April 28, 2006
SAN DIEGO - The 46th-ranked UNLV women's tennis team got wins at the top and bottom of the lineup but it was not enough to upset No. 29 BYU in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament at the Barnes Tennis Center on Friday.
The third-seeded Lady Rebels fell to 14-7 overall and will now await word on a possible at-large bid to the NCAA championships next month. The Cougars, who have won eight straight over UNLV, improved to 21-6 overall and head to their fourth-straight appearance in the league final.
The match was largely decided in doubles play. BYU's third team quickly won while UNLV was comfortably leading on court two. The doubles point would come down to the No. 1 spot where the Cougars eventually emerged with a 9-7 victory and a whole lot of momentum.
Moving to singles play, Linda Tempelfelde raced past Jennifer Miccoli 6-0, 6-2 to tie things at 1-1. The Cougars then earned straight-set wins at courts three and four to take a 3-1 lead but were briefly in danger of losing all three remaining matches.
Super sophomore Elena Gantcheva scored her team's second point with her 11th straight victory, 6-2, 6-3 over 24th-ranked Olga Boulytcheva at the top spot. Ranked 12th nationally, Gantcheva improved to 10-0 vs. MWC opposition this season and 33-8 overall, which tied her with Jolene Watanabe (1989) for fourth-most singles wins in a season by a Lady Rebel.
The Cougars, however, staged an improbable comeback on court five to end the match as Dolly Chang overcame a first-set rout to rally past Claire Smith 0-6, 6-2, 6-4 for BYU's fourth point.
"This was a tough day for the Rebels," UNLV head coach Kevin Cory said. "When you come so close -- basically two games away from winning the match -- it's never easy. But give BYU credit. They're a strong team and were a little bit better than we were today."
The NCAA tournament field will be announced on Wednesday live on ESPNEWS beginning at 5:30 p.m. PDT.
"We're squarely on the bubble," Cory said. "Hopefully we get a little luck and get to continue our season in the NCAA tournament."
UNLV WOMEN'S TENNIS RESULTS2006 MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS#29 BYU 4, #46 UNLV 2At Barnes Tennis Center, San Diego
DOUBLES: (BYU EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. Sourkova/Miccoli (BYU) def.Gantcheva/Marin (UNLV) 9-72. Dimitrova/Smith (UNLV) vs.Chang/Holden (BYU) DNF3. #57 Boulytcheva/Jones (BYU) def.Treber/Mery Constanti (UNLV) 8-1
SINGLES: (BYU EARNS THREE TEAM POINTS)1. #12 Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) def. #24 Olga Boulytcheva (BYU) 6-2, 6-32. Lauren Jones (BYU) vs. Nikol Dimitrova (UNLV) DNF3. Anastasia Sourkova (BYU) def. Sharon Marin (UNLV) 6-2, 6-24. Sofia Holden (BYU) def. Cindy Treber (UNLV) 6-1, 6-25. Dolly Chang (BYU) def. Claire Smith (UNLV) 0-6, 6-2, 6-46. Linda Tempelfelde (UNLV) def. Jennifer Miccoli (BYU) 6-2, 6-0
