April 28, 2009

LAS VEGAS - The 44th-ranked UNLV women's tennis team earned an at-large bid and is headed to an NCAA Regional for the third straight season and sixth time in the last eight years as the championship bracket was released on Tuesday.

The Mountain West Conference regular-season champion Lady Rebels (20-7), winners of 13 of their last 14 matches, will travel to Los Angeles to face 30th-ranked Arizona State (11-8) on Saturday, May 9, at the L.A. Tennis Center beginning at 9 a.m. The following day, the winner of that match will take on the winner of 11th-ranked host UCLA (17-6), an at-large choice from the Pac-10 Conference, vs. No. 59 Boston (14-5), which hails from the America East Conference. Champions of the regionals will advance to the NCAA Round of 16, which will be played May 15 at the Texas A&M Tennis Center in College Station.

ASU, also an at-large entry to this year's field, has faced UNLV once before in NCAA play when the Sun Devils downed the Lady Rebels 4-0 in the first round of the 2007 event. This will mark the first time the UNLV women will play an NCAA match on the UCLA campus after competing last year across town on the campus of USC.

"This is a big day for UNLV tennis," 10th-year UNLV head coach Kevin Cory said. "Being selected to the NCAA regional and having the opportunity to play a top program like Arizona State is a great reward for our program. It's always an honor to be able to represent your university in the national championship tournament."

2009 NCAA WOMEN'S TENNIS REGIONAL (At Los Angeles, CA)
May 9:Semifinal 9 a.m.#44 UNLV (20-7) vs. #30 Arizona State (11-8)
Semifinal 12 p.m.#11 UCLA (17-6) vs. #59 Boston (14-5)May 10:Regional Final 12 p.m.
ALL-TIME UNLV WOMEN'S TENNIS NCAA APPEARANCES2008At Los Angeles (Host: USC)Lost 4-0 in first round to Pepperdine
2007At Berkeley, CA (Host: Cal)Lost 4-0 in first round to Arizona State
2005At Austin, TX (Host: Texas)Lost 4-0 in first round to Texas A&M
2003At Seattle (Host: Washington)Lost 4-0 in first round to Illinois
2002At Los Angeles (Host: USC)Lost 4-2 in first round to Oregon
1998At Las Vegas (Host UNLV)Won 5-1 in first round over Washington StateLost 5-2 in second round to Pepperdine
1997At San Diego (Host USD)Lost 5-4 in first round to San Diego