April 15, 2006
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The 51st-ranked UNLV women's tennis team stormed back after losing the doubles point to post a key 5-2 victory over No. 48 New Mexico at the Lobo Tennis Club on Saturday.
The Lady Rebels completed their regular-season schedule on a strong note while improving to 13-6 overall and 6-2 in the Mountain West Conference. With the victory UNLV finished in a three-way tie for second place along with San Diego State and BYU.
Head coach Kevin Cory's squad, which is now an impressive 33-10 all-time in MWC play, will await word on its seeding at the league tournament set to be played April 27-29 in San Diego.
The Lobos (13-7 and 4-4) started fast by winning all three doubles matches for one team point. However, UNLV took over in singles play as UNM was without one of its starters in the lineup.
At the top position, super sophomore Elena Gantcheva virtually locked up conference MVP honors by downing No. 39 Maja Kovacek 6-4, 6-2. The win was Gantcheva's 10th consecutive and improved her to 8-0 vs. league opponents this spring. The native of Sofia, Bulgaria, upped her sophomore record to 32-8, which tied her with Jolene Watanabe (1987) for the fifth-most singles wins in a season by a Lady Rebel.
"What can you say, Elena had a great weekend and is turning in just an amazing year," Cory said. "She will obviously take a lot of momentum into the conference tournament and then to the NCAA championships."
Freshman Nikol Dimitrova improved her rookie record to 15-4 with a 6-4, 6-3 over Nora Quintal on court two, sophomore Sharon Marin flew by Lucy Scott at No. 3, 6-1, 6-0, and Linda Tempelfelde finished 7-1 in league play with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Jennifer Ryba. The visitors' final point came on court four where UNLV's only senior, Cindy Treber, reached the 20-win plateau for the first time in her career, 0-6, 6-1, 6-4 over Ola Abou-Zekry.
"This was a big win for this program because I have a ton of respect for New Mexico and they are especially tough on their home courts," Cory said. "If someone had told me that we would finish in second place in this conference before what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, I would have been very happy. We've put ourselves in great position heading into the (MWC) tournament."
UNLV WOMEN'S TENNIS RESULTS#51 UNLV 5, #48 NEW MEXICO 2At Lobo Tennis Club, Albuquerque
DOUBLES: (UNM EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. #3 Kovacek/Iva Gersic (UNM) def.Gantcheva/Marin (UNLV) 8-22. Scott/Abou-Zekry (UNM) def.Dimitrova/Smith (UNLV) 8-63. Quintal/Ryba (UNM) def.Mery Constanti/Treber (UNLV) 8-3
SINGLES: (UNLV EARNS FIVE TEAM POINTS)1. #16 Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) def. #39 Maja Kovacek (UNM) 6-4, 6-22. Nikol Dimitrova (UNLV) def. Nora Quintal (UNM) 6-4, 6-33. Sharon Marin (UNLV) def. Lucy Scott (UNM) 6-1, 6-04. Cindy Treber (UNLV) def. Ola Abou-Zekry (UNM) 0-6, 6-1, 6-45. Mackenzie White (UNM) def. Claire Smith (UNLV) 6-2, 6-46. Linda Tempelfelde (UNLV) def. Jennifer Ryba (UNM) 6-1, 6-2
