Malec Named MWC Player Of The Year
4/29/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 29, 2000
LAS VEGAS - UNLV senior star Katarina Malec was named Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Year in a vote of the league's eight head coaches.
Malec, who swept her three singles matches to lead the Lady Rebels to their first conference title this weekend, is 35-5 this season and just two away from tying the school's single-season victory record set by Marianne Vallin in 1994.
Ranked 28th, Malec has won 15 straight and has not lost as much as a set since February 25. With her win over BYU's 92nd-ranked Eline Chiew in Saturday's final, Malec improved to 12-2 versus ranked opponents this season.
The native of Warsaw, Poland, becomes the third UNLV women's tennis player to earn such an award. Jolene Watanabe was named Big West Conference Player of the Year in 1990 while Vallin won the honor three times (Big West in 1994 and '96 and WAC in 1997).
Malec also was named All-MWC in doubles along with partner Marianne Bakken. Ranked 28th, the duo is 24-3 this season and has won 14 straight matches. Also named All-MWC in singles was senior Veronica Goude who is third on the UNLV's career victories list with 81, including a 19-13 record this season.
UNLV head coach Kevin Cory was named MWC Women's Coach of the Year after winning the inaugural league title as a rookie. The former Ole Miss assistant has led the Lady Rebels to a 15-9 record in his first year, including 5-3 vs. MWC opponents.
Also, New Mexico rookie Ashley Hedberg was named MWC Freshman of the Year.
The complete list of award winners follows.
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE2000 WOMEN'S TENNIS FINAL STANDINGS
1. UNLV2. BYU3. San Diego State4. New Mexico5. Colorado State6. Air Force7. Utah8. Wyoming
2000 WOMEN'S TENNIS AWARDS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR Katarina Malec, UNLVFRESHMAN OF THE YEAR Ashley Hedberg, UNMCOACH OF THE YEAR Kevin Cory, UNLV
ALL-CONFERENCE SINGLESKatarina Malec UNLVAna Friganovic New MexicoMegan Payne-Dorny UtahEline Chiew BYUNatalia Alekhova New MexicoVeronica Goude UNLVMelanie Roberts WyomingAmanda Bartz Colorado StateAshley Hedberg New MexicoJodi Richardson BYUWhitney Wells San Diego StateKatja Karrento San Diego State
ALL-CONFERENCE DOUBLESKatarina Malec/Marianne Bakken UNLVAna Friganovic/Ashley Hedberg New MexicoMegan Payne-Dorny/Cassie Kasteler UtahJodi Richardson/Kim Kelly BYULaura Aguero/Whitney Wells SDSUEline Chiew/Lu Oswald BYU
