April 18, 2006

LAS VEGAS - UNLV super sophomore Elena Gantcheva is back in the national top 10 as the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings were released on Tuesday.

The native of Sofia, Bulgaria, improved six spots to No. 10 in singles this week after winning her 10th straight match, including upending then-12th-ranked Nicole Leimbach of TCU. Earlier this year Gantcheva was ranked a career-high eighth from January 10-February 21.

As a team, the Lady Rebels (13-6) moved up eight spots to No. 45 after downing then-No. 48 New Mexico on Saturday. The victory pulled UNLV into a tie for second place in the Mountain West Conference at 6-2. Using tiebreaker systems, head coach Kevin Cory's squad learned it will be seeded third at next week's league championship tournament in San Diego.

San Diego State University will host both the men's and women's tournaments at the Barnes Tennis Center from April 26-29. The winner of each event receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

UNLV will face sixth-seeded Utah (12-9/3-5) in the opening round. The Lady Rebels downed the Utes 5-2 on March 25. The winner of that match will face the winner of the BYU vs. Colorado State meeting in one of Friday's semifinals.

Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings
Top 10 Singles Players
1. Kristi Miller, Georgia Tech2. Audra Cohen, Miami (Fla.)3. Zuzana Zemenova, Baylor4. Daniela Bercek, Duke5. Diana Srebrovic, Florida6. Theresa Logar, Stanford7. Alice Barnes, Stanford8. Zsuzsanna Fodor, California9. Amanda Fink, USC10. Elena Gantcheva, UNLV
MWC Women's Tennis Championship Schedule
Wednesday, April 26 -- Play-In Match
#8 Air Force vs. #9 Wyoming (10 a.m.)
Thursday, April 27#2 BYU vs. #7 Colorado State (10 a.m.)#3 UNLV vs. #6 Utah (10 a.m.)#1 TCU vs. winner AFA vs. Wyoming (2 p.m.)#4 San Diego State vs. #5 New Mexico (2 p.m.)