May 11, 1998

LAS VEGAS - UNLV will send one individual and one doubles team to the 1998 NCAA individual tennis championships, the school announced Monday.

Men's player Asaf Tishler and the Lady Rebel doubles team of Gee Gee Garvin and Susie Kocsis have automatically qualified for their respective national championship tournaments.

The men's NCAA Championships will take place May 27-31 in Athens, Ga., while the women's event is set for May 25-29 in Notre Dame, Ind.

Tishler, currently ranked 41st, is 21-11 in singles for the season. The First-Team All-WAC player represents the fourth men's representative from UNLV to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament in singles. The junior from Tel Aviv, Israel, finished as the top-ranked player in Region VII. UNLV's Luke Smith won last year's singles and doubles national championships played in Los Angeles.

Garvin and Kocsis, who set a school record in the fall by reaching as high as No. 4 in the nation, are currently ranked 16th. The All-WAC pair is the fourth UNLV women's doubles team to reach the NCAA tournament. Garvin, a sophomore from Vista, Calif., and Kocsis a junior from Budapest, Hungary, are 16-10 on the year.

Both UNLV squads can still qualify for the team competition by winning their regional championship, both of which are being hosted by the school this week at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.