Oct. 20, 1999

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. - UNLV women's tennis standout Katarina Malec had her nine-match winning streak snapped Wednesday and failed to earn a spot in the main draw of the 1999 Riviera All-American Championships.

Malec was defeated by 66th-ranked Sarah Walker of UCLA, 6-2, 6-4, in the third and final round of qualifying. Malec, a senior who was unranked in the preseason poll, fell to 12-2 on the year after the straight-set loss.

Walker was one of eight players who earned a spot in the main draw, which runs Thursday through Sunday, in what is the second leg of the Collegiate Grand Slam.

Malec, who defeated five ranked players this fall, had not lost in nearly a month. The former junior-college star is expected to earn her first top-50 ranking at the Division-I level when the next rankings are released in December.