Oct. 21, 2008

LAS VEGAS - UNLV will send five singles players and three doubles teams to compete in the Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Women's West Regional Championships running Thursday through Monday at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.

Three Lady Rebels will enjoy first-round byes in singles: 16th-seeded Kristina Nedeltcheva, 17-32 seeded Katy Williams and Nikol Dimitrova. Also competing as part of the 128-player draw will be veterans Anna Maskaljun and Adrienn Hidvegi. In doubles, Nedeltcheva and Williams are seeded 9-12 and have a first-round bye. Also, Alisa Razina will team up with Maskaljun while Dimitrova and Hidvegi round out the contingent.

UNLV, of course, will be without former All-American Elena Gantcheva after the graduated senior did much of her best work at the annual event, building a stunning 14-2 career mark at the tournament. In fact, last October, Gantcheva won the singles co-championship (the final was canceled because of wildfires in the area) to mark the first ITA singles title in UNLV women's history.

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 6-9 ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships hosted by the University of Virginia.