April 24, 2002

LAS VEGAS - The 53rd-ranked UNLV men's tennis team hosts a conference tournament for the first time in the school's history when the Mountain West Conference Championship kicks off Thursday.

An automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA championship field is on the line for the six league teams. Regular-season co-champion San Diego State (15-8 overall and 4-1 in MWC), whose only league loss came at the hands of the Rebels, is the top seed. Co-champ BYU (13-8/4-1) is the No. 2 seed, New Mexico (15-8/3-2) is third, Utah (14-10/2-3) is fourth, UNLV (9-11/2-3) is fifth and Air Force (14-9/0-5) is seeded sixth.

The Rebels will look to snap a three-match losing streak when they take on unranked Utah beginning at 2 p.m. The Utes downed UNLV 5-2 on April 13 to close out the regular season. No. 63 UNM will face Air Force in the first round's other action while No. 28 SDSU and No. 70 BYU enjoy byes.

The semifinals are Friday at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. while on Saturday, the third-place match begins at 10 a.m. with the championship slated for 2 p.m.

All matches are at the Fertitta Tennis Complex on campus. Tickets are $4 ($2 for 18 and under) per session or $10/$5 for an all-session pass.

UNLV, which won its only three league championships in 1994-96 as part of the Big West Conference, lost in the final of last year's event to BYU.

2002 MWC MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
All matches at Fertitta Tennis Complex, Las Vegas
THURSDAY(3) New Mexico vs. (6) Air Force        10 am(5) UNLV vs. (4) Utah               2 pm(1) San Diego State, (2) BYU            BYE
FRIDAYSemifinal I:    Winner UNM/AFA vs. (2) BYU  9 amSemifinal II:   Winner UNLV/Utah vs. (1) SDSU   1 pmConsolation:    UNM/AFA loser vs. UNLV/Utah loser 5 pm
SATURDAYThird Place:    Semifinal loser I vs. Semifinal loser II  10 amChampionship:   Semifinal winner I vs. Semifinal loser II 2 pm