Feb. 11, 2006

BERKELEY, Calif. - The 38th-ranked UNLV women's tennis team dropped its second straight match to a top-10 team, this time falling to No. 6 Cal in a closer-than-it-sounds 6-1 final at the Hellman Tennis Center on Saturday.

The Lady Rebels dropped to 4-2 while the Golden Bears improved to 6-1.

UNLV nearly won the doubles point to start the morning. Elena Gantcheva and Nikol Dimitrova picked up a big win by downing Suzi Babos and Stephanie Kusano 8-6 at the top spot. The visitors were also ahead 5-2 on court two before Cal came back to win 9-7. Couple that with an 8-3 victory at the third spot and the Golden Bears emerged with a 1-0 team lead.

In singles, the top four matches were all competitive against a Cal lineup that included five ranked players. However, only senior Cindy Treber scored for UNLV as she shocked No. 61 Kusano 6-3, 6-2 on court four.

In a battle of top-20 players at the top of the lineup, No. 19 Suzi Fodor upset No. 8 Gantcheva 7-6, 6-3. Also, No. 14 Babos outlasted Dimitrova 7-5, 6-3 at No. 2 and No. 34 Marion Ravelojaona upended Sharon Marin 7-5, 6-4 at the third position.

"We played well today and gave Cal a run," UNLV head coach Kevin Cory said. "We were just short of closing it out in doubles and the top four singles matches could have gone either way. Now we'll go home and heal up and get ready for our spring tournament."

UNLV takes a week off before hosting its annual eight-team Lady Rebel Classic on Feb. 24-26.

UNLV WOMEN'S TENNIS RESULTS#6 CAL 6, #38 UNLV 1At Hellman Tennis Center, Berkeley, CA
DOUBLES: (CAL EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. Gantcheva/Dimitrova (UNLV) def.Babos/Kusano (CAL) 8-62. Fodor/Ilcinkas (CAL) def.Marin/Smith (UNLV) 9-73. Ravelojaona/Bojana Bobusic (CAL) def.Treber/Tempelfelde (UNLV) 8-3
SINGLES:  (CAL EARNS FIVE TEAM POINTS)1. #19 Suzi Fodor (CAL) def. #8 Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) 7-6, 6-32. #14 Suzi Babos (CAL) def. Nikol Dimitrova (UNLV) 7-5, 6-33. #34 Marion Ravelojaona (CAL) def. Sharon Marin (UNLV) 7-5, 6-44. Cindy Treber (UNLV) def. #61 Stephanie Kusano (CAL) 6-3, 6-25. #83 Claire Ilcinkas (CAL) def. Claire Smith (UNLV) 6-3, 6-06. Jessica Shu (CAL) def. Linda Tempelfelde (UNLV) 6-2, 6-2