March 22, 2005

LAS VEGAS - UNLV saw its singles star move up significantly while the Lady Rebels also got a doubles team recognized for the first time in four years as the national rankings were released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on Tuesday.

Elena Gantcheva improved seven spots to No. 22 in the nation in singles. The freshman from Sofia, Bulgaria, stands 25-3 overall and is a stunning 11-2 vs. ranked opponents.

The Lady Rebels made their return to the doubles rankings as senior Gyorgyi Zsiros and sophomore Claire Smith entered the list at No. 55. It marked the first appearance by a UNLV women's duo since Agnieszka Abram and Marianne Bakken were 37th on Sept. 11, 2001.

Zsiros and Smith, who were named All-Mountain West Conference a year ago, currently stand 11-5 overall. Their 9-1 record in dual matches includes last week's upset of then-30th-ranked Amy Wei and Megan Muth of William and Mary.

As a team UNLV is 35th in what are the season's first computer rankings after sitting 32nd in the voting system, which is used until this point in the season each year.

UNLV hosts top-ranked Stanford on Wednesday beginning at 11 a.m. and then opens conference play with three matches this weekend at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.