July 18, 2007

LAS VEGAS - Women's tennis star Elena Gantcheva won the Sportswoman of the Year award, the UNLV athletics department announced Wednesday.

Gantcheva, who just completed her junior year, was named the 2007 MWC Co-Player of the Year along with being selected first team All-MWC for both singles and doubles. She led her team to an NCAA Tournament at-large bid and qualified for the NCAA Doubles Championship. Gantcheva and her partner Kristina Nedeltcheva became just the second doubles team in school history to advance to the NCAA's round of 16 and finished with a school-record high ranking of 18.

Twice named MWC Player of the Week to bring her career tally to a school-record five such honors, Gantcheva finished the year ranked 75th in singles. She also tied the UNLV record for single-season doubles winning percentage with her 25-4 mark and moved to third all-time at UNLV in career singles victories with 83. She is the first tennis player to win the Sportswoman award since Katarina Malec in 2000.

The UNLV Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards were voted on by head coaches, administrators and sports information personnel at UNLV. Men's basketball player Joel Anthony won the men's honor.