Oct. 19, 2007
SAN DIEGO - UNLV women's tennis star Elena Gantcheva won twice on Friday to advance to the singles quarterfinals of the Wilson/ITA West Regional Championships at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.
The ninth-seeded and 50th-ranked senior from Sofia, Bulgaria, began the day by sweeping Angelique Corduz of UC Riverside 6-3, 6-3 and then rallied in the next round to upset third-seeded and 18th-ranked Tracy Lin of UCLA 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Sophomore Kristina Nedeltcheva won her first match, 6-4, 6-4 over Jill Braverman of Pepperdine, before falling to fourth-seeded Nadia Abdala of Arizona State.
In doubles, Gantcheva and Nedeltcheva, who are ranked fifth nationally, and seeded second at the event doubled up Helene Linstrand and Samantha Mouly of San Diego 8-4 to move on to Saturday's Round of 16. Katy Williams and Anna Maskaljun also advanced with an 8-6 victory over Alex Liles and Jill Braverman of Pepperdine.
"This was a good day for the Rebels," UNLV head coach Kevin Cory said. "We're competing with some of the best programs in the country and having some good results. We've set ourselves up for some challenging matches tomorrow."
No less than 17 Wilson/ITA Regional Championships for NCAA Division I men and women are taking place over the last two weekends of October at campuses throughout the country. The singles finalists and doubles champion from this event will earn spots in the November 3-6 ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships hosted by The Ohio State University at the Racquet Club of Columbus.
2007 ITA WEST REGION WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPSBarnes Tennis Center, San Diego
SINGLES ROUND OF 32(9) Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) def. Angelique Corduz (UCR) 6-3, 6-3(7) Sylvia Kosakowski (PEPP) def. Nikol Dimitrova (UNLV) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3(16) Kristina Nedeltcheva (UNLV) def. Jill Braverman (PEPP) 6-4, 6-4
SINGLES ROUND OF 16(9) Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) def. (3) Tracy Lin (UCLA) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2(4) Nadia Abdala (ASU) def. (16) Kristina Nedeltcheva (UNLV) 6-1, 6-1
DOUBLES ROUND OF 32Katy Williams/Anna Maskaljun (UNLV) def. Alex Liles/Jill Braverman (PEPP) 8-6Nadia Abdala/Laila Abdula (ASU) def. Hiduegi/Dimitrova (UNLV) 8-0(2) Gantcheva/Nedeltcheva (UNLV) def. Helene Lindstrand/Samantha Mouly (USD) 8-4
