She has been the face of the program since fall 2004 and Elena Gantcheva will surely be back on the UNLV campus this season -- but only to complete her classroom studies.
The three-time Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, arguably the best to ever play tennis for the Lady Rebels, wrapped up her illustrious career in the spring by helping UNLV win its first league tournament title since 2002. Yes, from now on, the newlywed's presence at the Fertitta Tennis Complex will only be as an interested fan and friend.
"Elena is the most decorated player I've ever coached, she was always in the national limelight," says UNLV head coach Kevin Cory. "To have that high of a winning percentage (.752) -- playing all four years at the No. 1 spot against the kind of schedule we play -- is truly an amazing feat. We'll also miss her leadership, the confidence she brought to the court, which I think rubbed off on her teammates."
However, is it possible that Cory's 10th edition of Lady Rebels will actually be better than a year ago? Could the return of the team's other five starters and the addition of one talented recruit mean that UNLV is more well-rounded heading into 2009?
Apparently there IS life after Elena for the defending conference tournament champions.
"Our strength this season will be that we are going to have six very good players in singles every match and three very good doubles teams day-in and day-out," says the head man. "Even when Elena was in the lineup, I would always say that you have to get four points to win a match, not just win at the top. I expect us to be a very balanced team from top to bottom this year."
THE LINEUP
While one Bulgarian exits the program, another ascends to the top of the lineup. When Cory fills out his ITA dual match lineup sheet without the name Gantcheva on it for the first time since April 2004, it will be junior Kristina Nedeltcheva (18-10 in singles during 2007-08 season) who takes over the No. 1 spot and is labeled by her coach as one of the league's top players in both singles and doubles.
Having broken into the national singles rankings in each of her first two years on campus, two-time all-conference performer Nedeltcheva seems poised to be a leader on the court vs. a largely unforgiving schedule. "This is an exciting time for Kristina," says Cory. "After playing No. 2 for two seasons, she steps into the No. 1 position. With that comes a strong leadership role and I think she is definitely ready to play that part. She is extremely quick, has a big forehand and possesses great touch."
The next spot in the lineup is not as clear cut as a pair of senior veterans return to vie for the second and third positions.
Veteran three-year letterwinner Nikol Dimitrova (17-15 overall) saw most of her action behind Nedeltcheva a year ago and is the winningest active player on the roster with 51 victories to her name. Also a product of Sofia, Bulgaria, she was a ranked singles player during her first two seasons on campus and looks to put it all together during her final go-round.
"Nikol has had a solid career here and we are looking for her to step up as a senior. She really turned it on late in the year (seven straight victories over MWC opponents) and had a huge win in the conference final, so we expect big things from her this season."
Another possibility for No. 2 is former Long Beach State transfer Katy Williams (21-8), who tied Gantcheva in 2008 for fewest dual-match defeats as a junior with just four. Despite missing nearly the entire month of March because of a wrist fracture suffered in practice, Williams won seven of her final eight matches and is back to 100 percent in '09.
"Katy was such a great addition to the program a year ago, which made it even more disappointing when she injured her wrist in the middle of the season," says Cory. "But she showed her true heart and character by basically playing with one good hand and still being successful and being a huge part of us winning the conference championship. She brings a lot of experience to the courts and we look for this to be the best year of her college career."
A talented but still-developing youngster will begin the season in the fourth spot. Anna Maskaljun (25-10) out of Estonia turned in an impressive freshman campaign in 2008 that included an 11-5 record at No. 4 and the second most overall wins on the squad behind only Gantcheva.
"Anna is potentially the most talented player on our team. She has a huge forehand, a big serve and can really overpower her opponent. She had a very solid freshman year and we look at her to be one of our top players in singles and doubles this year."
The bottom of the lineup will be young but talented as well. The team's only addition, Bulgarian freshman Rumyana Terzieva, will have an opportunity to make her mark right away if she can make the transition to the college game, while sophomore Adrienn Hidvegi (15-11) churned out a spiffy 10-3 mark at the No. 6 spot as a rookie.
"Rumy is our only new player this year and we are really happy to have her here. She is really athletic and possesses an all-court game. We hope she can make an immediate impact on the starting lineups.
"We are really looking forward to what Adrienn is going to do for this team over the next few years. She is a great athlete and very strong off the ground. She will be a significant contributor in the starting lineup for us this year."
The team's other junior is Alisa Razina (3-3), who saw limited singles time a year ago but may get more action in '09.
"Alisa has proven to be a top doubles player for us. She struggled with some injuries last year and in the fall, but we need her to step up and contribute to the success of this team in 2009."
The Lady Rebels won the all-important doubles point 15 out of 25 tries last season and finished with another NCAA trip by top duo Gantcheva and Nedeltcheva (23-10 overall). In fact, two-time all-conference doubles honoree Nedeltcheva heads into her junior campaign as the winningest doubles player by percentage in school history at .761. Her new partner at the top of the lineup figures to be Williams (16-10 last year playing primarily at spot No. 2).
Maskaljun (17-14 overall in doubles) and Razina (12-3 with a trio of partners in '08) look to fill the second position while Dimitrova (10-8), Terzieva and Hidvegi (3-2) will compete to make up the third pairing.
THE SCHEDULE
At least 11 of the 23 teams on the UNLV women's tennis 2008 schedule are ranked nationally, including three in the top 30.
The team kicks off the year by hosting the annual Freeman Memorial Invitational on Jan. 16-18. A collection of singles and doubles players from top programs such as Stanford, Florida, USC, UCLA, Arizona State, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Baylor are scheduled to battle UNLV's contingent.
After starting dual match play on Jan. 23 by hosting New Mexico State, things get interesting real quick with the debut of the ITA's national indoor playoff one week later. The Lady Rebels head to Palo Alto, Calif., to take on No. 37 Illinois in the first round while the winner of No. 5 Stanford and No. 57 Colorado awaits the winner in round two.
The only other non-conference trip this season is at perennial power Pepperdine, ranked 29th, on Feb. 28. Meanwhile, coming to play at the Fertitta Tennis Complex this season are programs such as No. 33 South Carolina, No. 35 VCU, No. 45 Boise State and 59th-ranked Saint Mary's College.
The MWC schedule opens March 27 in San Diego with a matchup with No. 45 New Mexico followed by No. 25 TCU. After meetings at San Diego State and Air Force and neutral-site dates with Wyoming and Colorado State, the Lady Rebels host 50th-ranked Utah and No. 47 BYU to close out the regular season. No. 39 UNLV will look to defend its conference tournament crown when the teams come together in Albuquerque from April 22-25.
"We are working toward another strong season with another good schedule lined up that will offer plenty of opportunities to play ranked teams," says Cory. "In the Mountain West, you have to say TCU is the cream of the crop this year and then four or five teams pretty even after them battling for second."
