April 18, 2010

Box Score

SAN DIEGO - The 36th-ranked UNLV women's tennis team blanked Air Force 7-0 on Sunday to reach the 20-victory mark in back-to-back seasons for only the second time in history.

Playing at the Aztec Tennis Center, the Lady Rebels ended the regular season with a 20-3 record after finishing last year 20-8. The only other time UNLV had similar records was when it went 23-15 in 1990 and 21-13 in '91. Head Coach Kevin Cory, now in his 11th year, has three of the school's six all-time 20-win seasons to his credit. His team went 7-1 in Mountain West Conference play this spring with only a 4-3 upset loss at Utah last month spoiling a second consecutive perfect run through the league.

UNLV has now won 20 of its last 21 regular-season conference matches but will have to settle for second place as the Utes got by TCU 4-3 on Sunday in Albuquerque, N.M., to earn the MWC regular-season title with an 8-0 record. However, Cory's Crew will look to earn its fourth all-time league tournament crown when both the men's and women's MWC tennis championships are hosted by UNLV April 28-May 1 at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.

On Sunday, the Lady Rebels won the doubles point for the 20th time this season by taking three matches for a 1-0 advantage. Kristina Nedeltcheva and Jana Albers, ranked 75th, won 8-3 at the top of the lineup to extend Nedeltcheva's school record for career doubles wins to 96. Anna Maskaljun and Alisa Razina combined for an 8-0 victory on court two to improve their record to a team-leading 24-5 this season. Razina, a senior, earned her 81st career doubles victory, which is good for third all-time at the school and just three behind Jolene Watanabe (1987-90) in second place. Nives Pavlovic and Adrienn Hidvegi won their match 8-7 on court three to complete the sweep.

In singles, Nedeltcheva finished 21-10 all-time in MWC regular-season matches with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Christen Monreal at the top position. The 49th-ranked senior continued to solidify fourth place in the UNLV record book with her 88th career singles victory.

Albers, ranked 114th, defeated Tahlia Smoke 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2; Pavlovic downed Hannah Dake 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3; Hidvegi, a junior, improved her dual-match record to 20-2 and career mark vs. the MWC to a sparkling 17-3 with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Christine Molina at No. 4; Maskaljun won 6-1, 6-2 over Melissa Cecil at No. 5 to climb to 7-1 vs. the MWC in 2010; and Rumyana Terzieva won 6-2, 6-0 over Sarah Cassman on court six.

"This has already been one of the best seasons since I've been here but there's a lot more tennis to play," said Cory, whose team has won six straight. "The girls have really competed well and we are excited to be hosting the Mountain West championships. We'll bring in a lot of momentum."

#36 UNLV 7, Air Force 0Sunday, April 18, 2010Aztec Tennis Center(San Diego, Calif.)
DOUBLES1. #75 Nedeltcheva/Albers (UNLV) def. Monreal/Dake (AFA) 8-32. Alisa Razina/Maskaljun (UNLV) def. Molina/Allie Chermel (AFA) 8-03. Pavlovic/Hidvegi (UNLV) def. Cecil/Smoke (AFA) 8-7Order of Finish: 2,1*,3* clinched doubles point
SINGLES1. #49 Kristina Nedeltcheva (UNLV) def. Christen Monreal (AFA) 6-1, 6-42. #114 Jana Albers (UNLV) def. Tahlia Smoke (AFA) 6-2, 6-23. Nives Pavlovic (UNLV) def. Hannah Dake (AFA) 6-3, 6-14. Adrienn Hidvegi (UNLV) def. Christine Molina (AFA) 6-3, 7-65. Anna Maskaljun (UNLV) def. Melissa Cecil (AFA) 6-1, 6-26. Rumyana Terzieva (UNLV) def. Sarah Cassman (AFA) 6-2, 6-0Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3*, 6, 5, 4*clinched team match