Feb. 23, 2008

LAS VEGAS - The 38th-ranked UNLV women's tennis team lost to 14th-ranked Fresno State 6-1 at the Fertitta Tennis Complex on Saturday.

The Lady Rebels dropped their second straight match to fall to 6-3 while the powerful Bulldogs, who boast four ranked singles players and two ranked doubles teams, improved to 5-2 on the year.

Fresno State flexed its muscle in doubles play to take a 1-0 lead. The nation's top-ranked duo of Melanie Gloria and Tinesta Rowe outlasted UNLV's Elena Gantcheva and Kristina Nedeltcheva 8-6 at No. 1 as part of a three-match sweep.

Two of the nation's best dueled at the top of the singles lineup but 11th-ranked Gloria rallied to get by No. 23 Gantcheva 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7) despite the Lady Rebel senior forging 7-3 lead in the super-tiebreaker.

Fresno State won in straight sets on courts 2-5 but the hosts did get a point at position six where Adrienn Hidvegi outlasted Vanessa Heroux 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (13-11).

Weather permitting, UNLV will try to salvage the weekend by hosting No. 32 Florida International on Sunday beginning with doubles at 10 a.m. Admission is free of charge.

2008 UNLV WOMEN'S TENNIS RESULTSNo. 14 Fresno State 6, No. 38 UNLV 1At Fertitta Tennis Complex, Las Vegas
DOUBLES - (FS earns one team point)1. #1 Rowe/Gloria (FS) def. Gantcheva/Nedeltcheva (UNLV) 8-62. #14 Petukhova/Kucerkova (FS) Maskaljun/Williams (UNLV) 8-33. Heroux/Haskett (FS) def. Dimitrova/Razina (UNLV) 9-8
SINGLES - (FS earns five team points)1. #11 Melanie Gloria (FS) def. #23 Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7)2. #20 Anastasia Petukhova (FS) def. Kristina Nedeltcheva (UNLV) 6-4, 6-23. #96 Renata Kucerkova (FS) def. Katy Williams (UNLV) 6-2, 6-14. #77 Tinesta Rowe (FS) def. Nikol Dimitrova (UNLV) 6-1, 6-35. Jacqueline Haskett (FS) def. Anna Maskaljun (UNLV) 6-4, 6-36. Adrienn Hidvegi (UNLV) def. Vanessa Heroux (FS) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (13-11)