LOS ANGELES (UNLVRebels.com) – Freshman Connie Li won a marathon deciding match on court six to give the UNLV women's tennis team a stunning 4-3 upset over No. 26 Texas Tech in the NCAA First Round Saturday at Marks Tennis Stadium on the campus of USC.

The 2019 Regular-Season and Mountain West Tournament Champion Rebels won an opening NCAA match for the first time in six years to improve their 2019 record to 18-6 while the Red Raiders of the Big 12 Conference, who went all the way to the Elite Eight a year ago, ended the year at 17-9.
UNLV won its ninth straight outing despite dropping the doubles point for the first time since March 9. The Rebels were in control on court one but that match was halted when Texas Tech notched quick wins on both court two and three to forge a 1-0 lead.

In singles play, four of the six matches went a full three sets. The Red Raiders got a quick victory on court two to go ahead 2-0 but the upstart Rebel forces rallied to win three straight and take the lead. Texas Tech eventually evened things at three to shift all eyes to the bottom of the lineup where Li was battling senior Lana Rush. The players traded 6-4 sets to set up a winner-take-all final stanza. Rush would fight off two match points to force a tiebreaker and then come back from being down 6-3 in the tiebreaker before Li finally finished her off, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (9-7), to ignite a UNLV celebration.

REBEL OF THE MATCH: Aiwen Zhu, ranked 105th in the nation, was dazzling again, leading 4-2 in doubles with partner En-Pei Huang at the top spot before upsetting 22nd-ranked Felicity Maltby, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, for her 102nd singles victory as a Rebel. Zhu, who is headed back to the NCAA Singles Championship later this month, improved to 29-7 as a senior and has won 16 of her last 18 matches dating back to early February.
 
NET NOTES: UNLV upped its lead in the all-time series vs. the Red Raiders to 7-2 in what was the first meeting between the programs in seven years … The Rebels won a NCAA tournament match at USC for the first time after falling in the first round at Marks Stadium in both 2008 and 2002 … UNLV advanced to the second round of the NCAA event for the fourth time in 13 all-time trips (1998 in Las Vegas, 2010 in North Carolina and 2013 in Nebraska) … Zhu ranks sixth in UNLV career singles wins and needs just one more to tie Aleksandra Josifoska (2011-14) in fifth place with 103 … Senior Jovana Kenic, who rallied to win her match to tie things at 2-2, improved her UNLV career mark to 49-18, which ranks her ninth in career winning percentage at .731.

QUOTABLE: "Just a tremendous win against a very good Texas Tech team today. It took us a while to get going with the early (9 a.m. PT) start but after a really bad beginning in the doubles, we came out and went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the country in singles. Once we got the first win on the board from En-Pei (Huang) you could feel that the girls knew we had a chance. Jovana really took control of her match to pick up the crucial second point for us. Aiwen again proved why she's one of the best in college tennis and showed she can beat anyone on any given day. It came down to the last court and Connie played her best match of the year and really showed us the type of player she's going to be for UNLV in the future."
-UNLV Head Coach Kevin Cory
 
NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV will face 13th-ranked USC Sunday starting at 1 p.m. The host Trojans blanked Illinois State 4-0 Saturday afternoon to advance. The winner will move on to a NCAA Super Regional. Fans can watch the action live via usctrojans.com.
 
Women's Tennis Match Results
NCAA FIRST ROUND
UNLV 4, #26 TEXAS TECH 3
May 4, 2019, at Los Angeles
(Marks Tennis Stadium)
 
Singles Competition
1. #105 Aiwen Zhu (UNLV) def. #22 Felicity Maltby (TTU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
2. Nell Miller (TTU) def. Izumi Asano (UNLV) 6-0, 6-3
3. En-Pei Huang (UNLV) def. Denise-Antonela Stoica (TTU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Kennedy Bridgforth (TTU) def. Anna Bogoslavets (UNLV) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
5. Jovana Kenic (UNLV) def. Olivia Peet (TTU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-1
6. Connie Li (UNLV) def. Lana Rush (TTU) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7)*
 
Doubles Competition
1. #80 En-Pei Huang/Aiwen Zhu (UNLV) leading Nell Miller/Lana Rush (TTU) 4-2 did not finish
2. Felicity Maltby/Olivia Peet (TTU) def. Connie Li/Samantha Li (UNLV) 6-0
3. Kennedy Bridgforth/Reagan Collins (TTU) def. Izumi Asano/Anna Bogoslavets (UNLV) 6-2
 
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (2,3,5,1,4,6)