Thursday, April 23, 2009

ALBUQUERQUE -- The top-seeded and 42nd-ranked UNLV women's tennis team breezed through its quarterfinal match, 4-0 over eight-seed Wyoming, to open play Thursday at the 2009 Mountain West Conference Championships, which are being held at the Jerry Cline Tennis Center.

The defending-champion Lady Rebels improved to 19-6 overall while the short-handed Cowgirls ended their season at 8-17. Since the event's inception in 2000, UNLV boasts a 19-6 record in MWC championship play and has advanced to at least the semifinals every season except 2001.

With Wyoming unable to field a complete roster, UNLV received default victories at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles before the match even began. The Lady Rebs did not take long in earning the doubles point as Alisa Razina and Anna Maskaljun teamed up for an 8-2 win at No. 2 over Rebecca Berger and Jamie Nelson.

Moving to singles play, Maskaljun whitewashed Carolina Chaix at No. 5, 6-0, 6-0 and senior Katy Williams closed out Carly Van Hollen at No. 3, 6-4, 6-3 to end things as the remaining three matches were halted.

UNLV will face host New Mexico at 1 p.m. PT in one of Friday's semifinals. The fifth-seeded Lobos upset No. 4 seed BYU 4-3 on Thursday to advance. The Lady Rebels got by UNM 4-3 during their regular-season meeting on March 27 in San Diego to mark their sixth straight win over the Lobos.

"For our first match down here, we're starting to adjust to the altitude well," UNLV head coach Kevin Cory said. "We know we need to be ready for a tough New Mexico team that had a big win today."

2009 MWC WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINAL

(1) #42 UNLV 4, (8) Wyoming 0

April 23, 2009 at Albuquerque, N.M.

Jerry Cline Tennis Center

SINGLES

1. #112 Kristina Nedeltcheva (UNLV) vs. Sarah Summerfield (WYO) 6-0, 6-6 unfinished

2. Nikol Dimitrova  (UNLV) vs. Rebecca Berger (WYO) 4-6, 2-2 unfinished

3. Katy Williams (UNLV) def. Carly Van Hollen (WYO) 6-4, 6-3

4. Adrienn Hidvegi (UNLV) vs. Jamie Nelson (WYO) 6-1, 5-2 unfinished

5. Anna Maskaljun (UNLV) def. Carolina Chaix (WYO) 6-0, 6-0

6. Rumyana Terzieva (UNLV) won by default

DOUBLES

1. Nedeltcheva/Williams (UNLV) vs.. Summerfield/Van Hollen (WYO) unfinished

2. Alisa Razina/Maskaljun (UNLV) def. Berger/Nelson (WYO) 8-2

3. Dimitrova/Terzieva (UNLV) won by default

-UNLV-