SAN DIEGO (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV women's tennis team made history at the Aztec Tennis Center Saturday as head coach
Kevin Cory's squad became the school's first to win both the regular-season and tournament championship in the same season. The Rebels reached the milestone in style by blanking host San Diego State 4-0 to put the final touches on a dominant run through the Mountain West Championship that saw them not yield a single team point in three matches.
With what was its eighth straight win, including seven shutouts, UNLV improved to 17-6 overall and finished 8-0 against MW opponents in 2019. Third-seeded SDSU ended its campaign 15-10 overall.
For the ninth straight outing, the Rebels got off to a strong start by winning the doubles point. Saturday saw a 6-3 win on court two by
Samantha Li and
Connie Li and then a clinching 6-3 victory at the top by 74
th-ranked duo
Aiwen Zhu and En-Pei Haung.
In singles play, the visitors won the first set on four of six courts to show it was just a matter of who among the Rebels would win first. Huang was off the court quickly after a win at the third position; senior
Jovana Kenic made it 3-0 with a win at No. 5; and then, fittingly, two-time MW Player of the Year Zhu, ranked 104
th, closed it out with a 6-3, 6-2 triumph at the top to avenge her only conference loss this season.
UNLV was just a game away from another victory on court six and was up in the third set at No. 2 when the remaining action was halted as the Rebels won their MW-record sixth tournament title and earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
REBEL OF THE MATCH: Huang, a junior All-MW singles and doubles honoree, teamed with Zhu for the clinching doubles win and then blitzed Jenny Moinard on court three, 6-1, 6-0, to make it 2-0 while setting the tone for her squad in singles.
NET NOTES: UNLV has more Mountain West women's tournament titles (six) than any school. The Rebels won zero women's tennis conference championships before Cory arrived for the 1999-2000 season … The Rebels have also won six regular-season crowns to give Cory an even dozen combined MW championships … UNLV, which won a title in San Diego for the first time, improved to 3-0 vs. San Diego State in MW finals (won 4-1 in 2013 and 4-2 in 2002) and 4-1 vs. the Aztecs overall in MW tourney play … It marked the second time the Rebels won a title playing on the opponent's home courts as UNLV downed TCU 4-2 at Fort Worth, Texas, in 2008 … This marked the first time UNLV shut out its opponent in a MW final … Zhu's win improved her to 28-7 as a senior, 42-7 at the No. 1 spot in dual matches over her career and 101-31 overall … Zhu's doubles win improved her to 25-8 this season and gave her 90 for her career, which moved her into a tie for second at UNLV with Anna Maskaljun (2008-11) … Kenic ended her career vs. MW opponents in dual matches with a 12-1 mark while Huang will return next season with a 15-1 record vs. league foes … Cory, the winningest coach in MW history, improved to 37-14 at this postseason tournament.
QUOTABLE: "Just a great day to be a Rebel. We've been the No. 1 seed many times here and not finished it out so to be able to win both the regular-season and tournament championship is a great way to send off our three seniors. Obviously the crowd was in their favor and it was pretty loud but our girls handled it really well."
"We really showed up this week -- up and down the lineup. Our doubles over the last month have been really good and that's really helped us. It was nice to see Aiwen come out and clinch the match against a player she lost to two weeks ago. Another senior, Jovana, played a tremendous tournament after getting healthy again and was a true difference maker this week. We're happy to be peaking at this time of year and are excited to see what we can do at the NCAAs."
-UNLV Head Coach Kevin Cory
NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV will head to the NCAA Championships for the 13th time in history but first time since 2016. The Rebels will learn who and where they will play in the first round Monday.
Women's Tennis Match Results
MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL
UNLV 4, SAN DIEGO STATE 0
April 27, 2019, at San Diego
(Aztec Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #104
Aiwen Zhu (UNLV) def. Shakhnoza Khatamova (SDSU) 6-3, 6-2
2.
Izumi Asano (UNLV) vs. Mia Smith (SDSU) 0-6, 6-3, 3-2, unfinished
3.
En-Pei Huang (UNLV) def. Jenny Moinard (SDSU) 6-0, 6-1
4.
Anna Bogoslavets (UNLV) vs. Nnena Nadozie (SDSU) 2-6, 2-5, unfinished
5.
Jovana Kenic (UNLV) def. Magda Aubets (SDSU) 6-2, 6-1
6.
Connie Li (UNLV) vs. Abbie Mulbarger (SDSU) 7-6 (9-7), 5-1, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. #74
Aiwen Zhu/
En-Pei Huang (UNLV) def. Nnena Nadozie/Alicia Melosch (SDSU) 6-3
2.
Connie Li/
Samantha Li (UNLV) def. Jenny Moinard/Mia Smith (SDSU) 6-3
3.
Izumi Asano/
Anna Bogoslavets (UNLV) vs. Magda Aubets/Abbie Mulbarger (SDSU) 3-5, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (3,5,1)
