Oct. 3, 2009

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. - UNLV senior Kristina Nedeltcheva won two matches Saturday in singles and another in doubles to begin prequalifying at the annual Riviera All-American Tennis Championships.

Nedeltcheva, ranked 90th nationally, opened with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Cameron Ellis of Georgia and then made it through to Sunday's third round with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Irina Paraschiv of North Texas. Nedeltcheva now faces the draw's top seed, Allie Nill of Florida.

The Lady Rebel leader is also still alive in doubles after teaming with freshman Nives Pavlovic for an 8-6 win over Carling Seguso and Jordan Dockendorf of UCLA.

Nives was ousted in the first round of singles, 7-6, 6-2, by Chelcie Abajain of Illinois.

The All-American is an elite, three-tiered event made up of a prequalifying, qualifying and a main draw. This weekend the prequalifying will be played Saturday and Sunday, followed by qualifying play on Tuesday and Wednesday and the main draw play next Thursday through Sunday.