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UNLV's Malec Beats Injury, Eyes Titles
By Jeff Wollard, Las Vegas Review-Journal
April 27, 2000
Katarina Malec watched most of the 1999 tennis season from the grandstands. Today, the UNLV standout is on a crusade to make up for lost time. Malec, a native of Warsaw, Poland, was bothered by an ankle injury last year that forced her to miss most of the season. But she is back at full strength, occupying the No. 28 spot in the national women's tennis rankings with a 32-5 record. She will lead UNLV into the Mountain West Conference championships, which run today through Saturday at the Fertitta Tennis Complex. "After I sprained my ankle last year, I told myself I was going to give everything this year," she said. "I lost opportunities. Now I'm a senior, and this is my last chance." Malec has made the best of that chance. Her comeback started last fall when she compiled a 12-3 record, including a 5-2 mark against ranked opponents. Unranked in the preseason, she rose to No. 23 by the end of the fall. But that was just the beginning. Malec, who has won 12 consecutive singles matches, has continued to stun her competition in spring dual-match play. She has defeated 11 of the 13 ranked players she has faced, with her biggest win coming April 2 when she shocked San Diego's Zuzana Lesenarova, the defending NCAA women's champion. "That match makes me more confident, " Malec said. "Now I feel like I can do great in the (postseason)." She thought she was in control of the match before fourth-ranked Lesenarova retired with a sore knee with the score 6-4, 0-1. Malec said her first-set win was too much for her opponent. "I surprised her," Malec said. "I felt I would have won anyway, so I was disappointed when she retired. I think she would have kept playing if she would have won the first set." First-year UNLV tennis coach Kevin Cory agreed, noting that Malec approached the match with confidence. "If you can catch Zuzana on the right day, she can be somewhat temperamental as far as her effort," said Cory, who added that Malec is among the best players he has coached. "With Katarina's style of play, (Lesenarova) was going to have to work really hard to win, so she decided to save herself for the doubles match that was coming up." That strategy didn't work. Malec and partner Marianne Bakken (ranked 28th at 22-3 in doubles) teamed to hand the nation's top-ranked team of Lesenarova and Katarina Valkyova a loss that came down to a tiebreaker. As a result, Malec was named the Mountain West Conference's Women's Tennis Player of the Week for the fourth time this season. The doubles victory clinched a team win for the Rebels, but Cory said it meant more than that. "Those victories were not only huge for Katarina," he said, "they were huge for the whole UNLV tennis program." Cory said Malec's success also helped to position her for postseason play. "This match puts her in good position heading into the NCAA Championships," he said. "She now knows she can play with anybody. When she feels she has a chance to win, nobody can beat her." Few will argue with that, particularly not the junior college foes Malec defeated while going 70-0 with College of the Desert in California in 1997-98. Malec, recruited by former UNLV coach Ola Malmqvist after her junior college success, said hard work and hustle always have been the most important parts of her game. "My opponents always know I'm going to be there and play every ball," she said. "I hate to lose." Cory agreed. "Even when you beat her, she'll wear you down," he said. "When it comes time for the championships, she's one of those people you're not going to want to see on your side of the draw." Malec, 6-0 in conference play, can secure conference player of the year honors by winning the MWC title, which she could use as a springboard for the West Regionals (May 12-14) and the NCAA Championships (May 20-28). "This will be my first time in the NCAAs," said Malec, who said she expects nothing less than a top-16 finish. "I'm not going just to be there. I want to show I can compete." Malec said she's not sure what will happen after that. There may be some professional tennis in her future, but the hotel-management major has not made a decision. She does know that she's not looking forward to leaving Las Vegas. "I really like it here," she said. "I may have an opportunity to be an assistant coach at UNLV next year. That would be great."
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