March 4, 2006
LAS VEGAS - The 44th-ranked UNLV women's tennis team shut out No. 61 Oklahoma 7-0 on Saturday in a neutral-site match played at the Darling Memorial Tennis Center.
The Lady Rebels improved to 7-4 overall and 5-1 all-time vs. the Sooners.
After losing its last two doubles points in heartbreaking 4-3 losses, UNLV came out strong and won on all three courts to take a 1-0 lead in what was its final non-conference match of the regular season.
In singles, Oklahoma won the first set on three of six courts but UNLV rallied to take super-tiebreakers at each to earn the sweep.
At the top spot, 18th-ranked Elena Gantcheva blanked Gabby Baker 6-0, 6-0 to improve to 24-8 on the year. Nikol Dimitrova won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 2, Sharon Marin rallied at No. 3, Cindy Treber improved her team-leading record in dual matches to 10-1 by winning at No. 4, Claire Smith picked up her 50th career singles victory at No. 5, and Linda Tempelfelde also came back to win on court six.
Treber's win moved her into 11th place on the school's career list with 59 and the senior needs just one more to move into a three-way tie for ninth. Combined with Smith's 50 and Gantcheva's 55 career victories, UNLV now has three current players with 50 or more career victories in its lineup for the first time in history.
"This was a good win today for our program because Oklahoma has a solid lineup" head coach Kevin Cory said. "Now we have some time to rest and heal up before conference play begins."
The Lady Rebels have nearly three weeks off before they host BYU in their Mountain West Conference opener on March 24.
UNLV WOMEN'S TENNIS RESULTS#44 UNLV 7, #61 OKLAHOMA 0At Darling Memorial Tennis Center, Las Vegas
DOUBLES: (UNLV EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. Gantcheva/Dimitrova (UNLV) def. Lykina/Baker (OU) 9-82. Marin/Smith (UNLV) def. Orr/Purice (OU) 9-73. Treber/Mery Constanti (UNLV) def. Anne Carter/Baxley (OU) 8-3
SINGLES: (UNLV EARNS SIX TEAM POINTS)1. #18 Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) def. Gabby Baker (OU) 6-0, 6-02. Nikol Dimitrova (UNLV) def. Irina Lykina (OU) 6-1, 6-03. Sharon Marin (UNLV) def. Monica Purice (OU) 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-6)4. Cindy Treber (UNLV) def. Christi Baxley (OU) 6-1, 6-45. Claire Smith (UNLV) def. Chelsea Orr (OU) 3-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-3)6. Linda Tempelfelde (UNLV) def. Gabriela Nastasa (OU) 6-7, 6-1, 1-0 (10-6)
