May 20, 2008
LAS VEGAS - UNLV tennis star Elena Gantcheva will look to earn her first career victory at the NCAA Division I Singles Championship on Wednesday and will have to do it by facing the tournament's third seed as the main draws were announced on Tuesday.
Gantcheva, ranked 36th, has not lost a match since March 28 en route to compiling a 29-10 overall record. She will take on Stanford's third-ranked Hilary Barte (29-7) beginning at 8 a.m. PT at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla. The winner moves on to Thursday's second round vs. the winner of Lenka Broosova of Baylor vs. Nadia Abdala of Arizona State. Live scoring and video of the tournament are available at the University of Tulsa's official website www.tulsahurricane.com.
Gantcheva, who earned the Mountain West Conference's automatic bid into the singles field, is only the second UNLV woman to play in multiple NCAA singles tournaments and her combined total of five career bids trails only Marianne Vallin's eight singles and doubles appearances from 1994-97. Gantcheva will attempt to become first Lady Rebel to advance at the singles event since Katarina Malec rolled into the 2000 final four before falling in the semifinals to the eventual national champion.
Gantcheva, a three-time MWC Player of the Year will also play doubles starting Thursday with partner Kristina Nedeltcheva. Ranked 35th, the top duo in school history drew a first-round match vs. 12th-ranked Susie Babos and Stephanie Kusano of Cal (22-12).
The Lady Rebel pair stands 23-9 overall and has won 10 of it last 11 matches. Both natives of Sofia, Bulgaria, Gantcheva and Nedeltcheva are the first UNLV doubles team in history to play in more than one NCAA tournament. The duo won their way into the Round of 16 in last year's event after upsetting the third-seeded duo from Georgia Tech on the opening day.
"Anyone you face at the NCAA tournament is going to be a tough opponent so we are looking forward to the challenge in both singles and doubles," said UNLV head coach Kevin Cory.
