April 29, 2011

Box Score

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (UNLVRebels.com) - The 38th-ranked and top-seeded UNLV women's tennis team was knocked out of the Mountain West Conference Championship in the semifinal round by an underdog TCU club for the second consecutive season, this time falling 4-2 on Friday at the University Tennis Complex.

The Lady Rebels saw their nine-match winning streak snapped in falling to 20-5 overall. It was the first loss by head coach Kevin Cory's team to a MWC opponent since going down 4-3 to the Horned Frogs in Las Vegas on April 30, 2010. TCU, which came in seeded fourth and ranked 71st, improved to 13-10 overall and will face second-seeded Utah in Saturday's title match. UNLV, meanwhile, will return to Las Vegas to regroup and await word on a possible at-large bid to the NCAA Championships, which will be announced Tuesday.

Fighting through intense winds, which would actually delay singles matches by more than an hour, TCU grabbed all the momentum in morning doubles play. When these two squared off during the regular season, UNLV swept the three matches for the key point. Today, however, the Frogs won at the top position 8-6 and then clinched it by eking out a 9-8 (7-5 in the tiebreaker) triumph on court three. The Lady Rebel duo of Anna Maskaljun and Lucia Batta did win its match at No. 2, 8-5 over Federica Denti and Olivia Smith, marking the 18th-straight victory by the pair.

Moving to singles after the 70-minute delay, TCU got a quick victory on court two to move ahead 2-0. Sophomore Nives Pavlovic then got her team on the board with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Gaby Mastromarino at the third position. Next, Maskaljun saw her school-record 20-match winning streak snapped in short order by Idunn Hertberg on court five, 6-2, 6-1. For Maskaljun (now 23-2 in dual matches), who had not even dropped as much as a set since Feb. 20, it was the first individual loss since Jan. 28. Another UNLV senior, Jana Albers made it 3-2 with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Shalini Sahoo at the sixth spot.

Lady Rebel players actually won the first set on the remaining two courts and needed to take both to pull it out. However, senior Adrienn Hidvegi saw Federica Denti come back for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 win on court four to clinch it for the Frogs. The match at the top of the lineup was then halted after Batta and Katarina Tuohimaa split sets.

Women's Tennis Match ResultsMountain West Conference Championships - Semifinals(4) #71 TCU 4, (1) #38 UNLV 2April 29, 2011, at Fort Collins, CO(University Tennis Complex)
Singles competition 1. Lucia Batta (UNLV) vs. Katarina Tuohimaa (TCU) 7-5, 5-7, DNF2. Olivia Smith (TCU) def. Aleksandra Josifoska (UNLV) 6-0, 6-23. Nives Pavlovic (UNLV) def. Gaby Mastromarino (TCU) 6-2, 6-24. Federica Denti (TCU) def. Adrienn Hidvegi (UNLV) 2-6, 6-2, 6-45. Idunn Hertzberg (TCU) def. Anna Maskaljun (UNLV) 6-2, 6-26. Jana Albers (UNLV) def. Shalini Sahoo (TCU) 6-3, 6-1
Doubles competition1. Katarina Tuohimaa/Maria Babanova (TCU) def. Nives Pavlovic/Aleksandra Josifoska (UNLV) 8-62. Anna Maskaljun/Lucia Batta (UNLV) def. Federica Denti/Olivia Smith (TCU) 8-53. Idunn Hertzberg/Gaby Mastromarino (TCU) def. Jana Albers/Adrienn Hidvegi (UNLV) 9-8 (7-5)
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,3,5,6,4)