Sept. 25, 2005
LAS VEGAS - UNLV sophomore Elena Gantcheva picked up her second win over a ranked opponent in as many days to take the singles championship of the Women's Tennis Fall Invitational at the Fertitta Tennis Complex on Sunday.
Playing in the top flight, Gantcheva, ranked 24th in the preseason, made quick work of No. 38 Anna Lobinsky of Texas A&M 6-2, 6-1.
Gantcheva, who is the only Lady Rebel to win the Flight One Singles Championship in the six-year history of the tournament, also took last year's crown as a freshman when her opponent defaulted on the final day.
The native of Sofia, Bulgaria, improved to 14-6 overall vs. ranked opponents, including 8-0 during fall tournament action.
Two other UNLV players were also playing in singles finals but lost on Sunday. Sophomore Sharon Marin fell to Ale Jordan of Texas A&M in the Flight Two championship, 6-3, 6-2, while junior Linda Tempelfelde was defeated by Jessica Collins of Oklahoma State in Flight Four, 7-5, 6-4.
In other action, UNLV senior Cindy Treber won the Flight Three consolation bracket with a 7-5, 7-6 victory over Kindsay Grimes of Tulsa and Claire Smith won her Flight Four consolation match, 6-0, 6-0 over Erin Humphrey of Gonzaga.
"This was a solid weekend for us," UNLV head coach Kevin Cory said. "I was pleased with the way Elena competed while playing top-50 players back to back and winning convincingly. Cindy and Claire both played well to finish to strong and it was good to see Sharon and Linda reach the finals of their flights."
Next up for UNLV is the qualifying round of the Riviera/ITA All-American tournament in Los Angeles on Oct. 4-5.
Final day results of the UNLV Women's Tennis Fall Invitational
TEAM CODE:UNLVOSU=Oklahoma StateTAM=Texas A&MTU=TulsaGONZ=Gonzaga
SINGLESFLIGHT ONEFINAL:#24 Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) def. #38 Anna Lubinsky (TAM) 6-2, 6-1#43 Sara Foster (TAM) def. #58 Ira Tkachenko (OSU) 6-3, 6-2Anna Blagodorova (TAM) def. Zana Masnic (OSU) 6-2, 6-2Santie Delport (TU) vs. Carla Zabaleta (TU) Did Not Play
FLIGHT TWOFINAL:Ale Jordan (TAM) def. Sharon Marin (UNLV) 6-3, 6-2Lauren Simmons (OSU) def. Nicki Mechem (TAM) 6-2, 6-3Zuzanna Osinska (OSU) def. Amanda Becker (GONZ) 6-2, 6-3Thalia Barriga (TU) vs. Emily Anderson (GONZ) Did Not Play
FLIGHT THREEFINAL:Marisa Druss (TAM) def. Tiffany Clifford (TAM) 6-4, 7-5Jennifer Poskitt (OSU) def. Seva Iwinski (TAM) 6-4, 6-0Cindy Treber (UNLV) def. Kindsay Grimes (TU) 7-5, 7-6Kendall Bates (GONZ) vs. Agostina Santoro (TU) Did Not Play
FLIGHT FOURFINAL:Jessica Collins (OSU) def. Linda Tempelfelde (UNLV) 7-5, 6-4Tiffany Smith (TU) def. Courtney Lau (GONZ) 6-0, 6-0Raquel Wagner (TAM) def. Julie Westfall (TU) 6-3, 6-3Claire Smith (UNLV) def. Erin Humphrey (GONZ) 6-0, 6-0
FLIGHT FIVEFINAL:Yawna Allen (OSU) def. Mery Constanti (UNLV) 6-2, 7-5
ADDED DOUBLES MATCHESBlagodorova/Mechem (TAM) def. Lauren Simmons/Jennifer Poskitt (OSU) 8-2Tiffany Clifford/ Ale Jordan (TAM) def. Yawna Allen/Zuzanna Osinska (OSU) 8-4
