UNLV celebrating MWC title

The UNLV women’s tennis team faced long odds Saturday as it took the court to face 23rd-ranked Texas Christian for the Mountain West Conference tournament championship.

Not only was TCU 10-0 against league competition, but the Horned Frogs also had the luxury of playing on their home court in Fort Worth, Texas.

The 54th-ranked Rebels clearly were not intimidated, however, as they battled to a 4-2 victory to claim their first league tournament championship since 2002.

The home-court fans were stunned, but UNLV coach Kevin Cory said he was not surprised.

“We actually felt quite a bit of confidence going down there,” said Cory, whose squad finally has recovered from key injuries. “It’s the first time we’ve been even close to healthy in over a month. And the fact that we were finally healthy physically gave us a boost mentally.”

The victory avenged the Rebels’ 4-3 regular-season loss to the Horned Frogs and gave them the automatic berth into the NCAA Championships, which are set to begin on May 9. Cory will learn today who his team will face in the first round.

Cory, whose squad defeated Colorado State and New Mexico to reach the tournament final, said TCU may have been a little overconfident Saturday.

“They should have felt confident,” said Cory, whose team will enter the postseason ranked 37th. “They certainly had everything in their corner, including a very vocal home crowd.”

That home-court edge appeared apparent early, as the Horned Frogs (20-5) won two of three sets to earn the doubles point.

“We lost a very close doubles point,” Cory said. “But within 45 minutes, we had won the first set (of singles) on five different courts, and a lot of those sets were pretty convincing.”

Kristina Nedeltcheva, Nikol Dimitrova, Katy Williams and 34th-ranked Elena Gantcheva each finished with singles victories for UNLV. Gantcheva, a senior playing in her final league match, beat 61st-ranked Nina Munch-Soegaard 6-4, 7-6 (7-0) in the clincher.

“That was classic,” said Cory, who noted that Gantcheva never had won a team title. “Of all the people that have done so much for our program, how fitting it was that she was the one to clinch the match.”

Gantcheva heaved her racket into the air upon winning the final point, and the Rebels stormed the court in celebration.

But UNLV (17-8), which has won eight straight matches, now is focused on the postseason, where Cory said he wants to make a statement.

“We’re certainly not satisfied just getting to the NCAAs,” said Cory, whose team lost in the first round to Arizona State last year. “We’d like to try to make a run at getting to the Sweet 16.”

Cory said he’s hoping for some good fortune when parings are announced today.

“We’re up to 37th,” he said. “Hopefully that gives us a more favorable draw than we had last year.”