April 17, 2007

LAS VEGAS - The 55th-ranked UNLV women's tennis team is seeded third and will face sixth-seeded Utah to open play at next week's Mountain West Conference Championships, the league announced Tuesday.

The Lady Rebels, who at 17-6 already boast their most victories in a half-decade, went 6-2 in league play to tie for third with San Diego State. However, with UNLV having defeated the Aztecs 5-2 during the regular season, head coach Kevin Cory's squad received the higher seed.

The tournament, which is being staged at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, begins with a play-in match on Wednesday. UNLV and Utah will meet in a quarterfinal match on Thursday at 9 a.m. PT. The winner will face the winner of the TCU-Wyoming match on Friday. The championship is scheduled for Saturday at 9 a.m. PT.

UNLV and Utah (13-10/3-5) faced off on April 13 and the Lady Rebels won 7-0. The teams have met in the MWC tourney just once before with UNLV downing the Utes 5-0 in 2000.

Since the event's inception in 2000, the Lady Rebels have a 10-5 record in MWC championship play and have advanced to at least the semifinals every season except 2001.

2007 MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Wednesday, April 259 a.m. PT   Opening Round          No. 8 Colorado State vs. No. 9 Air Force
Thursday, April 269 a.m. PT   Quarterfinal Match #1  No. 2 TCU vs. No. 7 Wyoming9 a.m. PT   Quarterfinal Match #2  No. 3 UNLV vs. No. 6 Utah1 p.m. PT   Quarterfinal Match #3  No. 1 BYU vs. CSU/AFA Winner1 p.m. PT   Quarterfinal Match #4  No. 4 San Diego State vs. No. 5 New Mexico
Friday, April 279 a.m. PT   Semifinal Match #1     TCU/WYO Winner vs. UNLV/Utah Winner1 p.m. PT   Semifinal Match #2     BYU/CSU-AFA Winner vs. SDSU/UNM Winner
Saturday, April 289 a.m. PT   Championship Match