Top-20 Record Is Music To Cory's Ears

UNLV women's tennis team finishes among nation's elite for first time.

MWC Coach of the Year Kevin Cory can point to a 20-4 final record in his third season at the helm.
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May 31, 2002

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV women's team set a program record with its first top-20 finish in school history as the final Omni Hotels Intercollegiate Tennis Rankings were released by the national governing body Friday.

The Lady Rebels, who also set a record for best single-season winning percentage at .833, finished 20-4 on the year and closed the campaign at No. 20. The Mountain West Conference champions' previous best final ranking came in 1997 when the school finished 23rd. UNLV rose as high as No. 16 this spring as it remained in the top 20 every week after entering on March 20.

"I was excited when I saw the final rankings," head coach Kevin Cory said. "To think that we came from being ranked 56th to finishing in the top 20 shows a lot about the character of this team. Once you reach that level you are considered one of the elite programs in college tennis and it will help in recruiting and in gaining support in the Las Vegas community."

Individually, top singles player Paulina Janus (20-12) fell 13 spots to a final ranking of No. 115 while MWC Freshman of the Year Gyorgyi Zsiros (29-7) dropped 15 places to No. 112. Oddly, Zsiros tumbled from a career-high 88th on March 20 despite winning her final 18 matches - which is just two off the school record.

The women's squad only loses one senior - No. 6 singles player Marianne Bakken, who finished with the second-most doubles victories in school history with 72. "We are extremely young so the future is certainly bright," Cory said.