Weekly Women's Tennis Release #5

New Mexico climbs to No. 35 in the nation. (3/2)

Women's Tennis Home HEADLINES Four MWC Tennis Teams Receive ITA Academic Accolades New Mexico's Mackenzie White Earns ITA Central Region Arthur Ashe Award TCU's Nina Munch-Soegaard Earns All-America Acclaim RELATED LINKS • Follow all of the college tennis action at CollegeSports.com • Email this to a friend

March 2, 2000

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National Rankings:

Mtn. West Teams in Top-75
(Mar. 1)
Rk  Pvs School          Rec
35  36  New Mexico      8-6
51  54  BYU             4-3
62  58  San Diego State 3-2
68  66  UNLV            4-2

Mtn. West Player in Singles
(Feb. 16)
Rk  Pvs Individual
25  23  Katarina Malec, UNLV
t50 22  Eline Chiew, BYU
97 t44  Ana Friganovic, UNM

Mtn. West Player in Doubles
(Mar. 1)
43  NR  Bakken/Malec UNLV

Kim Kelly, Sr., BYU
For the third consecutive week, the Mountain West Conference Men's and Women's Tennis Player of the Week awards were claimed by the same school. BYU's Kim Kelly (Sr., Salt Lake City, Utah) earned the women's honor and Gert Vilms (So., Tallin, Estonia) claimed the men's award. UNLV claimed both honors on Feb. 16 and San Diego State swept the honors last week. This is the first selection for BYU in men's or women's this season.

In her only action of the week, Kelly helped lead the Cougars to a 5-2 win over Southern Methodist on Feb. 25. She teamed with Jodi Richardson, for the first time in dual-match action, to post an 8-6 win over SMU's Lindsey Bruce and Megan Russell in the No. 1 doubles slot. In singles, Kelly rallied from behind to register a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over SMU's Katie Pruett in the No. 4 position. The No. 54-ranked BYU women's team improved to 4-3 on the season, while Kelly climbed to 3-2 in singles duals, 6-6 overall, and stands 2-1 in doubles with Richardson.

Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Players of the Week: Feb. 2 ­ Katarina Malec (Sr.) UNLV, Feb. 9 ­ Megan Payne-Dorny (Sr.) Utah, Feb. 15 ­ Katarina Malec (Sr.) UNLV, Feb. 23 ­ Whitney Wells (Jr.) SDSU, Mar. 1 ­ Kim Kelly (Sr.) BYU.

UNLV Host of 2000 Mtn. West Women's Tennis Championship
The inaugural Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Championship will be hosted by UNLV in Las Vegas, Nev. All eight Mtn. West women's tennis teams will compete in the single-elimination team event for the first league title April 27-29. Seedings will be decided by regular-season dual match results in conference matches. All requests for media credentials for the inaugural Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Championship should be submitted in writing to Director of Communications Elaine Adams at the Mtn. West office or UNLV Media Relations contact Mark Wallington prior to the event.

Team-by-Team Notes
Continuing to build on its best start (9-1) since joining the Division I ranks, Air Force defeated Northen Iowa, 8-1, on Feb. 25. This marks the third time this season, the Falcons have defeated a team they lost to last season. Julie Weiss (No. 3 singles) and Kelli O'Bryant (No. 5 singles) improved to 6-0 for the spring. In its next action, AFA plays a conference match at Utah on Mar. 10, and continues on to Utah State for a Mar. 11 match.

Ranked No. 51 in the latest rankings, BYU claimed a 5-2 win over No. 65 SMU on Feb. 25 as player of the week Kim Kelly (No. 4 singles) led the way. The Cougars travel to Madison, Wisc., to play No. 50 Kansas State on Thursday, No. 59 Wisconsin Friday and No. 12 Northwestern Saturday.

Idle this past week, Colorado State returns to action at the Montana State Invitational Mar. 3-5.

The highest ranked team in the conference at No. 35, New Mexico went 2-0 during the week. After eight straight matches on the road, the Lobos return home to host Idaho on Friday and No. 65 SMU Sunday and are looking to build on a 34-2 home court record compiled since the 1995-96 season.

No. 62-ranked San Diego State suffered a 5-1 loss at No. 7 Southern California Feb. 26, then fell 9-0 at No. 6 Pepperdine Feb. 29. This week the Aztecs host No. 58 Michigan on Friday, then No. 61 Tulsa Monday and No. 20 South Alabama Tuesday.

UNLV, ranked No. 68, posted a 1-2 record, falling at No. 1 Stanford and No. 25 Fresno State, this past week. The Rebels' doubles team of Katarina Malec and Marianne Bakken are making their first appearance in the rankings at No. 43. The Rebels will remain idle until they open an eight-match homestand Mar. 11, hosting Illinois State.

Utah lost a 5-4 match to No. 65 SMU on Feb. 26, then rebounded to sweep Weber State, 9-0, on Feb. 29. In their next action, the Utes play at No. 54 Purdue Friday and No. 12 Northwestern Sunday.

Wyoming lost to Northern Iowa Feb. 26. The Cowgirls are off until a trip to Southern California for three matches Mar. 13-15.