Sept. 11, 2001

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STORYLINE: The brand new UNLV women's golf team will play for the first time in its relatively brief history this week as the Rebels open the 2001-02 campaign at the 23rd Comcast/Dick McGuire Invitational on Thursday, Sept. 13. The 54-hole tournament will be split over three days, with 18 holes to be played each day at the UNM Championship Course (Par 73--6,069 Yards) in Albuquerque, N.M.

ABOUT UNLV: The Dick McGuire Invitational will be the first-ever tournament for the Rebels, who begin their first season of play. However, despite the lack of established tradition, UNLV head coach Kelley Hester landed a solid recruiting class made up of some of the top junior players in the country. Three of the new Rebels -- freshmen Hwanhee Lee, Tina Mabanta and Young Pak -- have been ranked among the top 50 juniors in the last year. Hester also signed native Las Vegan Erin Borcherts, who transferred to her hometown school after two seasons at Oregon State.

FIELD: The Rebels waste no time in facing some of the top competition in the country as 10 of the 18 teams are ranked in the Golfweek Top 25, and all but UNLV and UTEP rank among the top 60. Additionally, UNLV will get a peek at its Mountain West Conference foes with five of the league's six teams participating. The field consists of: Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Brigham Young, Colorado State, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Pepperdine, San Diego State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU, Tulsa, UNLV, and UTEP.

LINEUP: UNLV's lineup for the Dick McGuire Invitational will be junior Erin Borcherts and freshmen Ayeesha Kosugi, Hwanhee Lee, Tina Mabanta, and Angela Olivarri.

HEAD COACH KELLEY HESTER: UNLV women's golf head coach Kelley Hester begins her first season as UNLV's head coach and second overall as a head coach. The University of Georgia graduate spent one season at the helm at Mercer University before returning to her alma mater as an assistant coach for two seasons. Hester was a four-year letterwinner for the Bulldogs, earning All-SEC accolades three times and Academic All-America kudos twice.

RESULTS: Complete results from the Dick McGuire Invitational can be found online following each round at unlvrebels.com.

UP NEXT: Following the Dick McGuire, the Rebels take no time to rest, heading immediately to Nashville, Tenn., to compete at the Mason Rudolph Intercollegiate hosted by Vanderbilt on Monday, Sept. 17 and Tuesday, Sept. 18.