Aiwen Zhu nearing end of historic UNLV tennis career

No matter what happens this weekend, senior Aiwen Zhu already has left her mark as one of UNLV’s greatest women’s tennis players.

She can add to her legacy when the Rebels compete in the NCAA regional at Los Angeles and later at the NCAA Championship.

“Any time you have someone who’s your No. 1 player that’s also your leader every day, it’s a huge relief being a coach knowing you’ve got someone that’s another coach essentially on the court leading your team,” UNLV coach Kevin Cory said. “Having her out there has been a tremendous asset for the team.”

No. 3 seed UNLV (17-6) plays No. 2 seed and 26th-ranked Texas Tech (17-8) at 9 a.m. Saturday. Top seed and 13th-ranked Southern California (18-7) faces No. 4 Illinois State (20-6) at noon. The winners meet at 1 p.m. Sunday for the right to advance to the super regionals.

This is the first UNLV team to win the Mountain West regular-season and tournament championships. The Rebels have recorded eight consecutive victories, seven of them shutouts.

Zhu has played a big part in that success, becoming the conference Player of the Year for the second season in a row. She is a four-time all-conference member in singles and doubles.

Her 101 career singles victories rank sixth in school history, and her 90 doubles wins ties for second with Anna Maskaljun (2008-11) and is eight behind record holder Kristina Nedeltcheva (2007-10).

“I think if you do the process well, you will get good results,” Zhu said. “If I only think about results, that will give me more stress, so I just do my best every day. I believe hard work pays off. Every accomplishment is meaningful to me, and it really helps me to build my future (professional tennis) career, to help me be a better human being.”

Zhu already has locked in a second consecutive berth in the singles field at the NCAA Championship on May 20-25 in Orlando, Florida, because she was the Mountain West’s highest-rated player.

She beat St. John’s Jessica Livianu in the first round at last season’s NCAA Championship before losing in three sets to Georgia Tech’s Paige Hourigan.

“I have the experience in the environment of the NCAA nationals, and I know the tennis level there,” Zhu said. “I really enjoy competing with good players, and I had the good chance to see all the good players and teams together. So this year it was a motivation for me to qualify again for the NCAAs.”

Zhu became UNLV’s top-seeded player during her sophomore season, meaning she always faces the other team’s best. She went 28-7 this season.

“The tough part for her is even when you’re playing teams that aren’t as good, everybody’s No. 1 is good,” Cory said. “So she has no days off. I think the experience of playing there three years in a row is a tremendous help for her going into this weekend.”

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.