Feb. 23, 2007
LAS VEGAS - The bad news was that the 39th-ranked UNLV women's tennis team saw its school-record streak of shutouts end. The good news was that the Lady Rebels still won enough matches to upset No. 26 Long Beach State, 4-3, at the Fertitta Tennis Complex on Friday.
UNLV continued its best start in program history by improving to 7-0 while the 49ers fell to 5-2. In fact, LBSU was the highest-ranked opponent the Lady Rebels had defeated since knocking off No. 21 Fresno State on Feb. 26, 2005. UNLV also improved to 8-1 all-time vs. the 49ers in what was the first meeting between the schools since the second round of the 1996 Big West Conference tournament.
After winning its first six outings this semester by a combined score of 42-0, UNLV began today's match by surrendering its first point of the season by losing doubles play. The Lady Rebels won only one of three matches when the 26th-ranked duo of Elena Gantcheva and Kristina Nedeltcheva downed Hannah Grady and Jessica Weeks 8-2.
In singles, 2006 All-American Gantcheva won her seventh consecutive match in easing by 52nd-ranked Grady 6-1, 6-2 at the top spot. UNLV also received straight-set wins by senior Linda Tempelfelde at the fifth position, 6-3, 7-6 over Emmanuelle Tabatruong, and Alisa Razina, 6-1, 6-1 over Sandra Rocha on court six. Razina, a freshman who joined the program just last month, improved to 7-0 in her young career.
With the visitors notching wins at Nos. 3-4, the deciding match came on court two where freshman Kristina Nedeltcheva, ranked 80th, improved her record to 10-2 with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Katy Williams.
"This was a big win for us and showed we're going in the right direction," UNLV head coach Kevin Cory said. "I'm proud of how our players battled against a very good Long Beach State program. Now we have to get ready for a huge challenge tomorrow."
The competition gets even tougher as UNLV hosts No. 18 Fresno State on Saturday with doubles slated to begin at 10 a.m. PST. Admission is free.
UNLV WOMEN'S TENNIS RESULTS#39 UNLV 4, #26 LONG BEACH STATE 3At Fertitta Tennis Complex, Las Vegas
DOUBLES: (LBSU EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. #26 Gantcheva/Nedeltcheva (UNLV) def. Grady/Weeks (LBSU) 8-22. Williams/Bengson (LBSU) def. Dimitrova/Tempelfelde (UNLV) 8-53. Tabatruong/Rocha (LBSU) def. #56 Razina/Smith (UNLV) 8-3
SINGLES: (UNLV EARNS FOUR TEAM POINTS)
1. Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) def. #52 Hannah Grady (LBSU) 6-1, 6-22. #80 Kristina Nedeltcheva (UNLV) def. Katy Williams (LBSU) 7-5, 4-6, 6-33. Stephanie Bengson (LBSU) def. Nikol Dimitrova (UNLV) 6-2, 6-44. Jessica Weeks (LBSU) def. Claire Smith (UNLV) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)5. Linda Tempelfelde (UNLV) def. Emmanuelle Tabatruong (LBSU) 6-3, 7-6 (8-6)6. Alisa Razina (UNLV) def. Sandra Rocha (LBSU) 6-1, 6-1
