April 25, 2008
FORT WORTH, Texas – The two-seeded UNLV rebels earned a trip to the finals of the 2008 Mountain West Conference Women’s Tennis Championships on Friday with a 4-0 win over No. 3 New Mexico at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. New Mexico’s season ends at 15-9 overall while the Rebels improved to 16-8 on the season.
The New Mexico duo of Mackenzie White and Jennifer Ryba led off doubles play with an 8-4 win over Katy Williams and Anna Maskaljun at the No. 2 position, while the 37th-ranked UNLV duo of Elena Gantcheva and Kristina Nedeltcheva answered with an 8-3 defeat of Ola Abou-Zekry and Lucy Scott at the top spot.
New Mexico’s Emma Hayman and Victoria Tessmar took a 7-4 lead at the No. 3 position before UNLV’s Sharon Marin and Alisa Razina mounted a furious comeback to force a tiebreaker, where they would earn a 9-8(5) victory to clinch the point.
UNLV received straight-set victories at the bottom three singles positions to seal the match.
Maskaljun defeated Hayman at the No. 4 slot by a score of 6-2, 6-3, while Williams followed with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Ryba at the No. 5 position to put the Rebels up 3-0.
Adrienn Hidvegi kept UNLV’s title hopes alive with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Maria Sotirchos at the No. 6 spot to clinch the contest.
The Rebels will face the winner of Friday’s semifinal match between No. 1 TCU and No. 3 Utah in the finals on Saturday at 2 p.m. CDT.
No. 2 UNLV (16-8) def. No. 3 New Mexico (15-9), 4-0
SINGLES
1. No. 34 Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) vs. Ola Abou-Zekry (UNM) 6-4, 3-3, unf.
2. Kristina Nedeltcheva (UNLV) vs. Mackenzie White (UNM) 7-6(2), 0-4, unf.
3. Nikol Dimitrova (UNLV) vs. Lucy Scott (UNM) 6-1, 4-5, unf.
4. Anna Maskaljun (UNLV) def. Emma Hayman (UNM) 6-2, 6-3
5. Katy Williams (UNLV) def. Jennifer Ryba (UNM) 6-1, 6-2
6. Adrienn Hidvegi (UNLV) def. Maria Sotirchos (UNM) 6-1, 6-3
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 6*
DOUBLES
1. No. 37 Gantcheva/Nedeltcheva (UNLV) def. Abou-Zekry/Scott (UNM) 8-3
2. White/Ryba (UNM) def. Williams/Maskaljun (UNLV) 8-4
3. Marin/Razina (UNLV) def. Hayman/Tessmar (UMM) 9-8(5)
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3*
*Clinching point