May 13, 2005
AUSTIN, Texas - The 41st-ranked UNLV women's tennis team was eliminated in the first round of the NCAA championships as it was blanked by No. 31 Texas A&M 4-0 on a sticky Friday afternoon at Penick-Allison Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Texas.
The Lady Rebels finish their season at 14-9 while the Aggies, who enjoyed the advantage of playing four of their last six matches on these same courts, improved to 16-12.
The teams opened with doubles play and TAMU's 49th-ranked top duo of Anna Labinsky and Lauren Walker cruised past Elena Gantcheva and Sharon Marin 8-1. UNLV evened things with an 8-6 victory on court three as Gyorgyi Zsiros and Claire Smith got by Helga Vieira and Seva Iwinski. However, the Aggies took the deciding match and accompanying doubles point as Anna Blagodarova and Tiffany Clifford defeated Anne Claire Ortiz-Luis and Linda Tempelfelde 8-5 at No. 2.
In singles, Texas A&M stunned the Lady Rebels by winning the first set on all six courts. The first match to finish was at the top spot, where 66th-ranked Vieira scored an upset as No. 34 Gantcheva retired because of an injured wrist while trailing 6-4, 3-0. The Aggies made the overall score 3-0 with Blagodarova's 6-3, 6-3 victory over freshman Marin at the fourth spot.
The team match was then clinched as No. 86 Walker closed out the impressive collegiate career of senior Zsiros 6-4, 6-1 on court two. The remaining contests were halted with UNLV leading in the second set on one, tied at another and trailing in the third.
"I have to give Texas A&M credit, they played a good match," UNLV head coach Kevin Cory said. "Coming off of finals this week, we only had a few hours to prepare to play in these (hot and heavily humid) conditions, but again, my hats off to A&M and I wish them the best of luck."
TAMU will play host Texas on Saturday for the regional title after the 10th-ranked Longhorns shut out Southern 4-0 in Friday's other semifinal.
"We came out here focused today, and I thought we did a good job," Aggies' head coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "UNLV has a good team. Even though it ended at 4-0, it wasn't an easy match. We had to fight through some of the doubles and I felt like winning that point was a big key for us." Cory said he was proud of his team for reaching the national tournament for the third time in four years.
"We've had a lot of injuries this year, but we cannot complain too much because we're at the NCAA Tournament," he said. "We have a good group coming back next season. The energy in our program is high and the future looks bright."
One Lady Rebel will not have to wait until next season to play again as Gantcheva will compete as an at-large selection to the NCAA Singles Championship, which will be held May 23-28 in Athens, Ga.
UNLV WOMEN'S TENNIS RESULTS2005 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS - FIRST ROUND#31 TEXAS A&M 4, #41 UNLV 0At Penick-Allison Tennis Center, Austin
DOUBLES: (TEXAS A&M EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. #49 Lubinksy/Walker (TAMU) def. Gantcheva/Marin (UNLV) 8-12. Blagodarova/Clifford (TAMU) def. Ortiz-Luis/Linda Tempelfelde (UNLV) 8-53. Zsiros/Smith (UNLV) def. Seva Iwinski/Vieira (TAMU) 8-6
SINGLES: (TEXAS A&M EARNS THREE TEAM POINTS)1. #66 Helga Vieira (TAMU) def. #34 Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) 6-4, 3-0 retired2. #86 Lauren Walker (TAMU) def. Gyorgyi Zsiros (UNLV) 6-4, 6-13. Anne Claire Ortiz-Luis (UNLV) vs. Anna Lunbinsky (TAMU) 1-6, 2-4 DNF4. Anna Blagodarova (TAMU) def. Sharon Marin (UNLV) 6-3, 6-35. Cindy Treber (UNLV) vs. Tiffany Clifford (TAMU) 4-6, 3-3 DNF6. Claire Smith (UNLV) vs. Marissa Druss (TAMU) 6-7, 0-4 DNF
