May 22, 2007

LAS VEGAS - The first UNLV team in seven years to take part in the NCAA Doubles Championship will begin play against the third-seeded duo in the tournament in Thursday's first round at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.

The Lady Rebel team of junior Elena Gantcheva and freshman Kristina Nedeltcheva, ranked 20th, is set to face No. 3 Whitney McCray and Kristi Miller of powerhouse Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are playing in today's team final vs. UCLA. The singles draw begins Wednesday.

Both natives of Sofia, Bulgaria, Gantcheva and Nedeltcheva currently stand 23-3 overall, including 5-1 vs. ranked opponents after peaking at No. 15 earlier this spring.

"It's been a while since we had a doubles team here so we're excited," UNLV head coach Kevin Cory said from the University of Georgia campus. "It's obviously a tough first-round opponent but these are the kind of teams you have to beat to advance. We've been practicing hard and we'll be ready to go."

The winner of Thursday's match moves into Friday's Round of 16 against the winner of a match between Lindsay Burdette and Anne Yelsey of Stanford vs. Audra Cohen and Laura Vallverdu of Miami. The doubles championship is scheduled for Monday.

The last UNLV women's players to make the NCAA doubles field were Katarina Malec and Marianne Bakken in 2000. The duo became the first Lady Rebels in history to win a match but then fell in the Round of 16.

UNLV IN THE NCAA WOMEN'S TENNIS DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIPSPLAYERS                                 YEAR   RECORDElena Gantcheva/Kristina Nedeltcheva    2007   TBDKatarina Malec/Marianne Bakken          2000   1-1Susie Kocsis/Gee Gee Garvin             1998   0-1Marianne Valline/Gee Gee Garvin         1997   0-1Marianne Vallin/Astrid Copano           1995   0-1Marianne Vallin/Rachel Clark            1994   0-1TOTAL                                   6      1-5