March 28, 2008

PROVO, Utah - The 62nd-ranked UNLV women's tennis team was forced by weather conditions to play indoors for the first time this season and quickly lost its Mountain West Conference opener 4-0 to host BYU on Friday.

The Lady Rebels lost their fourth straight match - all to top-50 opponents -- to fall to 8-7 on the year while the 47th-ranked Cougars improved to 9-8/1-0.

The morning match started with doubles play and after BYU won on court two, UNLV's 59th-ranked duo of Elena Gantcheva and Kristina Nedeltcheva upset No. 35 Jennifer Miccoli and Anastasia Surkova 8-5. However, the Cougars' third team won 8-6 at No. 3 to clinch the team point.

Having to play four matches at a time in the campus' indoor courts, the match was halted as soon as a team reached four points. Surkova upset No. 31 Gantcheva 6-2, 6-1 at the top spot; No. 80 Kristina Doerr swept No. 120 Nedeltcheva 6-1, 6-1 on court two; and Chie Hayasaka got by Nikol Dimitrova 6-3, 6-4 at No. 3 to end it.

The Lady Rebels look to rebound when they take on No. 56 Utah in Provo on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. PT.

UNLV WOMEN'S TENNIS RESULTS#47 BYU 4, #62 UNLV 0At BYU Indoor Courts, Provo, UT
DOUBLES: (BYU EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1.  #59 Gantcheva/Nedletcheva (UNLV) def. #35 Jennifer Miccoli/Surkova (BYU) 8-52.  #60 Chang/Doerr (BYU) def. Marin/Dimitrova (UNLV) 8-23.  Carney/Hayasaka (BYU) def. Alisa Razina/Maskaljun (UNLV) 8-6Order of Finish: 2,1,*3
SINGLES: (BYU EARNS THREE TEAM POINTS)1.  #86 Anastasia Surkova (BYU) def. #31 Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) 6-2, 6-12.  #80 Kristina Doerr (BYU) def. #120 Kristina Nedeltcheva (UNLV) 6-1, 6-13.  Chie Hayasaka (BYU) def. Nikol Dimitrova (UNLV) 6-3, 6-44.  Anna Maskaljun (UNLV) vs. Dolly Chang (BYU) DNF5.  Katy Williams (UNLV) vs. Elizaveta Ezhova (BYU) DNF6.  Sharon Marin (UNLV) vs. Elle Carney (BYU) DNFOrder of Finish: 2,1,*3*Clinching Match