April 27, 2002
PROVO, Utah - The 19th-ranked UNLV women's tennis team won its second Mountain West Conference championship in three years with a 4-2 win over top-seeded San Diego State at the BYU Tennis Center Saturday.
The second-seeded Lady Rebels improved to 20-3 overall and 9-1 in the league. UNLV is now 21-7 all-time vs. MWC opponents in the league's three years of existence. The 28th-ranked Aztecs lost for only the second time in 15 matches to fall to 18-8 and 9-1. It was SDSU's first league defeat since being upset by BYU in last year's final.
The title marked the first conference championship for any UNLV men's or women's team since the men's golf squad won the league tournament on May 3, 2000.
With heavy rains in the area the final was forced to move to the BYU campus' indoor facility, which only offers four courts. The Lady Rebels opened the day by taking the two completed doubles matches for one point. Winning were the teams of Paulina Janus and Agnieszka Abram, 8-4 at No. 1, and Tracie Chong and Leentjie Oosthuizen, 8-5 at No. 3.
Playing in shifts for singles, the school's split the first four matches. Zsiros, a freshman ranked 94th, won her 17th-consecutive match at the second position, 6-1, 6-3 over Lindsey Hedberg. Abram made it 3-0 for UNLV with a 7-6, 6-3 win over Katja Karrento at No. 3.
The Aztecs, however, rallied to take the next two matches in three sets. Silvia Tornier, ranked 71st, came back to down 91st-ranked Janus 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 at the top spot. Katalina Romero then kept her team alive by getting past Chong on the fourth court 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Leading 3-2, the Lady Rebels needed to win only one of the two matches in the second shift of singles. They didn't have to wait long. Oosthuizen, who was out with mononucleosis when SDSU handed UNLV its last loss (4-3 on March 28), needed under 40 minutes to steamroll Katey Becker 6-2, 6-0 and clinch the team win while the remaining match was halted.
"I am extremely proud of this team," said UNLV head coach Kevin Cory, who has led the school to its only two league titles in women's tennis. "We showed a lot of heart in this tournament and this entire season so to finish with a league championship is special. San Diego State has an outstanding program and we know we have to get by them to win this league any year."
The Lady Rebels, who are now 11-3 vs. ranked teams this spring, got to the 20-win mark for the first time since 1991's 21-13 record. Also, with only three losses, the team is assured of breaking the school record for winning percentage (.870), besting the mark of .783 set in 1992 (18-5).
UNLV, which has won seven straight matches, earned the league's automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA championship field but will have to wait until May 2 to find out if it will host a regional for the first-second rounds. The Lady Rebels will make their third appearance in the team tournament and first since 1998 because the MWC champion did not receive an automatic bid when the school won its first title in 2000.
"I thought we would show big improvement this year but to win 20 matches, a league title and be in the top 20 shows how far this program can ultimately go," Cory said. "We can't wait to see where we'll be playing next."
2002 MWC WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
(#19) UNLV 4, (#28) SAN DIEGO STATE 2
Championship Match
At BYU Tennis Center, Provo, Utah
SINGLES-(UNLV EARNS THREE TEAM POINTS)1. (72) Silvia Tornier (SDSU) def. (91) Paulina Janus (UNLV) 4-6, 6-3, 6-12. (94) Gyorgyi Zsiros (UNLV) def. Lindsey Hedberg (SDSU) 6-1, 6-33. Agnieszka Abram (UNLV) def. Katja Karrento (SDSU) 7-6, 6-34. Katalina Romero (SDSU) def. Tracie Chong (UNLV) 4-6, 6-4, 6-25. Leentjie Oosthuizen (UNLV) def. Katey Becker (SDSU) 6-2, 6-06. Marianne Bakken (UNLV) vs. Indra Erichsen (SDSU) Did not finish
DOUBLES-(UNLV EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. Janus/Abram (UNLV) def. Karrento/Romero (SDSU) 8-42. Bakken/Zsiros (UNLV) vs. Tornier/Erichsen (SDSU) Did not finish3. Chong/Oosthuizen (UNLV) def. Julie Chidley/Hedberg (SDSU) 8-5
