April 2, 2000

SAN DIEGO - Senior Katarina Malec upset college tennis' fourth-ranked singles player and then partnered with Marianne Bakken to down the nation's No. 1 doubles team to lead the UNLV women to a 5-4 victory over 74th-ranked San Diego at the USD West Courts Sunday.

The Lady Rebels improved to 11-9 overall while the Toreros fell to 6-10.

Malec defeated senior Zuzana Lesenarova by winning the first set and having her opponent retire for a victory by default. Lesenarova (27-5), one of the most dominant women's players in college tennis history, was ranked No. 1 as recently as six week ago. The defending NCAA singles champion, Lesenarova has won a record five career Collegiate Grand Slam singles titles.

Malec (31-5), ranked 37th, won her 11th straight match and improved her record this season versus ranked opponents to 11-2.

UNLV also got wins from Bakken at No. 3 and Amy Hadziosmanovic at No. 6 to tie the match at three after singles play. USD then took a 4-3 lead after winning at No. 2 doubles before Britta Gabl and Hadziosmanovic teamed up for an 8-5 win at No. 3 over Heather Polumbus and Stacie Lee.

Tied at four, the match came down to the No. 1 spot where Malec and Bakken (21-3) battled top-ranked Lesenarova and Katarina Valkyova (22-5). The UNLV duo, ranked 34th, forced a tiebreaker and held on to win 9-8 (7-4) to clinch the team victory.

"This was a great day for our program," UNLV head coach Kevin Cory said. "For the match to be clinched by defeating the No. 1 doubles team in the country is tremendous. For Katarina to also defeat the defending national champion to get us in that position is just huge for her and UNLV."

With the victories, Malec tied with two others for the fifth-most singles wins in school history at 31. In doubles, Malec and Bakken won their 11th-straight match and boast an 18-1 record in dual matches this spring. Malec is now a stunning 52-8 on the year in singles and doubles combined and has not lost as much as a set in either since February 25.

UNLV is off until ending its regular season by hosting Wyoming on April 25. The Lady Rebels then host the inaugural Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Championships, April 27-29, at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.

UNLV WOMEN'S TENNIS RESULTSUNLV 5, SAN DIEGO 4At USD West Tennis Courts, San Diego

SINGLES-1.  Katarina Malec (UNLV) def. Zuzana Lesenarova (USD)  6-4, 0-1 RETIRED2.  Katarina Valkyova (USD) def. Veronica Goude (UNLV)  7-6, 6-03.  Marianne Bakken (UNLV) def. Paola Arrangoiz (USD)   2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)4.  Heather Polumbus (USD) def. Urska Radanovic (UNLV)  6-2, 4-6, 6-35.      Krista Manning (USD) def. Britta Gabl (UNLV)        3-6, 6-4, 6-46.  Amy Hadziosmanovic (UNLV) def. Stacie Lee (USD)     6-4, 2-6, 6-2

DOUBLES-1.  Malec/Bakken (UNLV) def. Lesenarova/Valkyova (USD)  9-8 (7-4)*2.  Arrangoiz/Manning (USD) def. Goude/Radanovic (UNLV) 8-33.  Gabl/Hadziosmanovic (UNLV) def. Polumbus/Lee (USD)  8-5
*Clinching Match