University of Nevada Las Vegas

Women’s Tennis Athlete (2005-08)

The only woman in program history to earn top 10 rankings in both singles and doubles, Elena Gantcheva (married name Nehles) became the first player in Mountain West Conference history to claim at least a share of league MVP honors three times during her stunning career. Only the second UNLV women’s tennis player to be enshrined in the Athletics Hall of Fame, the 2005 MW Freshman of the Year followed up her record-setting rookie year by becoming a sophomore All-American and posting her program’s highest singles ranking in nearly a decade. Rising as high as No. 8 in the nation en route to a 33-9 overall record, Gantcheva’s finish at 17th made her the third UNLV woman to place in the top 20. The 2006 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional Player to Watch was named First Team All-MW in singles four times and in doubles three times. She ranks second at UNLV with five individual NCAA bids and led her team to three appearances in the national tournament. The native of Sofia, Bulgaria, left as the winningest singles player in MWC history -- male or female -- with a 26-4 mark vs. league foes, and also shattered the league record with nine career Mountain West Player of the Week nods in four years. Gantcheva also was part of arguably the best doubles team in school history, teaming with Kristina Nedeltcheva to go to back-to-back NCAA tournaments and closing the 2007 campaign with a school-record high final ranking of 18th after rising as high as fifth. A back-to-back UNLV Sportswoman of the Year, Gantcheva as a senior led her team to an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with the clinching victory over top-seeded host TCU in the conference title match. She also qualified for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships in her final campaign, finishing ranked 35th in the nation in both. The 2008 Academic All-American’s .752 career singles winning percentage marked the highest-ever for four-year player at UNLV and she left third in all-time singles victories and second in career doubles wins at the school.

GANTCHEVA’S CAREER STATS

YEAR SINGLES DOUBLES
2004-05 31-8 14-11
2005-06 33-9 15-12
2006-07 19-9 25-4
2007-08 29-11 25-10
TOTAL 112-37 79-37