April 26, 2011

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV will continue its quest to become the first netter squad in school history to win both a regular-season and a tournament title in the same season when it opens play Thursday at the 2011 Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Championship.

Being staged for the second time ever in Fort Collins, Colo., (and first time ever for the men's tournament), the annual event will be played at Colorado State's new University Tennis Center.

The 38th-ranked Lady Rebels come in riding an eight-match winning streak and stand 19-4 overall after finishing 8-0 in the MWC. Top-seeded UNLV will take on the winner of Wednesday's opening match between No. 9 seed CSU and No. 8 seed New Mexico. The winner of that match will then play the winner of BYU vs. TCU.

Since the event's inception in 2000, head coach Kevin Cory has led his program to a 21-8 record in MWC championship play as UNLV advanced to at least the semifinals every season except 2001, including winning it all in 2000, '02 and '08. UNLV won its third MWC regular-season title earlier this month with a perfect run through the league.

Utah (13-9 overall/7-1 Mountain West) is the No. 2 seed, while San Diego State (15-9/6-2) captured the No. 3 seed. TCU (11-10/5-3), the defending tournament champion, claimed the No. 4 spot, while BYU (9-11/4-4) secured the No. 5 seed. Wyoming (13-8/3-5) is the No. 6 seed and Air Force (16-10/2-6) is the No. 7 seed. Rounding out the bracket is No. 8 New Mexico (8-14/1-7) and No. 9 seed Colorado State (8-13/0-8).

Action at the 2011 MWC Women's Tennis Championship gets underway Wednesday morning with the opening-round match. Quarterfinals are scheduled for Thursday while both semifinal contests will be played at 9 a.m. PT on Friday. The championship match is set for 9 a.m. PT, on Saturday.

Live scoring updates are available at www.themwc.com.

2011 MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPWednesday, April 2710 a.m. PTOpening RoundNo. 8 New Mexico vs. No. 9 Colorado State
Thursday, April 289 a.m. PTQuarterfinal Match #1No. 2 Utah vs. No. 7 Air Force
9 a.m. PTQuarterfinal Match #2No. 3 San Diego State vs. No. 6 Wyoming
1 p.m. PTQuarterfinal Match #3No. 1 UNLV vs.UNM/CSU Winner
1 p.m. PTQuarterfinal Match #4No. 4 TCU vs. No. 5 BYU
Friday, April 299 a.m. PTSemifinal Match #1Utah/AFA Winner vs. SDSU/WYO Winner
9 a.m. PTSemifinal Match #2Quarterfinal #3 Winner vs. TCU/BYU Winner
Saturday, April 309 a.m. PTChampionship Match