Feb. 20, 2010

LAS VEGAS - The 50th-ranked UNLV women's tennis team stayed perfect at home this season by beating No. 56 San Diego 5-2 at the Fertitta Tennis Complex on Saturday.

The Lady Rebels won their fourth straight match to improve to 7-2 overall and 7-0 in Las Vegas while the Toreros fell to 4-5.

UNLV set the tone early by not losing a doubles match for the eighth time this season. Kristina Nedeltcheva and Jana Albers improved to 8-1 in dual matches with an 8-4 win at the top spot. It also marked Nedeltcheva's school-record 87th career doubles victory. The 43rd-ranked duo of Anna Maskaljun and Alisa Razina won their match on court two by the same score and Nives Pavlovic and Adrienn Hidvegi teamed up for an 8-2 victory at the third spot.

In singles action, Nedeltcheva, ranked 45th, upped her overall record to 19-3 with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Juliette Coupez. The UNLV senior is now 8-0 at the No. 1 spot in 2010 and, remarkably, has not lost a dual match since March 27, 2009.

Also winning in straight sets for the hosts were Pavlovic at No. 2 and 72nd-ranked Albers at No. 3. UNLV's final point came on court five where Maskaljun used a super-tiebreaker to win 6-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-3).

"Today was a solid win for our program," UNLV head coach Kevin Cory said. "San Diego always competes really hard and they really pushed us throughout this match. We're looking forward to another tough one tomorrow to finish up our weekend."

UNLV will put its undefeated home record on the line Sunday when it hosts No. 39 Texas A&M beginning with doubles play at 10 a.m. Admission is free of charge.

Women's Tennis Match ResultsFeb. 20, 2010 at Las Vegas(Fertitta Tennis Complex)
#50 UNLV 5, #56 San Diego 2
Singles competition1. #45 Kristina Nedeltcheva (UNLV) def. Juliette Coupez (USD) 6-1, 6-12. Nives Pavlovic (UNLV) def. Laura Claus (USD) 6-3, 6-23. #72 Jana Albers (UNLV) def. Lise Marbach (USD) 6-4, 6-24. Maja Sujica (USD) def. Adrienn Hidvegi (UNLV) 6-4, 6-35. Anna Maskaljun (UNLV) def. Alexandra Demidova (USD) 6-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-3)6. Marite Raygada (USD) def. Ella Bourchier (UNLV) 6-0, 6-3
Doubles competition1. Nedeltcheva/Albers (UNLV) def. Coupez/Sujica (USD) 8-42. #43 Maskaljun/Alisa Razina (UNLV) def. Demidova/Claus (USD) 8-43. Pavlovic/Hidvegi (UNLV) def. Justine Perl/Raygada (USD) 8-2