UNLV Women's Tennis Preparing For NCAA Play

Banged-up Rebels to play No. 25 Illinois in first round of tournament.

Women's Tennis Home HEADLINES Four MWC Tennis Teams Receive ITA Academic Accolades New Mexico's Mackenzie White Earns ITA Central Region Arthur Ashe Award TCU's Nina Munch-Soegaard Earns All-America Acclaim RELATED LINKS • Follow all of the college tennis action at CollegeSports.com • Email this to a friend

May 6, 2003

By Jeff Wollard
Las Vegas Review-Journal

LAS VEGAS - UNLV women's tennis coach Kevin Cory has grown accustomed to seeing his team do things the hard way.

Cory, whose squad has compiled a 16-5 record with an assortment of close calls and comeback victories, learned last week that the Rebels had earned an at-large berth into this weekend's NCAA Division I Championships. The news ended Cory's fears that his team might not be selected.

"I was definitely nervous," said Cory, whose team ended conference play with a 4-2 loss to Brigham Young on April 25 in the Mountain West Conference Tournament semifinals. "But I felt good about our chances. You just hate to have to wait on a committee to make the decision. You'd much rather win the (conference) tournament and get in automatically."

But the difficult road once again worked in the Rebels' favor. Cory's 30th-ranked team will travel to Seattle on Saturday to face No. 25 Illinois. Although the Illini are favored, Cory said his team expects to win.

For complete story, click here .