Coach optimistic about Rebels

Thursday, April 27, 2000 | 9:12 a.m.

UNLV women's tennis coach Kevin Cory brought a healthy dose of optimism into this morning's opening round of the Mountain West Conference Championship at the Fertitta Tennis Complex on the UNLV campus.

Cory's optimism, however, was tempered by a touch of realism concerning his fourth-seeded team's chances in the tournament.

"I think we have a chance of winning the tournament and we also have a chance of losing in the first round," Cory said. "The top five teams here are all very competitive and we're going to have our hands full with Utah in the first round.

"With that being said, I am expecting us to be able to beat (Utah) and move forward in the tournament."

The Rebels (12-9 overall and 2-3 in the conference) opened the tournament this morning against fifth-seeded Utah (7-10, 3-3). The winner will play the winner of this morning's match between No. 1-seed San Diego State and eighth-seed Air Force Friday at 2 p.m.

The top three teams in the tournament -- San Diego State, New Mexico and BYU -- all come into the event with one loss; San Diego State lost to New Mexico, New Mexico lost to BYU and BYU lost to San Diego State.

UNLV, on the other hand, lost to all three of the top-seeded teams. But Cory is hoping the home-court advantage will allow the Rebels to advance to Saturday's 2 p.m. championship match.

"I think it will definitely benefit us playing at home," Cory said. "Playing on your own surface, in your own comfort zone, is certainly going to be an advantage for us."

The Rebels, ranked 65th in the nation, are led by senior Katarina Malec, who is 32-5 in singles and 22-3 in doubles with sophomore Marianne Bakken. Malec is riding a 12-match winning streak in both singles and doubles.

"She has had a tremendous year this year," Cory said. "She has been a tremendous example both on and off the court ... and is having one of the best years of any player in the history of this program."

Today's other first-round matches had BYU meeting Colorado State and Wyoming taking on New Mexico at 2 p.m. Friday's second-round matches will be at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.; Saturday's fifth-place and seventh-place matches will start at 10 a.m. and the third-place and championship matches will begin at 2 p.m.