April 26, 2006

LAS VEGAS - UNLV sophomore star Elena Gantcheva became her program's first league MVP in six years on Wednesday when she was named the Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Year in a vote of the league's nine head coaches.

Gantcheva, who comes into this week's MWC tournament on a 10-match and 14-set winning streak, is 32-8 this season and ranked 12th in the nation in singles.

Playing at the No. 1 position in the lineup, Gantcheva lost only one set en route to sweeping eight league opponents, including two that were ranked in the top 20. She and the third-seeded Lady Rebels (13-6) will open the conference event by taking on sixth-seeded Utah (12-9) on Thursday beginning at 10 a.m. at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego. The winner of the tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships in May.

"This is yet another proud moment for Elena and the UNLV program," head coach Kevin Cory said. "She has had an outstanding year and has established herself as not only the top player in the conference but one of the top players in the country. Now we're looking forward to getting out there tomorrow and getting started at the championship tournament."

Gantcheva, a native of Sofia, Bulgaria, is the fourth UNLV women's tennis player to earn such an award. Jolene Watanabe was named Big West Conference Player of the Year in 1990, Marianne Vallin won the honor three times (Big West in 1994 and '96 and WAC in 1997) and Katarina Malec was the Mountain West's first-ever honoree in 2000.

Gantcheva was joined on the All-MWC team by freshman Nikol Dimitrova who posted a 15-4 mark at the No. 2 spot, including 6-2 vs. league opponents, after joining UNLV in January.

Also, TCU rookie Anna Sydorska was named MWC Freshman of the Year while TCU's Dave Borelli was tabbed MWC Coach of the Year. The complete list of award winners follows.

2006 MWC WOMEN'S TENNIS AWARDS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR:Elena Gantcheva, UNLVFRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:Anna Sydorska, TCUCOACH OF THE YEAR:Dave Borelli, TCU
ALL-CONFERENCE SINGLESKat Bushey, Air ForceOlga Boulytcheva, BYULauren Jones, BYUAnne Anderson, Colorado StateIva Gersic, New MexicoMaja Kovacek, New MexicoDita Hauerlandova, San Diego StateHelena Besovic, TCUAna Cetnik, TCUNicole Leimbach, TCUAnna Sydorska, TCUNikol Dimitrova, UNLVElena Gantcheva, UNLVElizabeth Ferris, Utah

ALL-CONFERENCE DOUBLESSofia Holden/Dolly Chang, BYUAnastasia Sourkova/Jenny Miccoli, BYUAnne Anderson/Emily Kirchem, Colorado StateMaja Kovacek/Iva Gersic, New MexicoDita Hauerlandova/Sisse Nielsen, San Diego StateHelena Besovic/Ana Cetnik, TCUAndrea Morgado/Anne Sydorska, TCU