May 12, 2005

LAS VEGAS - The 41st-ranked UNLV women's tennis team opens play in its third NCAA Regional in four years on Friday when it faces No. 31 Texas A&M at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center in hot and humid Austin, Texas.

With both programs joining the national field this year as at-large selections, the Lady Rebels (14-8) and Aggies (15-12) are set to begin with doubles play at 9 a.m. Pacific Time. With singles following, the first team to reach four points advances to Saturday's regional final at noon vs. the winner of an afternoon match between 10th-ranked host Texas (20-5), which won the automatic entry from the Big 12 Conference, and Southern (14-8), which earned the bid out of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Saturday's winner moves on to the NCAA Round of 16, which will be played May 19-22 in Athens, Ga.

UNLV is 2-3 vs. Texas A&M all-time but has won the last two meetings, including the most recent in 2003. The Lady Rebels hold a 1-4 all-time record in NCAA team play and are looking for their first such win since 1998. Texas A&M earned its sixth consecutive bid to the NCAA Women's Tennis Championships and holds the advantage of having played three of its last five matches on UT's home courts.

"We're thrilled to be here in Austin and looking forward to getting back into NCAA play," UNLV head coach Kevin Cory said. "We didn't have much time to prepare of because of this being finals week but we had a good practice today and we will be ready to go. We don't know much about Texas A&M because both of our lineups are very different from when we played each other two years ago."

Fans can follow the action via the internet as a live-scoring link will be provided at www.texassports.com.

2005 NCAA WOMEN'S TENNIS REGIONALS (At Austin, TX)
May 13:  Semifinal -- 9 a.m. PDT#41 UNLV (14-8) vs. #31 Texas A&M (15-12)
Semifinal -- 12 p.m. PDTSouthern (14-8) vs. #10 Texas (20-5)
May 14: Regional Final - 12 p.m. PDTWinner UNLV/Texas A&M vs. Winner Southern/Texas