April 23, 2003

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV women's tennis team will be ranked 28th in the nation when begins its defense of the Mountain West Conference Championship Thursday in San Diego as the latest edition of the Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings were released Wednesday.

With their 6-1 league record, the Lady Rebels (15-4 overall), who jumped two spots in this week's rankings, tied San Diego State for the regular-season championship, the first such title in school history. However, powered by its 4-3 victory over the Aztecs on March 28, UNLV earned the top seed and will take on eighth-seeded Wyoming in the first round at the SDSU Courts in San Diego. The winner of that match will take on the survivor of BYU vs. Colorado State in one of Friday's semifinals. The championship match is scheduled for Saturday.

The only other time UNLV was a top seed came at the 1997 tournament as part of the Western Athletic Conference, which did not crown a regular-season winner. The Lady Rebels lost to SDSU in the semifinals in that event.

The Lady Rebels have won two of the first three MWC postseason championships (2000 and 2002), including downing the Aztecs in last year's final.

2003 MWC WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDINGS
At SDSU Tennis Courts, San Diego, CA
April 24-26
SEED    RANK, TEAM (MWC RECORD)
1.  No. 28 UNLV (6-1)2.  No. 23 San Diego State (6-1)3.  No. 48 New Mexico (5-2)4.  No. 54 BYU (5-2)5.  Colorado State (3-4)6.  Air Force (2-5)7.  Utah (1-6)8.  Wyoming (0-7)