Nov. 23, 2005

LAS VEGAS - UNLV women's golf signed a pair of student-athletes to national letters of intent on Wednesday and the pair will join the Rebel golf team next fall, head coach Missy Ringler announced.

Melissa Mabanta and Natasha Krishna are the pair that Ringler has inked during the early signing period and they will be able to compete for UNLV next fall during the 2006-07 season.

Mabanta, who is from Vancouver, B.C., but attends Xavier Prep in Phoenix, Ariz., is one of the top-ranked amateur golfers in the country and during this past summer she won the AJGA Las Vegas Founders Junior Golf Championship with rounds of 73-75-75. She also placed third at the AJGA Pacific Northwest International, tied for 15th at the Callaway Junior World Golf Championship, finished seventh at the Royale Canadian National Junior Girls Championship and also advanced to the match-play portion of the U.S. Girls Junior Championship. Melissa is the younger sister of former Rebel women's golfer Tina Mabanta, who played at UNLV from 2001-05.

"Melissa's best golf is clearly in front of her," Ringler said. "She has improved greatly in each of the last few years and we are looking forward to her making a contribution in our program."

Krishna is from Auckland, New Zealand where she is a member of the New Zealand International Team while also having three tournament victories in her junior career. She won the Greg Norman Junior Masters, took the title in the New Zealand Secondary School Girls Golf Championship and she won the New Zealand under-21 Championships. By winning the Greg Norman tournament, Krishna became the first kiwi to win the event since 1993.

"We are very excited to have Natasha join our program," Ringler said. "She is an excellent player with many wins under her belt in New Zealand and internationally."