May 3, 2011

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - After a year away, the 39th-ranked UNLV women's tennis team is headed back to California for its fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Championship as the official bracket was released Tuesday.

The 2011 Mountain West Conference Regular-Season Champion Lady Rebels (20-5 overall/8-0 MWC) will travel to the Los Angeles Tennis Center to face 29th-ranked San Diego (18-5) on Saturday, May 14. The following day, the winner of that match will take on the winner of sixth-ranked host UCLA (18-5), from the Pac-10 Conference, vs. Quinnipiac (14-8), which won an automatic bid from the Northeast Conference.

Using a 64-team format, the women's first and second rounds are scheduled to be held at 16 different campus sites. The champions of the regionals advance to the NCAA Round of 16, which will be played starting May 20 at Stanford's Taube Family Tennis Stadium in Palo Alto, Calif.

This marks UNLV's eighth NCAA trip in the last 10 years and fourth to a California regional site in the last five seasons. Last year the program was sent to Chapel Hill, N.C., and upset Virginia Commonwealth in the first round before it fell to host North Carolina the following day.

USD, which earned an at-large bid out of the West Coast Conference, is no stranger to UNLV as the programs have met 10 times over the years, including the Lady Rebels' 5-2 victory in Las Vegas on Feb. 20, 2010. The schools met once before in NCAA play as host USD took a 5-4 first-round win in 1997.

"It's a great honor to be in the tournament again this year and the girls were very deserving of an at-large bid," 12th-year UNLV head coach Kevin Cory said. "We look forward to the challenge of facing a very good San Diego squad that spent much of the season in the top 25."

The NCAA will release the fields for the singles and doubles championship tournaments on Wednesday.

2011 NCAA WOMEN'S TENNIS FIRST/SECOND ROUND (At Los Angeles/Host: UCLA)May 14: First Round - 9 a.m.#39 UNLV (20-5) vs. #29 San Diego (18-5)First Round - 12 p.m.Quinnipiac (14-8) vs. #6 UCLA (18-5)May 15: Second Round - 12 p.m.
PREVIOUS UNLV WOMEN'S TENNIS NCAA APPEARANCES2010    At Chapel Hill, NC (Host: North Carolina)        Won 4-3 in first round over Virginia Commonwealth        Lost 4-0 in second round to North Carolina2009    At Los Angeles (Host: UCLA)        Lost 4-0 in first round to Arizona State2008    At Los Angeles (Host: USC)        Lost 4-0 in first round to Pepperdine2007    At Berkeley, CA (Host: California)        Lost 4-0 in first round to Arizona State2005    At Austin, TX (Host: Texas)        Lost 4-0 in first round to Texas A&M2003    At Seattle (Host: Washington)        Lost 4-0 in first round to Illinois2002    At Los Angeles (Host: USC)        Lost 4-2 in first round to Oregon1998    At Las Vegas (Host UNLV)        Won 5-1 in first round over Washington State        Lost 5-2 in second round to Pepperdine1997    At San Diego (Host USD)        Lost 5-4 in first round to San Diego