Among the common language used in sports is REBUILDING YEAR. A favorite label among coaches trying to explain away softer expectations, the term was no cliché for the 2004 UNLV women's tennis team.
Gone were five players -- through graduation and transfer -- who started the fall 2003 tourney season in Las Vegas, including four that would have dotted the starting lineup if still on campus.
Having exited was 55-match winner and two-year No. 1 player, Paulina Janus. Gone was perhaps the best sixth-woman in school history, Amy Hadziosmanovic. Adios also to the team's only spring '03 ranked competitor, Tracie Chong.
In fact, Head Coach Kevin Cory's roster included only three letterwinners, just one of whom was a senior. "Three of our six starters were new to Division One tennis," Cory said. "We were young and inexperienced so I didn't know what to expect."
After an uneventful fall season that produced just one player record over .500, the team shook off the winter rust by hosting the Freeman Memorial Championships to conclude individual tournament play. Just one year after receiving a program-record preseason ranking of 17, the 2004 Lady Rebels came into the spring 20 spots lower.
The usual late-January kickoff weekend produced three wins but included an early test. With five singles matches going three sets, UNLV found itself tied with unranked New Mexico State at three apiece on a sunny but windy day. With all eyes on Court Three, Lady Rebel newcomer Anne Claire Ortiz-Luis, a junior transfer from Cal Poly Pomona, rallied to win a third-set tiebreaker and keep her team unscathed. "This was a difficult match for multiple reasons," Cory said after the great escape. "We played a talented team in tough conditions with a lot of new players. I am proud of how we came together as a team to get the win."
A brutal trip to Northern California brought identical 7-0 losses, first to No. 1 Stanford and then No. 4 California on a forgettable Valentine's Day that only produced a lone doubles win at the third spot. Back home for the annual Lady Rebel Classic, the late-February field was perhaps the tourney's strongest yet. After an opening 6-1 win over Kansas, the talent level became evident when UNLV fell hard in the semifinals to Tulane. Though ranked 27th at the time, the Green Wave finished the year at No. 11. A day later the Lady Rebels salvaged a third-place finish with a nifty win over No. 63 Washington State for their first victory over a ranked team in 2004.
The 10-match homestand continued with easy wins over Montana, UC Riverside and Bowling Green. Playing in unusually warm March weather, UNLV stayed hot itself with a win over underrated Middle Tennessee State that included Gyorgyi Zsiros claiming a straight-setter over 55th-ranked Manon Kruse of the Blue Raiders.
The non-conference portion of the schedule concluded March 23 vs. Ohio State and the matchup of ranked teams would produce the home team's most impressive win of the year. After surrendering the doubles point, UNLV took five of six singles matches -- all in straight sets -- to upend the No. 52 Buckeyes. "The Ohio State match was by far our best win of the year," Cory said. "We really put it together that day up and down the lineup."
Mountain West Conference play brought the two Utah schools to town and UNLV extended its winning streak to seven with a 7-0 blitzing of the Utes on March 26. One day later, it was a different story. BYU, ranked 14th, came to Fertitta and spoiled the annual Senior Day festivities with a 7-0 whipping that dropped UNLV's home record for the year to 11-4.
After a mid-year non-conference visit to powerful UCLA ended on the short end of a 6-1 final, UNLV won its first road match in four attempts and it could not have come at a better time as the Lady Rebels got by MWC arch-rival San Diego State 5-2. UNLV, now ranked 48th, improved to 12-5 overall and 2-1 in the league. The match was closer than the final score indicated as the Lady Rebels had to rally after dropping the doubles point. In singles play, UNLV got a quick win at the top spot where Zsiros eased by Dita Hauerlandova 6-1, 6-3. Also winning for the visitors was Mery Contstanti on Court Six 6-2, 6-2 over Julie Litrich. After SDSU picked up a win at No. 2, UNLV won all three remaining matches in three sets. Oritz-Luis scored at No. 3, Claire Smith rallied for a win at No. 5 and Cindy Treber came back from a big deficit to prevail 0-6, 7-5, 7-6 at No. 4.
"The competition was heated at times and the match was not pretty but in the end we fought hard and came through to win over a rival," Cory said immediately after. "This could have gone either way."
The Spring Break trip to the West Coast continued to be a high point after picking up conference wins over Wyoming, 6-1, and Colorado State, 5-2, which improved the Lady Rebels to 4-1 in league play.
Just a week later, the road became less forgiving when a key neutral-site meeting with No. 29 New Mexico turned into a 5-2 loss. The Lady Rebels won two of the top three singles matches, including Zsiros knocking off 73rd-ranked Maja Kovacek in a super-tiebreaker, but the Lobos proved too deep. A day later, UNLV closed its regular season with a 5-2 win at Air Force that included Zsiros getting upset herself by Falcon Laura Nigro.
Returning to SDSU's Barnes Tennis Center for the MWC Championship, UNLV now ranked 54th, improved to 10-2 all-time at the tournament by easing by Wyoming 4-0 in the first-round. The third-seeded Lady Rebels improved to 16-6 overall and 6-2 vs. MWC opponents. UNLV began the morning by taking the first two completed doubles matches for one team point. In singles, UNLV got three straight-set victories to clinch it.
First off the court was Zsiros, who downed Patricia Chien 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1. Playing on Court Five, Smith then finished off Amy Senko 6-3, 6-0. And when Ortiz-Luis defeated Jennifer Hancock 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 3 spot, play was stopped on the remaining courts. The clinching win gave Ortiz-Luis her team-leading 23rd victory of the season. "I felt we did a good job in taking care of business," Cory said afterward. "Wyoming played some solid tennis and this win sets us up for a big match with BYU."
The Lady Rebels had reached the semifinals for the fourth time in the five year's of the league's existence and looked to avenge an upset loss in the semis one year earlier to the Cougars. The rematch with now-22nd-ranked BYU didn't go any better, however, as UNLV was dispatched 4-0. The loss meant Cory's Crew would fall to 16-7 overall and miss the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001.
While no Lady Rebel earned a spot in the NCAA individual events, Zsiros finished ranked 102nd nationally and became the school's third three-time all-conference honoree in history, joining four-timer Marianne Vallin (1994-97) and former teammate Janus (2001-03).
Also tabbed for singles from UNLV was Ortiz-Luis who rang up a nice 16-6 dual-match slate at the No. 3 spot during her first year with the program.
In doubles, Zsiros and partner Smith were one of six duos to be voted All-MWC. The pair stood 17-6 in dual matches at No. 2 in the lineup.
"For the team we had, we actually had a lot of success," Cory said. "It was definitely a rebuilding year but we still maintained a high level of play. We feel we had a down year but a lot of teams would have loved to have had our season."
