March 6, 2002

LAS VEGAS - The 41st-ranked UNLV women's tennis team shocked No. 17 William & Mary at the Fertitta Tennis Complex Wednesday, 5-1, marking the highest-ranked opponent ever defeated by the program.

The Lady Rebels improved to 8-2 on the year, including 7-1 at home, while the Tribe fell to 8-4 overall. It was UNLV's third victory ever over a team ranked in the nation's top 25 at the time of the match. A 5-3 win over No. 25 New Mexico in 1998 and a 6-3 victory at No. 18 California in 1997 were the previous two upsets.

UNLV began the day by winning two of three doubles matches for one team point. Paulina Janus and Agnieszka Abram won at the top spot, 8-2, over Lena Sherbakov and Candice Fuchs while Marianne Bakken and Gyorgyi Zsiros topped Jessyca Arthur and Angela Buergis 9-7 at No. 2.

In singles play, UNLV won the first set on four of six courts and quickly took a 3-0 lead. No. 92 Zsiros cruised past Delphine Troch, 6-1, 6-1 and Leentjie Oosterhuizen downed Amy Wei at the fifth spot 6-2, 6-4.

William & Mary got on the board with a straight-set victory at No. 6 as Nina Kamp downed Bakken 6-4, 6-2, which broke the senior's 11-match winning streak.

With high winds rapidly moving in, UNLV needed just one more victory from three remaining matches and it got two. Freshman Tracie Chong pulled out a 6-3, 7-6 tiebreaker victory to clinch it and Abram then won her match 7-6, 6-2 over Sherbakov on court three. The final match was halted in the third set because of inclement weather.

"I am proud of the way we competed today because I have a lot of respect for William & Mary," UNLV head coach Kevin Cory said. "I felt like the doubles point gave us a lot of momentum going into singles. The wind was a factor for both teams and I was pleased with the way we handled the conditions."

The Lady Rebels will take the weekend off and continue their 10-match homestand by facing No. 33 Pennsylvania on Thursday and No. 32 Indiana on Friday.

"This win puts us into good position going into next week," Cory said. "We have some time to heal up and get ready for two top-40 teams coming in."

UNLV WOMEN'S TENNIS RESULTS

(#41) UNLV 5, (#17) WILLIAM & MARY 1
At Fertitta Tennis Complex, Las Vegas

SINGLES-(UNLV EARNS FOUR TEAM POINTS)1. Paulina Janus (UNLV) vs. Candice Fuchs (W&M)     4-6, 6-4, 2-3 halted2. (92) Gyorgyi Zsiros (UNLV) def. Delphine Troch (W&M)    6-1, 6-13. Agnieszka Abram (UNLV) def. Lena Sherbakov (W&M)   7-6, 6-24. Tracie Chong (UNLV) def. Kari Olsen (W&M)         6-3, 7-65. Leentjie Oosthuizen (UNLV) def. Amy Wei (W&M)  6-2, 6-46. Nina Kamp (W&M) def. Marianne Bakken (UNLV)        6-4, 6-2

DOUBLES-(UNLV EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. Janus/Abram (UNLV) def. Sherbakov/Fuchs (W&M)        8-22. Bakken/Zsiros (UNLV) def. Jessyca Arthur/Angela Buergis (W&M)9-73. Wei/Olsen (W&M) def. Chong/Oosthuizen (UNLV)         8-6