March 15, 2008
LAS VEGAS - The 42nd-ranked UNLV women's tennis team dropped its third straight match - all against higher-ranked opponents - this time 4-3 to No. 25 Pepperdine at the Fertitta Tennis Complex on Saturday.
The Lady Rebels, who are without the services of the injured Katy Williams (14-7 in singles, 12-5 in doubles this season), fell to 8-6 on the year while the Waves improved to 11-3.
Pepperdine opened the morning by sweeping three doubles matches for one team point.
In singles, the Waves took a 2-0 lead before No. 28 Elena Gantcheva finished off No. 63 Sylvia Kosakowski at the top spot, 6-1, 6-2. The senior star improved her all-time singles record to 103-35 and has already exceeded her victory total from a year ago with a 20-9 mark this season.
Pepperdine then clinched the team match with wins on courts four and five. UNLV took the final two matches, however. On court two, Kristina Nedeltcheva earned her first career win over a ranked opponent in a dual match with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 upset of No. 48 Anamika Bargava. At the sixth spot, Alisa Razina shook off some rust from playing her first dual match of the season to rally past Tania Rile in a super-tiebreaker 1-6, 7-5, 1-0 (11-9).
"It's always disappointing to lose but when we lose to a top-25 team 4-3 without one of our top players in the lineup, it really shows the talent we have," UNLV head coach Kevin Cory said. "We hope to use the experience of playing our most challenging non-conference schedule ever to help us in Mountain West play."
The Lady Rebels will take spring break off before starting league play at BYU on March 28.
UNLV WOMEN'S TENNIS RESULTS#25 PEPPERDINE 4, #42 UNLV 3At Fertitta Tennis Complex, Las Vegas
DOUBLES: (PEPP EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. Dulgheru/Kosakowski (PEPP) def. Gantcheva/Nedeltcheva (UNLV) 8-52. Braverman/Bhargava (PEPP) def. Sharon Marin/Dimitrova (UNLV) 8-33. Rice/Bander (PEPP) def. Razina/Maskaljun (UNLV) 8-6ORDER OF FINISH: 2,3,1
SINGLES: (PEPP EARNS THREE TEAM POINTS)1. #28 Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) def. #63 Sylvia Kosakowski (PEPP) 6-1, 6-22. Kristina Nedeltcheva (UNLV) def. #48 Anamika Bargava (PEPP) 6-4, 4-6, 6-23. Bianca Dulgheru (PEPP) def. Nikol Dimitrova (UNLV) 6-3, 6-3*4. Anete Bandere (PEPP) def. Anna Maskaljun (UNLV) 6-2, 1-6, 6-35. Jill Braverman (PEPP) def. Adrienn Hidvegi (UNLV) 6-2, 6-16. Alisa Razina (UNLV) def. Tania Rile (PEPP) 1-6, 7-5, 1-0 (11-9)ORDER OF FINISH: 5,1,3,4,2,6*Clinching Match
