May 21, 2008
TULSA, Okla. - UNLV tennis star Elena Gantcheva has played her final singles match in a Lady Rebel uniform.
The 36th-ranked former All-American won the first set over third-seeded Hilary Barte on Wednesday but then saw Stanford's top player storm back for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory at the NCAA Division I Singles Championship at Tulsa's Case Tennis Center.
"Unfortunately, Elena had to play one of the hottest players in college tennis in the first round," said UNLV head coach Kevin Cory. "She competed really hard but Barte just really turned it on in the second and third sets to win it."
Gantcheva saw her nine-match winning streak snapped and closed her senior season with a record of 29-11 and a career mark of 112-37, which represents the third-most wins in program history. Also, Gantcheva's all-time winning percentage of .752 is the best ever for a four-year player at UNLV.
The three-time Mountain West Conference Player of the Year became only the second Lady Rebel to take part in multiple NCAA singles tournaments and her combined total of five career bids (three singles and two doubles) trailed only Marianne Vallin's eight combined appearances from 1994-97.
"It's a sad day for UNLV tennis to see Elena's last singles match," Cory said. "She's done so much for this program and the Las Vegas tennis community and she will go down as one of the best, if not the best, players in school history."
Gantcheva has another opportunity to earn All-America honors this season as she and partner Kristina Nedeltcheva will play their first round doubles match on Thursday afternoon. Ranked 35th, the top duo in school history (23-9) is set to battle 12th-ranked Susie Babos and Stephanie Kusano of Cal (22-12).
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 its way into the Round of 16 at last year's event after upsetting the third-seeded team from Georgia Tech on the opening day. Players who win at least two matches at the NCAA tournament in singles or doubles automatically earn All-America status from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
