March 2, 2007

LAS VEGAS - The 34th-ranked UNLV women's tennis team snapped a two-match losing streak by defeating Furman 5-2 on a breezy but sunny Friday at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.

The Lady Rebels improved to 8-2 while the Lady Paladins dropped to 1-8 overall.

UNLV jumped out to a 1-0 team lead when it swept three doubles matches. The nation's 26th-ranked duo of Elena Gantcheva and Kristina Nedeltcheva won 8-4 at the top spot to improve to 10-0 this season. At the third position, Claire Smith and Alisa Razina won 8-3, which moved Smith into fifth place on the school's career list with 57 all-time doubles victories.

In singles play, No. 85 Nedeltcheva won in straight sets over Lauren Osborne, 6-1, 6-4, to notch her team-leading eighth dual-match victory. Also winning for the UNLV were Nikol Dimitrova at No. 3, Smith at No. 4 and Linda Tempelfelde on court five.

UNLV hosts No. 72 San Diego on Saturday with doubles slated to begin at 10 a.m. PST. Admission is free.

UNLV WOMEN'S TENNIS RESULTS#34 UNLV 5, FURMAN 2At Fertitta Tennis Complex, Las Vegas
DOUBLES: (UNLV EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. #26 Gantcheva/Nedeltcheva (UNLV) def. Gioia/Manojlovic (FURMAN) 8-42. Dimitrova/Tempelfelde (UNLV) def. Eckert/Osborne (FURMAN) 8-43. #56 Razina/Smith (UNLV) def. Tomory/Lisa Bornt-Davis (FURMAN) 8-3
SINGLES: (UNLV EARNS FOUR TEAM POINTS)1. Laura Gioia (FURMAN) def. Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) 3-6, 6-2, 6-12. #85 Kristina Nedeltcheva (UNLV) def. Lauren Osborne (FURMAN) 6-1, 6-43. Nikol Dimitrova (UNLV) def. Bonnie Baird (FURMAN) 7-5, 7-54. Claire Smith (UNLV) def. Jacqueline Eckert (FURMAN) 3-6, 6-3, 6-25. Linda Tempelfelde (UNLV) def. Natasa Manojlovic (FURMAN) 7-6, 3-6, 6-16. Lauren Tomory (FURMAN) def. Alisa Razina (UNLV) 7-5, 6-1