UNLV senior advances in NCAA tennis tournament
ORLANDO, Fla. — UNLV senior Aiwen Zhu became the second Rebel to win a match in multiple NCAA Singles Championships, upsetting 26th-ranked Oleksandra Korashvili of Oklahoma 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the first round Monday.
The 105th-ranked Zhu, the two-time Mountain West Player of the Year, will next face No. 22 Felicity Maltby of Texas Tech in the second round at 8:30 a.m. PT Tuesday. Zhu defeated Maltby 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 on May 4 when the Rebels upset the Red Raiders in the NCAA Tournament.
Zhu also won an NCAA singles match last year before losing. Marianne Vallin is the only other Rebel to accomplish the feat twice (1995, ’97).
With a win, Zhu would become the program’s first All-American since 2006.