented by NV Energy and Barrick Gold.

Nevada will be back home at the McArthur Tennis Center on April 18 when it faces UC Davis at 1 p.m.