UNLV women shooting for MWC title

Elena Gantcheva has collected nearly every honor a college tennis player can earn. But she's not quite satisfied.

The 35th-ranked senior from Sofia, Bulgaria, never has won a conference title. She hopes to change that this week when the UNLV men's and women's teams travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to compete in the Mountain West Conference championships.

"I've had a lot of success in the past," said Gantcheva, an All-American and two-time MWC Most Valuable Player. "I want to finish my career the same way and help the team win conference."

It's been a rough season for the Rebels, who have been plagued by injuries that have stood in the way of their preseason goals. But the team will go into the tournament Thursday relatively healthy, leading Gantcheva to believe a championship is within reach.

"I think it's realistic," said Gantcheva, who is 17-4 at the top spot in singles play this season. "We only lost two (league) matches, and we're better now than we were then because the injuries are better."

Indeed, junior Katie Williams and senior Sharon Marin have returned to the lineup, giving the second-seeded Rebels a chance to avenge regular-season losses to Texas Christian and Brigham Young.

UNLV women's coach Kevin Cory said he likes his team's chances.

"I think everything is coming together at the right time," he said. "I feel really good about where we're at."

At 18-4 overall and 8-0 in the Mountain West, 20th-ranked TCU will enter the tournament as the favorite. But the Rebels (14-8, 6-2) nearly upset the Horned Frogs in the regular season, falling 4-3 without Williams and Marin in the lineup.

Fifth-seeded BYU was the only team to beat UNLV convincingly, but the Cougars' 4-0 victory last month came indoors at high altitude in Provo, Utah.

"(The Cougars are) certainly beatable when you get them away from home and outdoors," Cory said.

That's fortunate for Cory, who thinks the Rebels will need to make an appearance in the finals in order to secure a berth in next month's NCAA Regional.

"If we get into the finals, I like our chances," said Cory, whose squad will open against seventh-seeded Colorado State (9-10, 2-6). "But we've learned from history that you don't want to leave it to the (selection) committee."

The UNLV men's team, meanwhile, won't have to worry about the selection committee. It would need a tournament championship in order to get into the postseason.

Though it has been a rebuilding season for the Rebels (10-11, 3-3 MWC), the men stunned the league last year by winning the tournament.

Men's coach Owen Hambrook likes this year's team, but he warned that it's too early to start thinking about repeating as champions. Instead, he wants his players to focus on Thursday's opener against fifth-seeded BYU.

"Our only goal right now is to go out and win that first match," said Hambrook, whose squad finished fourth in conference play. "We're just going to take one point at a time, one match at a time."

Hambrook's team is strong at the top, with junior Elliot Wronski, sophomore Luca Barlocchi and junior Wesley Burrows providing effective leadership. The bottom half of the order, however, has struggled.

"We've definitely got some guys capable of winning," Hambrook said. "But it will be tough."

TCU, New Mexico and Utah all went 5-1 in league play. The Horned Frogs earned a first-round bye and would await the Rebels in the semifinals should UNLV get past BYU.