January 19, 2012 by Patrick GogginÂ
Josifoska and Batta will lead the way for the No.36 ranked UNLV squad this weekend
(The women’s tennis squad features three players ranked in the top 10 in the region. Match play begins on Friday against New Mexico State.)
UNLV women’s tennis will begin match play against New Mexico State on Friday and will play Pacific and Weber State on Saturday.
The Rebels are ranked No. 36 in the nation to open up the season, according to the Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings.
Last season, UNLV defeated NMSU in the Aggies’ season opener by a final count of 5-2. The Rebels did not lose a set in singles play. Nives Pavlovic won her match for UNLV 6-2, 6-1 over Isabela Kulaif.
The last time the Rebels faced off against Weber State, UNLV did not lose a single set to the Wildcats en route to a 7-0 win. Capping off their opening weekend last season, the Rebels defeated Pacific by a final count of 4-3.
The ranking is not as high as it was last season when UNLV started the season ranked No. 29, but the young squad being ranked No. 36 is attributed to the outstanding play of freshman Aleksandra Josifoska and sophomore Lucia Batta.
Josifoska made it to the USTA/ITA National Indoor championships in New York by winning the Mountain Regional Tournament in Las Vegas against Batta. In her first match, she lost to the No. 25 ranked player, but upset the No. 3 ranked player in the consolation bracket.
UNLV has three players ranked in the top 10 of the region. Josifoska leads the way as the top ranked player, Batta is third and Pavlovic is No. 7. Josifoska and Batta are the No. 6 ranked doubles pair as well.
The Rebels have strong leadership in place with head coach Kevin Cory, who is the winningest coach in both UNLV and Mountain West Conference women’s tennis history. Cory has compiled a 68-15 record over MWC opponents and has never finished less than third in the division.
The squad, which consists of only one senior, Rumyana Terzieva, will look to continue their success from last year, going undefeated in Mountain West Conference play and finishing 20-6 overall.
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