Jan. 30, 2009
PALO ALTO, Calif. - The 38th-ranked UNLV women's tennis team just missed out on upsetting No. 36 Illinois in Friday's first round of the inaugural ITA Kickoff Weekend tournament on the campus of Stanford University.
The Lady Rebels, who played five three-setters, fell to 3-1 on the year while the Illini improved to 2-1. UNLV will now play No. 51 Colorado on Saturday in the consolation round. Host Stanford, ranked fifth, downed the Buffaloes 6-1 on Friday to advance at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
The 15 schools that win both of their matches at the event's sites throughout the nation earn a ticket to the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championships at the University of Wisconsin on Feb. 13-16.
Illinois began the day by taking the first two completed doubles matches for one team point.
In singles, freshman Rumyana Terzieva closed out Kristina Minor at No. 6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, and Adrienn Hidvegi won 7-6, 6-1 to give UNLV a 2-1 lead. After the Illini tied things with a three-set victory on court four, Marisa Lambropoulos emerged with a key 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 victory over UNLV's Katy Williams after taking the tiebreaker 7-5 at the third spot.
Junior Kristina Nedeltcheva then earned her third ranked victory of the dual-match season with a 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 upset of No. 89 Leigh Finnegan at the top spot to square things at 3. Megan Fudge eventually took the clincher over Nikol Dimitrova, 6-2, 6-7, 6-1, on court two.
ITA KICKOFF WEEKEND TOURNAMENT#36 ILLINOIS 4, #39 UNLV 3Jan. 30, 2009, at Stanford (Taube Family Tennis Stadium)
Singles competition1. Kristina Nedeltcheva (UNLV) def. #89 Leigh Finnegan (ILL) 5-7, 6-3, 7-62. Megan Fudge (ILL) def. Nikol Dimitrova (UNLV) 6-2, 6-7, 6-13. Marisa Lambropoulos (ILL) def. Katy Williams (UNLV) 3-6, 6-4, 7-64. Chelcie Abajian (ILL) def. Anna Maskaljun (UNLV) 4-6, 6-1, 6-35. Adrienn Hidvegi (UNLV) def. Amy Allin (ILL) 7-6, 6-16. Rumyana Terzieva (UNLV) def. Kristina Minor (ILL) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
Doubles competition1. Finnegan/Fudge (ILL) def. Nedeltcheva/Williams (UNLV) 8-42. Alisa Razina/Maskaljun (UNLV) vs. Lambropoulos/Abajian (ILL) DNF3. Annie McCarthy/Allin (ILL) def. Hidvegi/Dimitrova (UNLV) 8-4
