SAN DIEGO (UNLVRebels.com) – The top-seeded UNLV women's tennis team will appear in the final of the Mountain West Championship for the fourth straight year after turning in a dominant 4-0 semifinal win over Wyoming Friday at the Aztec Tennis Center.
 
The regular-season champion Rebels won their seventh straight match to improve to 16-6 overall and 7-0 against MW opponents in 2019. The fifth-seeded Cowgirls ended their campaign with a record of 14-8.
 
The teams staged a heated battle in doubles play, with Wyoming winning on court three before UNLV notched close victories at No. 1 and then the clincher, 7-5, at No. 2. The Rebels rode that momentum into singles, quickly taking the first set on five of six courts. UNLV eventually took straight-set wins on the top three courts to end it as head coach Kevin Cory's squad improved to 8-0 all-time vs. the Cowgirls at the MW tournament.
 
REBEL OF THE MATCH: Two-time MW Player of the Year Aiwen Zhu was impressive again, teaming with En-Pei Huang for a 6-4 win at the top of the doubles lineup and then blitzing Tessa van Der Ploeg, 6-0, 6-1, to earn her 100th career singles victory. The senior became just the sixth women's player in UNLV history to reach the century mark.
 
NET NOTES: UNLV shut out its opponent for the sixth time in the last seven matches … The Rebels have now reached the finals of the conference postseason event for the 11th time in the league's 20 years of existence … This marked the fourth straight season UNLV knocked Wyoming out of the tournament, including the last three in the semifinals … Zhu needs one more doubles win to move into a tie with Anna Maskaljun (2008-11) for second all-time at the school with 90.
 
QUOTABLE: "I was really pleased with the way we competed today against a good Wyoming team that is very well-coached. Now we will get ready for a big battle Saturday."
-UNLV Head Coach Kevin Cory
 
NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV will face third-seeded San Diego State, which knocked off second-seeded Air Force in Friday's other semifinal, 4-2. In their previous meeting, the Rebels got by the Aztecs on the road, 4-3, to close out the regular season April 13. Fans can watch a free live stream of the final at the Mountain West Championships page.
 
Women's Tennis Match Results
MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONSHIP - SEMIFINALS
UNLV 4, WYOMING 0
April 26, 2019, at San Diego
(Aztec Tennis Center)
 
Singles
1. #104 ZHU, Aiwen (UNLV) def. VAN DER PLOEG, Tessa (WYO) 6-0, 6-1
2. IZUMI, Asano (UNLV) def. KOONIK, Elisa (WYO) 6-2, 6-2
3. HUANG, En-Pei (UNLV) def. ORESHKINA, Maria (WYO) 6-2, 6-1
4. BOGOSLAVETS, Anna (UNLV) vs. ROYO, Ana (WYO) 6-1, 4-2, unfinished
5. KENIC, Jovana (UNLV) vs. FERNANDEZ, Ana (WYO) 6-2, 4-2, unfinished
6. LI, Connie (UNLV) vs. KRAUSE, Ida (WYO) 2-6, 3-5, unfinished
 
 
 
Doubles
1. #74 ZHU, Aiwen/HUANG, En-Pei (UNLV) def. VAN DER PLOEG, Tessa/KOONIK, Elisa (WYO) 6-4
2. LI, Connie/LI, Samantha (UNLV) def. ROYO, Ana/ORESHKINA, Maria (WYO) 7-5
3. KRAUSE, Ida/KAFTANOVA, Mihaela (WYO) def. ASANO, Izumi/BOGOSLAVETS, Anna (UNLV) 6-4
 
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (3,1,2)