UNLV, which won the inaugural Mountain West championship in 2000, didn't waste any time in showing that it was serious about regaining the crown in Year Three of the conference by doing something largely foreign to the squad in 2002: LOSING.

Yes, it would be a mistake to point to the addition of the best recruiting class in school history as the true eye-opener to the rest of the league. And the return of NCAA championship vets Paulina Janus and Marianne Bakken along with 2001 MWC Freshman of the Year Agnieszka Abram was not the ultimate wake-up call either. Even the three-match season-opening home sweep by a combined score of 20-1 did not completely serve notice to future foes.

No, it was actually the season's first UNLV defeat that got the folks in the program excited and opposing coaches nervous -- because the Lady Rebels met perennial power Stanford and stood toe-to-toe with the defending (and eventual 2002) national champs.

Starting the dual season ranked a middling 56th, UNLV traveled on February 15 to face a Cardinal program that boasted a 59-1 career scoring advantage over the Lady Rebels. Early on, with Stanford up 3-0, it seemed like business as usual. But then, something happened. First, UNLV's only senior, Bakken, prevailed at the sixth spot for the school's first singles victory over Stanford in eight all-time meetings. Then, all three remaining matches were pushed into a third and deciding set before the veteran Cardinal eventually pulled away for a deceiving 6-1 final.

Even more encouraging for head coach Kevin Cory was the fact that two of the closest matches were turned in by his heralded freshmen: Gyorgyi Zsiros at No. 2 and Tracie Chong at No. 4. In fact, after being nipped by Stanford's 11th-ranked Gabriela Lastra, Zsiros would not lose again the rest OF THE SEASON! The Hungarian's eye-popping 21-1 dual-match record would include wins in no less than 28 consecutive sets, while Chong would also turn heads en route to an 18-5 mark in dual play.

Looking back, Cory said that is when he realized that even his expectations of the team would most certainly be exceeded.

"That was the best I ever felt after a loss," Cory said. "I thought we had top-30 potential but with such a young group, you never know. When we were ahead on four of six courts late in the matches and I saw the Stanford coach pacing back and forth, that was certainly a sign that we could compete with anybody."

After cruising past Santa Clara to close the trip, UNLV returned to Las Vegas for a season-molding 10-match homestand that would include eight ranked opponents.

A 5-2 win over Loyola Marymount closed February just before the inaugural Lady Rebel Challenge. Following a shutout of Boston College, UNLV faced No. 40 South Alabama in the semifinals. The Lady Rebs won the first set in all six singles matches and upset the Jaguars 5-2. UNLV's prize? -- A championship showdown with No. 6 Wake Forest. UNLV would stun the Demon Deacons by winning the doubles point but Wake proved just tough enough in singles play to take the required four matches for victory.

Now standing 7-2 and ranked No. 41, UNLV wouldn't have to wait long for another shot at a national victory. Facing No. 17 William & Mary on March 6, the Lady Rebels overcame high winds to dominate the Tribe 5-1 behind the power of four straight-set singles victories to notch the highest-ranked victim in program history.

"The William and Mary match stands out as our most significant win," Cory said. "Beating a perennial top 25 team in such convincing fashion was impressive for such a young team and gave us a lot of confidence. I think people now realized they had to come with their best against UNLV."

Moving up 14 spots in the rankings, UNLV continued on a roll by shutting out No. 48 Penn led by Janus' three-set upset of No. 20 Alice Pirsu. Indiana was next in town and UNLV jumped to a 4-0 lead against the 31st-ranked Hoosiers to reach the 10-win mark.

After another 10-spot jump in the rankings, UNLV opened its league schedule by hosting one of its biggest rivals - 31st-ranked BYU - and the defending MWC champs swept doubles play to put the pressure on the home team. However, veteran Amy Hadziosmanovic, who was filling in for mono-stricken Leentjie Oosthuizen, rallied after losing her first set 6-love and won the clinching point at the sixth spot in the 4-3 final.

After a whitewashing of Utah, the home season ended with a war with the War Eagles as No. 32 Auburn proved formidable before UNLV got wins from its top four in the lineup to survive. The team hit the road immediately and just 48 hours later, the six-match winning streak was history as UNLV fell 4-3 at 29th-ranked San Diego State. The Lady Rebels' first loss outside of the top six all year also allowed the Aztecs to take over first place in the league standings.

"Auburn was a grueling match and we were worn out physically and psychologically," Cory said. "To have to travel the next day and take on a talented team like San Diego State the day after that was a mistake on my part."

It would be UNLV's first and only conference loss of 2002.

After shutting out CSU and Wyoming, the Lady Rebels opened April by playing at Air Force and surviving a near-hit. The Falcons won the doubles point and got an upset at the top singles spot before Abram rallied from down a set to win at No. 3 and bail out the team.

"We were having trouble adjusting to the altitude and the ball really flies up there," Cory said. "I was really proud because they came out with a tough victory. It certainly says a lot about the character of the team when you win those kinds of matches."

After the Lady Rebels closed out the regular season with a neutral-site victory over New Mexico 4-3, there was some time to reflect. UNLV had marked its best start in school history at 13-2 and finished with its second-best home record ever at 12-1 (trailing only 1995's 14-0 mark). Also, three Lady Rebels (Janus twice, Zsiros and Bakken) had earned Mountain West Player of the Week awards a school-record four times combined. In addition, Cory's crew moved up two spots to No. 15 in late March, which was just one off the school record set in 1997.

With an 18-day layoff before the start of the MWC tournament, UNLV was able to welcome back Oosthuizen to the lineup and was more than fresh for a title run in Provo, Utah.

UNLV opened the tourney by avenging a first-round loss to CSU a year earlier by crushing the Rams 4-0 with no one losing more than three games in a set. A semifinal rematch with always-tough New Mexico showed the team was peaking at the right time as it won 4-1 in what Cory labeled one of UNLV's best performances of the year.

A showdown with top-seeded SDSU would decide the title - and the Rebs would have it no other way.

"That was the matchup we were hoping for," Cory said. "SDSU is a very good program. They think on any given day they can beat us and we feel the same about them. Year in, year out, the two of us are going to have a lot to say about who wins the MWC championship."

Rainy conditions moved the final indoors, which favored neither outdoor program. UNLV struck first by taking both completed doubles matches for a 1-0 lead. Because of the availability of only four courts, singles matches were staged in shifts. The teams split the first four with Zsiros and Abram earning straight-set wins for the Lady Rebels. Leading 3-2, UNLV didn't have to wait much longer. Oosthuizen, who had missed the first meeting with the Aztecs, needed less than 40 minutes to steamroll to a 6-2, 6-0 victory and hand SDSU its first MWC loss of the year.

"We came out aggressively and really took it to them," Cory said. "The girls were on a mission. They wanted to win a conference championship and I was really proud of their effort." Cory earned his second MWC Coach of the Year honor in three years while Zsiros was named league freshman of the year and was joined by Janus and Abram on the all-conference team.

Having won the automatic NCAA bid, UNLV hoped its No. 18 ranking would help it nab regional hosting duties. Instead, the Lady Rebels were sent to Los Angeles to open against Cory's alma mater, Oregon.

"We thought we had a shot to host but we were excited about going to USC and thought we had a good chance," Cory said. "Instead, it turned into an experience we wanted to forget."

Among unsettling tournament conditions, the 39th-ranked Ducks upset the Lady Rebels 4-2 to snap UNLV's seven-match winning streak and send them home early. With no individual slots at the NCAA championships, the superb season suddenly was over.

A last highlight, however, came at the end of May when the final ITA rankings included UNLV at No. 20, its first top-20 finish in history.

"I felt we were deserving of a top-20 ranking," said Cory, who was named regional coach of the year as well as assistant Owen Hambrook. "We had very few letdowns over the season. Across the board we had success. We had six very good players in the lineup at all times. It makes it fun coaching a group like that."