UNLV roundup: Tennis teams rally, advance to league tourney finals
The top-seeded UNLV women’s tennis team rallied from an early deficit to edge No. 4 seed Wyoming 4-3 in a Mountain West championship semifinal Saturday at Fertitta Tennis Complex.
The victory was the 300th for 18th-year Rebels coach Kevin Cory, who improved to 300-144 — including 32-12 in the league tournament.
After the Cowgirls (18-4) won the first two completed doubles matches by 6-1 scores, UNLV (18-7) got straight-sets singles wins from No. 48-ranked Carol Yang at No. 1, Aiwen Zhu at No. 2 and Anna Bogoslavets at No. 3.
Jovana Kenic’s three-set triumph at No. 6 capped the comeback for the Rebels, who will play for the title at 11 a.m. Sunday against No. 3 seed San Jose State (13-7).
MEN’S TENNIS
At Boise, Idaho, Alexandr Cozbinov and Ruben Alberts rallied for three-set victories to help No. 3 seed UNLV storm back from a 3-0 deficit and notch a 4-3 win over No. 2 seed Fresno State in a Mountain West championship semifinal.
After Jakob Amilon and Evaldo Neto teamed for a win at No. 1 doubles for the Rebels (19-8), the Bulldogs (18-13) took the other two doubles matches by scores of 7-6 (5) and 7-5 to claim the doubles point and then won twice in singles.
Cozbinov then downed Evan McIntosh 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1 at No. 2 singles, and Alberts beat Zdenek Derkas 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3 singles.
Also for UNLV, Richard Solberg led 7-6 (5), 4-1 at No. 5 singles when his opponent, Henrique Orosio, retired because of injury, and Charlie Croxford won 7-5, 7-5 over Youssef Hassan at No. 6.
The Rebels will play for the title against top-seeded Utah State (22-8) at 12:30 p.m. Sunday.
SOFTBALL
At Eller Media Stadium, Vanessa Hernandez and Dominique Jackson had RBI hits in a three-run seventh inning, and Kamalani Dung pitched a two-hit shutout to lead Fresno State to a 3-0 win over UNLV.
Janine Petmecky doubled in the sixth to break up the no-hit bid by Dung (19-12), and Emily Vela hit a two-out single in the seventh for the Rebels (23-22, 6-11 Mountain West), who were outhit 7-2.
Dung, who also won Friday, issued one walk and struck out two.
The Bulldogs (28-20, 8-8) had three hits in the seventh and benefited from two UNLV errors in the inning, making two runs unearned.
Hernandez and Morgan Howe each had a double and a single, and Savannah McHellon had two singles.
Rebels starter Breana Burke (3-4) went the distance, walking none and striking out two.
BASEBALL
At Bellevue, Wash., Griffin Andreychuk went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and three RBIs to lead Seattle to a 7-4 victory over UNLV.
Kyle Isbel and Justin Jones each hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning for the Rebels (17-29), who had their three-game win streak halted. Isbel finished 3-for-5, and Jones added a double.
Curtis Perrin hit a two-run single in the first inning and Andreychuk a two-run homer in the second as the Redhawks (14-26-1) raced to a 5-0 lead by the third.
Jeffrey Morgan was 2-for-4 with an RBI double in the eighth for Seattle, which was outhit 10-8.
Nick Ames and Austin Anderson each went 2-for-4 for UNLV.
Redhawks starter Janson Junk (5-5) gave up four runs on eight hits and two walks and struck out eight in six innings.
Rebels starter Tevita Gerber (3-7) was charged with five runs, three earned, on four hits and four walks in five innings. He struck out two.
TRACK AND FIELD
At Irvine, Calif., record-setting performances by Kaysee Pilgrim and Taylor Pegram highlighted UNLV’s showing on the final day of the Steve Scott Invitational.
Pilgrim had an outdoor program-best clearance of 6 feet, 1.25 inches in the high jump, which ranks first in the Mountain West and third nationally.
Pegram placed sixth in the 100-meter hurdles with a program-best time of 13.34 seconds, which ranks second in the Mountain West and tied for 30th nationally.
Also for the Rebels, Destiny Smith-Barnett placed first in the 100 in a personal-best 11.20 seconds, which ranks second on the UNLV outdoor list, and she teamed with Drea Austin, Najia Hudspeth and Kaysha Love to win the 400 relay in 44.33 seconds.
Austin ran a season-best time of 23.66 seconds to finish third in the 200, Najia Hudspeth placed third in the 400 in 54.25 seconds, and Vanessa Sierra was fourth in the shot put (44 feet, 10.5 inches).
