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Foreign Flavor
Overseas recruits spearhead UNLV's ranked tennis team.
March 28, 2002
By Victoria Sun LAS VEGAS - One e-mail and a recommendation from a friend was enough to convince Gyorgyi Zsiros to leave her home in Budapest, Hungary, and move to Las Vegas to join the UNLV women's tennis team. For Marianne Bakken -- a native of Rykkinn, Norway -- all it took was a phone call from former UNLV coach Ola Malmqvist and favorable reports about the city from four Swedish players. Bakken, Gyorgyi and five other international players on the team didn't visit the campus before taking a chance on UNLV, a school not known for having a strong tennis program. Yet, the move seems to have worked out perfectly for both the players and the program. "I was a little bit skeptical in the beginning because it doesn't matter where you go, it's going to be different from what you're used to in your own country," Bakken said Tuesday after UNLV's 5-2 victory over No. 32 Auburn at the Fertitta Tennis Complex. "Looking back, I don't think I could have picked a better place because coach has been great." Bakken, the lone senior on the squad and only remaining player left from the previous coaching regime, praised third-year UNLV coach Kevin Cory for his recruiting efforts which have elevated the Lady Rebels from mediocrity to a No. 15 ranking as of today. Three freshmen, including Zsiros, who plays No. 2 singles and doubles with Bakken, have helped UNLV win six consecutive dual matches and compile a 13-2 record, the best start in school history. The only setbacks were against Stanford, ranked No. 3 at the time, and then-No. 6 Wake Forest. Freshman Leentjie Oosthuizen of Stellenbosch, South Africa, who plays No. 5 singles, was 8-3 before missing several matches due to illness. Even the Rebels' American players come from great distance as Tracie Chong of Honolulu is 19-6 playing in the fourth spot. "I thought we would be maybe a top 30 team, but I wasn't sure how good we could get because we didn't have a lot of seniors," Cory said. "College tennis is a different life than international tennis and junior tennis. "My thinking was next year's team was going to be the team, but as it turned out, this year's team stepped right up." The players have exceeded their own and even Cory's expectations so much that he is unable to supress a grateful smile while acknowledging the team's rapid success. It took some time, but Cory and assistant coach Owen Hambrook convinced the women that playing on a highly ranked team with a shot at making it to the NCAA tournament would be a lot more satisfying than arguing about who played what position -- especially when every win counts equally. Nobody accepted her role more readily than Bakken. In her first three seasons, the doubles specialist held the No. 3 spot in the lineup and played doubles. She was on the 2000 team that won the inaugural Mountain West Conference championship and made it to the Round of 16 in the NCAA women's doubles championship with partner Katrarina Malec the same year. But with the influx of talent this season, Cory needed her to move down to No. 6 singles, which she did willingly. "I know what my potential is," Bakken said. "These players are better than me, so I took it as a challenge. "I said, 'I'm going to try to win all my matches.' I was 9-0 in the beginning, that was my goal. And every win counts as a point." Bakken's disappointing 6-0, 3-6, 4-6 loss Tuesday to Auburn's Liz Sauerborn dropped her to 15-8 for the season. Before her defeat, she teamed with Zsiros to defeat Carolina Ramirez and Petra Bercik, 8-3, giving her 67 doubles wins, second-best in school history. She also holds the school record for best single-season doubles winning percentage at 25-4 in 2000. "Marianne has done an outstanding job for us," Cory said. "I can't think of the team being without her because she has been the leader since day one. "The idea of her not being on the team is very sad. At the same time, I think she has helped set the tone for the direction of the program and I'm very proud of what she has accomplished." Bakken and her teammates aren't finished yet. The team is on the road for the remainder of the season, which concludes with the Mountain West Championships in Provo, Utah, April 25-27. Barring an unforeseen disaster, UNLV will get an at-large invitation to compete in the NCAA team tournament for the first time since 1998.
"I think we could do well in the NCAAs if we get our original lineup back," Bakken said. "That would be the best way for me to end it."
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