LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV women's tennis team will play in the final of the Mountain West Championship for the sixth straight time after a 4-1 victory over Boise State Friday at the Darling Tennis Center.    

The second-seeded and 59th-ranked Rebels won their seventh straight overall match to improve to 18-3 while the sixth-seeded Broncos fell to 13-11.

Boise State used an upset on court two of doubles to grab a 1-0 lead. UNLV's Molly Helgesson and Salsa Aher won 6-2 at the top the lineup but the Broncos won easily, 6-1, at the second position to snap all-conference duo Cindy Hu and Coco Zhao's 17-match win streak in dual matches. That meant the point would be decided on court three and Boise State's duo ultimately took it in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-3).

UNLV would need to win four of six singles matches to advance – and did just that.

Zhao was first off with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Nicole Discenza at No. 5; Hu outlasted Shauna Heffernan, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, at No. 4; and then Aura Fang also took a three-setter over Conde Vendrell, 6-2, 1-6, 6-2, at No. 6. The Rebels needed just one win from the top half of their lineup and got it from Zita Kovacs, who took a long match over Lorelyz Marrufo, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Since the event's inception in 2000, head coach Kevin Cory has led his program to a sparkling 41-15 record in MW tournament play as he added to his league-record career win total. The Rebels, who fell to San Diego State in last year's final, last won it in 2019 (there were no championships held in 2020 or '21 because of Covid) and own six overall MW tournament titles – the most of any school.

UP NEXT: UNLV will face fourth-seeded Air Force in Saturday's final, which starts with doubles play at 11 a.m. The Falcons, who are making their first trip to the championship round, won a thrilling semifinal, 4-3, over San Jose State on Friday to advance. Saturday's winner will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Tennis Championship.
 
2023 Mountain West Women's Tennis Championship Semifinals
Women's Tennis Match Results
#59 (2) UNLV 4, (6) BOISE STATE 1
April 28, 2023, at Las Vegas
(Darling Tennis Center)

Singles competition
1. Pauline Ernstberger (BSU) vs. Molly Helgesson (UNLV) 6-4, 4-6, 5-4, unfinished
2. Zita Kovacs (UNLV) def. Lorelyz Marruffo (BSU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
3. Joana Baptista (BSU) vs. Salsa Aher (UNLV) 6-3, 1-6, 6-6 (4-6), unfinished
4. Cindy Hu (UNLV) def. Shauna Heffernan (BSU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
5. Coco Zhao (UNLV) def. Nicole Discenza (BSU) 6-3, 6-1
6. Aura Fang (UNLV) def. Conde Vendrell (BSU) 6-2, 1-6, 6-2
 
 Doubles competition
1. Molly Helgesson/Salsa Aher (UNLV) def. Nicole Discenza/Lorelyz Marruffo (BSU) 6-2
2. Holly Stewart/Joana Baptista (BSU) def. Cindy Hu/Coco Zhao (UNLV) 6-1
3. Pauline Ernstberger/Shauna Heffernan (BSU) def. Zita Kovacs/Aura Fang (UNLV) 7-6 (7-3)
 
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (5,4,6,2)