April 16, 2011

Box Score

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - After suffering through an 11-match losing streak against BYU from 2003-2008, the UNLV women's tennis program defeated the Cougars for the third consecutive time on Saturday in what was the final regular-season meeting between the two schools as league mates.

In fact, the 43rd-ranked Lady Rebels were dominant at the neutral-site Aztec Tennis Center, dispatching BYU by the score of 6-1 to improve to 7-0 in the Mountain West Conference and earn at least a share of the Mountain West Conference regular-season championship. On Sunday, UNLV will play SDSU, which is tied for second place at 6-1, for a chance to complete the year a perfect 8-0 for the second time in three seasons. Win or lose, UNLV has now secured at least a share of the league crown for the third time since the MWC debuted in 1999-2000 (co-champions in 2003 and outright champs in 2009). Head Coach Kevin Cory's program has also won three MWC tournament championships during that time.

On Saturday, UNLV improved to 18-4 overall while BYU, which moves to the West Coast Conference next season, fell to 9-10 (4-3 in the MWC).

The Lady Rebels opened the day by taking two of three doubles matches for one team point. Nives Pavlovic and Aleksandra Josifoska downed Megan Price and Callie Craig 8-3 at the top spot before Lucia Batta and Anna Maskaljun clinched it with an 8-6 win over Liza Ezhova and Desiree Tan on court two.

In singles play, UNLV got five straight-set victories. Batta, ranked 123rd in the nation, swept Craig 6-1, 6-4 at No. 1; Josifoska raised her rookie record to 23-3 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Price at No. 2; senior Adrienn Hidvegi defeated Tran 7-6, 6-0 at No. 4; senior Jana Albers swept Ezhova 6-3, 7-5 at No. 5; and Maskaljun won her 18th consecutive match in quick fashion over Aubrey Paul, 6-2, 6-2, on court six. The win put Maskaljun all alone in fourth place on the school's career singles victory list with 91. The senior from Tallinn, Estonia, also now sits in second place in all-time doubles wins with 86.

Women's Tennis Match Results#43 UNLV 6, BYU 1April 16, 2011 at San Diego(Aztec Tennis Center)
Doubles Competition1. Pavlovic/Josifoska (UNLV) def. Price/Craig (BYU) 8-32. Batta/Maskaljun (UNLV) Ezhova/Tran (BYU) 8-63. Paul/Carney (BYU) def. Albers/Hidvegi (UNLV) 8-1
Singles Competition1. #123 Lucia Batta (UNLV) def. Callie Craig (BYU) 6-1, 6-42. Aleksandra Josifoska (UNLV) def. Megan Price (BYU) 6-2, 6-33. Elle Carney (BYU) def. Nives Pavlovic (UNLV) 7-5, 6-34. Adrienn Hidvegi (UNLV) def. Desiree Tran (BYU) 7-6, 6-05. Jana Albers (UNLV) def. Liza Ezhova (BYU) 6-3, 7-56. Anna Maskaljun (UNLV) def. Aubrey Paul (BYU) 6-2, 6-2