Oct. 23, 2005

SAN DIEGO - UNLV super sophomore Elena Gantcheva is one victory away from the biggest tournament title in program history after surviving a three-set semifinal battle Sunday at the 2005 Wilson/ITA Women's Tennis West Regional.

Gantcheva, seeded second and ranked 24th nationally, defeated 19th-ranked Emma Murphy of the University of San Diego 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 to improve to 14-2 this fall and a combined 28-3 in her two autumn tournament seasons.

The native of Sofia, Bulgaria, will now face top-seeded Amanda Fink of USC in Monday morning's championship match. Fink routed Bianca Dulgheru of Pepperdine in her semifinal, 6-0, 6-1.

Gantcheva suffered her first and only fall loss as a freshman in the semfinals of this tournament a year ago, which means her victory Sunday took her deeper into the ITA event than any women's player in school history.

At stake tomorrow is not only a regional crown but also an automatic bid to the elite ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships hosted by The Ohio State University on Nov. 3-6.

"Today was another big day for Elena and the UNLV women's tennis program," UNLV head coach Kevin Cory said. "She fought through a challenging match to go where no Lady Rebel has gone before in playing for the championship of one of the nation's toughest regions. She will have her hands full Monday going against the top seeded player."

The other UNLV player still alive on Sunday was Claire Smith, who was ousted from the consolation draw by homestanding Dita Hauerlandova of SDSU 6-1, 7-5.

WILSON/ITA WOMEN'S TENNIS REGIONALSan Diego

SINGLES SEMIFINALS(2) No. 24 Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) def. (3) Emma Murphy (USD) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
CONSOLATION QUARTERFINALSDita Hauerlandova (SDSU) def. Claire Smith (UNLV) 6-1, 7-5