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UNLV's Erez and Malec Sweep Mtn. West Men's and Women's Tennis Player of the Week Honors Erez is key in Rebel's tournament victory, while Malec continues to dominate conference play. (2/16)
Feb. 16, 2000
Colorado Springs, Colo. UNLV claimed both of this week's Mountain West Conference Men¹s and Women's Tennis Player of the Week awards. Katarina Malec earned the women¹s honor for the second time after posting three singles and three doubles wins against conference opponents, despite the Rebels going 1-2 as a team. Danny Erez received the men¹s honor after he also registered three singles and three doubles victories while leading the team to three non-conference wins and the championship of the UNLV Men¹s Tennis Invitational. In helping the men's team claim the title at its own tournament for the fifth consecutive year, Erez dropped just one set in singles play. The junior breezed through his opponents in the first two rounds, but was the last match on the court on Sunday. With the match knotted at 3-3, Erez scored the decisive point more than five hours after the team match began. He defeated Texas-Arlington's Ola Bentzen, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the No. 3 position improving his overall record to 8-3 overall. Erez started the week with a solid 6-2, 6-2 win over Utah State¹s Clayton Thomas in the No. 2 position on Feb. 11, then handled Northern Arizona¹s Joel Kawicki 6-2, 7-6 in the No. 3 slot the following day. Paired for the first time with Vladimir Pavicevic at No. 2 doubles, Erez rolled to victories in all three matches. Playing in the No. 1 singles position, Malec defeated three nationally ranked opponents in straight sets as she completed one of the most impressive individual weekend¹s in UNLV history. A senior, who is currently ranked No. 23 in singles, Malec improved to 19-3 overall and 6-0 in duals. Playing indoors for the first time, Malec defeated the only player in the conference who is ranked ahead of her when she downed No. 22 Eline Chew at BYU (6-3, 6-4) on Feb. 11. The next day, she defeated Utah's No. 81 Megan Payne-Dorny (6-2, 6-2) then capped the weekend with a 6-3, 6-2 win over New Mexico's No. 44 Ana Friganovic. In doubles play, Malec teamed with Marianne Bakken for three wins in the No. 1 slot to improve their record to 8-2 overall. Mountain West Conference Men's Tennis Players of the Week: Feb. 2 Oliver Maiberger (Fr.) SDSU, Feb. 9 Tom DeAngelis (Sr.) AFA, Feb. 16 Danny Erez (Jr) UNLV.
Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Players of the Week: Feb. 2 Katarina Malec (Sr.) UNLV, Feb. 9 Megan Payne-Dorny (Sr.) Utah, Feb. 16 Katarina Malec (Sr.) UNLV.
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