April 19, 2002

LAS VEGAS - No. 18 UNLV will play seventh seed Colorado State in Thursday's opening round of the 2002 Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Championship, the league announced.

The Lady Rebels, who paced the conference with a school-record-tying 17-3 regular-season record, earned the second seed with a 6-1 MWC mark. Top seed San Diego State, which defeated UNLV 4-3 on March 28 in California, will take on eight seed Wyoming in the first round.

Elsewhere, fourth-seeded host BYU will face fifth seed Utah and third seed New Mexico will take on sixth-seeded Air Force. The semifinals will be Friday and final on Saturday at the BYU Tennis Complex in Provo, Utah.

On the men's side, 53rd-ranked UNLV is hosting a men's conference tournament for the first time in school history. The Rebels limped to a 9-11 regular-season finish on a three-match losing streak. With a 2-3 MWC mark, UNLV earned the fifth seed in the six-school event and will take on fourth-seeded Utah. Also, third seed UNM will face sixth-seeded Air Force.

Top-seed SDSU will enjoy a bye and face the winner of the UNLV/Utah match while second seed BYU will await the winner of UNM/AFA. The semifinals are Friday and the championship set for Saturday. All matches will take place at the Fertitta Tennis Complex on campus.

Tickets are $4 ($2 18 and younger) per session or $10/$5 for the entire tournament.

2002 MWC TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS SEEDING
WOMEN'S         MWC OVERALL1.  San Diego State 7-0 16-72.  UNLV        6-1 17-33.  New Mexico  5-2 12-94.  BYU     4-3 9-125.  Utah        2-5 9-126.  Air Force   2-5 11-117.  Colorado State  1-6 6-158.  Wyoming     1-6 5-13
MEN'S1.  San Diego State 4-1 15-82.  BYU     4-1 13-83.  New Mexico  3-2 15-84.  Utah        2-3 13-105.  UNLV        2-3 9-116.  Air Force   0-5 13-9