May 3, 2006

LAS VEGAS - The 48th-ranked UNLV women's tennis team barely missed out on an at-large bid to the 2006 NCAA Championships as the field was released Wednesday night.

The Lady Rebels (14-8) were perhaps the final team left out as four Mountain West Conference programs headed into the field, including 46th-ranked New Mexico, whom UNLV defeated 5-2 on the road in their only meeting this season.

League champion and 16th-ranked TCU earned the automatic bid while No. 28 BYU and No. 34 San Diego State, whom UNLV also defeated 5-2 during the regular season, were at-large teams. This marks only the second time in the last five years that the Lady Rebels did not earn a spot in the 64-team field.

"It's disappointing that we didn't get in ahead of a team we beat head to head," UNLV head coach Kevin Cory said. "But we'll move on and make sure we prove we deserve to be in next season."

While the team's season is over, top singles player Elena Gantcheva hopes to be one of 16 seeds at the individual tournament. That draw is expected to be released on Thursday.