May 25, 2010

TOURNAMENT LIVE SCORING & VIDEO

LAS VEGAS - UNLV tennis standout Kristina Nedeltcheva will attempt to become the first Lady Rebel in a decade to advance at the NCAA Singles Championship when the event kicks off Wednesday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.

Nedeltcheva (28-9), a senior who is ranked 45th nationally, will face 26th-ranked Andrea Remynse (24-10) of UCLA beginning at 1 p.m. PT. Live scoring and video of the match is scheduled to be linked at www.unlvrebels.com. The winner moves on to Thursday's second round vs. the winner of seventh-seeded Allie Will of Florida and 61st-ranked Liudmila Vasilieva of Washington State.

"It's an honor to be back at the NCAA championships," said UNLV head coach Kevin Cory. "There are no easy matches here, but we like the way Kristina is playing right now and look forward to an exciting match vs. a strong player from UCLA."

Nedeltcheva, a native of Sofia, Bulgaria, will be playing in her first singles event after two previous trips to the doubles championship in 2007 and 2008. She joins her former doubles partner Elena Gantcheva (2005, '06, '08 singles and '07, '08 doubles) and three-time UNLV All-American Marianne Vallin (1994-97 singles and 1994, '95, '97 doubles) in going to at least three national tourneys.

Only the second Lady Rebel to be named first team all-conference in both singles and doubles all four years on campus, Nedeltcheva is the fifth UNLV woman overall to earn an NCAA singles spot. The last Lady Rebel to advance was All-American Katarina Malec, who rolled into the 2000 final four before falling in the semifinals to the eventual national champion.