Monday, April 20, 2009

LAS VEGAS -- The top-seeded UNLV women's tennis team will take its 11-match winning streak into Thursday's quarterfinal action at the Mountain West Conference Championship, which will be played this year at the Jerry Cline Tennis Center in Albuquerque, N.M.

League officials released the event's seedings and schedules on Monday but Kevin Cory's squad won't know its first opponent until the conclusion of Wednesday's opening-round match between 8th-seeded Wyoming (7-15/1-7 MWC) and No. 9 Air Force (10-16/0-8). UNLV played both teams indoors in Colorado Springs earlier this month and defeated the Cowgirls 7-0 and the Falcons 5-2.

The Lady Rebels are the event's defending champions after upsetting host TCU in last year's final. UNLV, currently ranked 50th in the nation, stands 18-6 overall and won its first outright regular-season league title by posting a perfect 8-0 MWC mark.

Since the event's inception in 2000, the Lady Rebs boast an 18-6 record in MWC championship play and have advanced to at least the semifinals every season except 2001 and won it all in 2000, '02 and '08.

No. 28 TCU (13-10, 7-1) will be the No. 2 seed, while 42nd-ranked San Diego State (17-7, 6-2) captured the No. 3 seed. No. 57 BYU (12-9, 5-3) claimed the No. 4 spot, while New Mexico (8-13, 4-4) will be the No. 5 seed, No. 65 Utah (11-12, 3-5) will be the No. 6 seed and Colorado State (8-12, 2-6) will be the No. 7 seed.

2009 MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP

Wednesday, April 22

9 a.m. PT   Opening Round                   

No. 8 Wyoming vs. No. 9 Air Force

Thursday, April 23

9 a.m. PT Quarterfinal Match #1            

No. 2 TCU vs. No. 7 Colorado State

9 a.m. PT Quarterfinal Match #2            

No. 3 San Diego State vs. No. 6 Utah

1 p.m. PT Quarterfinal Match #3             

No. 1 UNLV vs. Wyoming/Air Force Winner

1 p.m. PT Quarterfinal Match #4            

No. 4 BYU vs. No. 5 New Mexico

Friday, April 24

9 a.m. PT Semifinal Match #1                

TCU/CSU Winner vs. SDSU/Utah Winner

1 p.m. PT Semifinal Match #2               

UNLV/WYO vs. AFA Winner vs. BYU/UNM Winner

Saturday, April 25

9 a.m. PT Championship Match 

-UNLV-