May 9, 2008
LOS ANGELES - The 37th-ranked UNLV women's tennis team lost its sixth straight NCAA tournament match and dropped to 0-12 all-time vs. No. 18 Pepperdine with a closer-than-it-looks 4-0 defeat at the Marks Tennis Stadium Friday.
The unseasonably cool and drab Southern California conditions on the campus of USC matched the Lady Rebels' scoring output as their eight-match winning streak was snapped to end the team's season.
The Mountain West Conference champions finished the year at 17-9 overall while the Waves improved to 20-4 and will now face 10th-ranked host USC on Saturday for a spot in the NCAA Round of 16 in Tulsa, Okla.
While the match was much closer than the final score indicated, it's no mystery as to why Pepperdine was able to squeak out another victory over UNLV - doubles play.
Just like when the two programs met in March in Las Vegas, the Waves won the all-important doubles point and then essentially split singles play to get to four points first.
Pepperdine's No. 1 doubles tandem of Sylvia Kosakowski and Bianca Dulgheru, ranked 11th nationally, took a 6-0 lead against UNLV's 35th-ranked duo of Elena Gantcheva and Kristina Nedeltcheva before polishing them off 8-3, snapping the Lady Rebel pairing's 10-match winning streak. However, UNLV led 5-4 and was up in the next game on both remaining courts before the women from Malibu rallied. At the second position, Jill Braverman and Anamika Bhargava won four of the next five points to win 8-6 over Katy Williams and Anna Maskaljun and clinch the team point. The remaining match at No. 3 was then halted.
Moving to singles, Pepperdine won the first set on four of six courts before UNLV steadied itself. However, the Waves eventually went ahead 3-0 by winning on courts four and six in straight-set fashion. With Rebel players nearing victory on three of the four remaining matches, Pepperdine made it a moot point by closing out a straight-setter at the No. 3 spot.
"UNLV was tough the first time we played and we knew they'd be tougher because they've added a couple players," said Pepperdine head coach Gualberto Escudero. "It was an extremely tough match. Doubles was hard fought and we did a good job coming back to win the point."
UNLV head coach Kevin Cory agreed that doubles gave Pepperdine all the momentum.
"We lost a close doubles point that set the tone for the match," he said. "The final score could have been 4-3 either way but give Pepperdine credit. They are ranked in the top 20 for a reason and they showed it today. Of course this is a very disappointing way to end the team's season but considering we won the conference championship and played in the NCAAs, it was still a successful year."
The season is not over for UNLV senior star Gantcheva (30-10). Ranked 36th, the native of Sofia, Bulgaria, will take part in the NCAA Singles Championship in Tulsa later this month and is also hoping to get in the doubles event as she and Nedeltcheva remain the event's first alternate.
UNLV WOMEN'S TENNIS RESULTSNCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS ROUND ONE#18 PEPPERDINE 4, #37 UNLV 0At Marks Tennis Complex, Los Angeles
DOUBLES: (PEPP EARNS ONE TEAM POINT)1. #11 Dulgheru/Kosakowski (PEPP) def. #35 Gantcheva/Nedeltcheva (UNLV) 8-32. Braverman/Bhargava (PEPP) def. Maskaljun/Williams (UNLV) 8-63. Liles/Bandere (PEPP) vs. Marin/Alisa Razina (UNLV) 7-6 (DNF)ORDER OF FINISH: 1,2*
SINGLES: (PEPERDINE EARNS THREE TEAM POINTS)1. #36 Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) vs. #84 Sylvia Kosakowski (PEPP) 5-7, 6-1 (DNF)2. Kristina Nedeltcheva (UNLV) vs. #108 Anamika Bargava (PEPP) 6-3, 5-3 (DNF)3. Bianca Dulgheru (PEPP) def. Nikol Dimitrova (UNLV) 6-4, 6-04. Anete Bandere (PEPP) def. Anna Maskaljun (UNLV) 6-3, 6-45. Katy Williams (UNLV) vs. Jill Braverman (PEPP) 6-2, 1-6, 3-3 (DNF)6. Alex Liles (PEPP) def. Sharon Marin (UNLV) def. Alex Liles (PEPP) 6-2, 6-3 ORDER OF FINISH: 4,6,3**Clinching Match
