April 23, 2008
FORT WORTH - UNLV senior Elena Gantcheva has become the first women's tennis player in league history to win at least a share of three MVPs when she was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year in a vote of the league's nine head coaches. The MWC tennis awards were announced Wednesday on the campus of TCU, which is site of the conference's annual tournament.
Currently ranked 34th nationally in singles and 37th in doubles, Gantcheva was named the league's Co-MVP last year and the solo Player of the Year in 2006. She is just the fourth student-athlete in MWC history to earn at least three such awards in a career, joining four-time MVP Kim Smith of Utah (women's basketball), three-time winner Linda Frolich of UNLV (women's basketball) and three-timer Oliver Maiberger of San Diego State (men's tennis).
Gantcheva, a native of Sofia, Bulgaria, also joins former All-American Marianne Vallin as UNLV tennis' multiple winners as the former Swedish star took the honor three times (Big West in 1994 and '96 and WAC in 1997). Two other Lady Rebels have ever been named their league's MVP: Jolene Watanabe was tabbed the Big West Conference Player of the Year in 1990 and Katarina Malec was the Mountain West's first-ever honoree in 2000.
Playing at the No. 1 position in the lineup, Gantcheva is currently 28-10 overall and 17-4 in dual matches. This spring she lost only four sets en route to posting a 7-1 record vs. Mountain West opponents. Gantcheva and partner Kristina Nedeltcheva ran the table in doubles, going 8-0 in MWC play, en route to a 21-8 overall record.
A three-time MWC Player of the Week this spring, Gantcheva holds the league and school record for most such honors in a career with eight and is the winningest singles player in league history with a 26-4 mark in four years of conference dual-match action. Her career singles record of 111-36 ranks her third all-time at UNLV while she stands second in career doubles victories with a 77-34 mark.
"This is an amazing achievement for an amazing individual who has really put her heart and soul into the UNLV tennis program," said UNLV head coach Kevin Cory. "This caps off yet another stellar season for Elena and it's even more significant because it's voted on by the other coaches in this league."
Joining Gantcheva on the 2008 All-MWC singles team was fellow Bulgarian Nedeltcheva who stands 17-9 overall and went 5-2 in conference action. The pair was also part of the all-league doubles team for the second straight year, which meant Gantcheva closes her career with seven combined all-conference nods in singles and doubles. Nedeltcheva, a sophomore, already has four combined honors.
That duo and the rest of the second-seeded Lady Rebels (14-8) will open the conference event by taking on seventh-seeded Colorado State (9-10) on Thursday beginning at 8 a.m. PT in Fort Worth. The winner of the tournament, which runs through Saturday, earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships in May.
Other conference awards saw Utah's Evgenia Kryuchkova named the MWC Freshman of the Year and TCU's Jeff Hamond Coach of the Year.
2008 MWC WOMEN'S TENNIS AWARDSPLAYER OF THE YEAR:Elena Gantcheva, UNLVFRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:Evgenia Kryuchkova, UtahCOACH OF THE YEAR:Jeff Hammond, TCU
2008 ALL-MWC SINGLESKristen Doer, BYUAnastasia Surkova, BYUHillary Tyler, Colorado StateOla Abou-Zekry, New MexicoEsther Cadua, San Diego StateMacall Harkins, TCUNina Munch-Soegaard, TCUAnna Sydorska, TCUKatariina Tuohimaa, TCUElena Gantcheva, UNLVKristina Nedeltcheva, UNLVElizabeth Ferris, UtahEvgenia Kryuchkova, UtahEmily Kwok, Utah
2008 ALL-MWC DOUBLESAnastasia Surkova/Jennifer Miccoli, BYULauren Strasburger/Hilary Tyler, Colorado StateOla Abou-Zekry/Lucy Scott, New MexicoMacall Harkins/Anna Sydorska, TCUKatarina Tuohimaa/Idunn Hertzberg, TCUElena Gantcheva/Kristina Nedeltcheva, UNLVElizabeth Ferris/Emily Kwok, Utah
