Feb. 1, 2008

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Fresh from being named Mountain West Conference Player of the Week for a record sixth time in her career, senior tennis star Elena Gantcheva turned in one of her most impressive regular-season victories on Friday despite No. 41 UNLV suffering its first loss of the season, 6-1 at second-ranked Stanford.

Competing at one of the toughest places to play in the nation for a visiting team, 30th-ranked Gantcheva upset No. 21 Jessica Nguyen in straight sets 6-2, 7-6 at the Taube Family Tennis Center on The Farm. It marked the second consecutive season that Gantcheva upset the Cardinal's top singles player. She shocked then-11th-ranked Theresa Logar last spring when Stanford visited UNLV.

Unfortunately, no other Lady Rebel singles player picked up even a set during Friday's match, which was delayed by rain for more than 90 minutes. However, just like last season's meeting when UNLV swept the three doubles matches, the doubles point was hotly contested.

After the Cardinal won on court three, 8-3, UNLV got an 8-5 victory at No. 2 when Katy Williams and Anna Maskaljun downed Celia Durkin and Carolyn McVeigh. The top spot was claimed by the Stanford duo of Hilary Barte and Lindsay Burdette, who rallied to get by Gantcheva and Kristina Nedeltcheva 8-5.

"As always, Stanford proved to be top-flight competition and they will once again vie for the national championship," said UNLV head coach Kevin Cory. "However, I was happy with the way we competed despite some adverse weather conditions and having some players overcoming the flu. Still, Elena and the number two doubles team of Katy and Anna really stepped up today."

UNLV (3-1) will look for a split in its trip to Northern California when it plays at Santa Clara on Sunday morning.

2008 UNLV WOMEN'S TENNIS RESULTSNo. 2 STANFORD 6, No. 41 UNLV 6At Taube Family Tennis Center, Palo Alto, Calif.
DOUBLES - (Stanford earns one team point)1. Barte/Burdette (STAN) def. Gantcheva/Nedeltcheva (UNLV) 8-52. Williams/Maskaljun (UNLV) def. Durkin/McVeigh (STAN) 8-53. Deason/Nguyen (STAN) def. Marin/Dimitrova (UNLV) 8-3
SINGLES - (Stanford earns five team points)1. #30 Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) def. #21 Jessica Nguyen (STAN) 6-2, 7-62. #39 Lindsay Burdette (STAN) def. Kristina Nedeltcheva (UNLV) 6-1, 6-33. Hilary Barte (STAN) def. Katy Williams (UNLV) 6-4, 6-04. Celia Durkin (STAN) def. Nikol Dimitrova (UNLV) 6-2, 6-15. Whitney Deason (STAN) def. Anna Maskaljun (UNLV) 6-0, 6-46. #58 Carolyn McVeigh (STAN) def. Adrienn Hidvegi (UNLV) 6-0, 6-3