Jan. 27, 2006

LAS VEGAS - The 41st-ranked UNLV women's tennis team opened its 2006 season on Friday with a 7-0 shutout over in-state rival Nevada, Reno on a cool afternoon at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.

The Lady Rebels began the day by taking all three doubles matches for one team point and then only lost one set in singles play to win their fourth-straight season opener.

Super sophomore Elena Gantcheva, the nation's eighth-ranked singles player, improved to 17-5 with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Caroline Bailly at the top spot. On court two, freshman Nikol Dimitrova easily won her first collegiate match, 6-2, 6-1, over Kristen Davenport.

Also winning for the hosts were Sharon Marin on court three, Cindy Treber on court four, Claire Smith on court five and Linda Tempelfelde at the sixth spot. Only Treber failed to win in straight sets, needing a 10-7 super-tiebreaker to end the match and notch her 50th career singles triumph.

"This was a good start for us," UNLV head coach Kevin Cory said. "UNR is a competitive team but we were ready to go today and we look forward to playing two more matches this weekend."

The Lady Rebels host New Mexico State on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. The Aggies also played at Fertitta on Friday and edged Weber State 4-3.

UNLV WOMEN'S TENNIS RESULTS
#41 UNLV 7, NEVADA, RENO 0
At Fertitta Tennis Complex, Las Vegas
DOUBLES: (UNLV EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. Gantcheva/Dimitrova (UNLV) def. Bouchlaka/Pham (UNR) 8-22. Marin/Smith (UNLV) def. Velez/Davenport (UNR) 8-13. Treber/Tempelfelde (UNLV) def. Bailly/DeSilva (UNR) 8-6
SINGLES: (UNLV EARNS SIX TEAM POINTS)1. #8 Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) def. Caroline Bailly (UNR) 6-2, 6-42. Nikol Dimitrova (UNLV) def. Kristen Davenport (UNR) 6-2, 6-13. Sharon Marin (UNLV) def. Audrey Bardot (UNR) 6-0, 6-24. Cindy Treber (UNLV) def. Fiorella Velez (UNR) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7)5. Claire Smith (UNLV) def. Myriam Bouchlaka (UNR) 6-2, 6-16. Linda Tempelfelde (UNLV) def. Bach-Lan Pham (UNR) 7-6, 6-0