April 18, 2001

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV women's tennis team jumped 16 spots in this week's ITA WingspanBank.Com Rankings, which were released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Wednesday.

The Lady Rebels (9-11) rose from 65th to 49th after winning their last two regular-season matches, including a 6-1 upset of No. 39 New Mexico last Saturday. The team is preparing to defend its crown at the Mountain West Conference championships, April 26-28, in Fort Collins, Colo.

Individually, top singles player Paulina Janus made an even more impressive jump by improving 20 spots from 87th to a career-high 67th. The sophomore transfer from Azusa Pacific is 13-7 this spring after winning seven of her last eight matches, including upsetting two top-30 opponents since the last ranking was released.

The news was not so positive on the men's side as the Rebels (11-9) fell two spots to No. 50 as a team after ending the regular season on a three-match losing streak. Individually, senior Nenad Zivkovic plummeted 18 spots to 74 after being upset by an unranked player from Air Force. The Rebels will travel to Salt Lake City April 26-28 for their league tournament.