UNLV notebook: Rebels host Air Force to close regular season

Thursday, May 4, 2000 | 10:44 a.m.

The UNLV baseball team will host Air Force Friday through Sunday in the Rebels' final regular-season homestand at Wilson Stadium.

The Rebels (17-30 overall, 7-15 in the Mountain West Conference) were swept by New Mexico in a three-game series last weekend in Albuquerque. Fifth-place UNLV leads Air Force by 1 1/2 games in the conference standings.

Air Force (20-25, 5-16) split two games against San Diego State at home last weekend and can climb out of the conference cellar with a three-game sweep of UNLV this weekend.

Friday's game will start at 5:05 p.m.; Saturday's and Sunday's contests will begin at 1:05 p.m.

The Rebels will conclude the regular season with a three-game series next weekend at San Diego State, then will host the inaugural Mountain West Conference Tournament May 17-20 at Wilson Stadium.

* SOFTBALL: The UNLV softball team (16-36 overall, 2-14 in the conference) will conclude its season this weekend with doubleheaders on Friday at New Mexico (32-17, 10-6) and Sunday at Colorado State (17-27, 7-9).

The Rebels are in sixth place in the conference and likely will face the No. 3 seed in the Mountain West Conference tournament, which will be held May 11-13 in Salt Lake City.

* WOMEN'S TENNIS: Senior Katarina Malec, who finished the regular season with a 35-5 record in singles, was named the Mountain West Conference women's player of the year while UNLV coach Kevin Cory was voted MWC women's coach of the year.

Malec, who swept her three singles matches to lead the Rebels to their first conference title last weekend, is just two wins shy of tying the school's single-season victory record set by Marianne Vallin in 1994.

The Rebels were to find out today whether they qualified for one of the 16 regionals in the NCAA tournament.

* TRACK AND FIELD: The UNLV track and field team made an adjustment to its outdoor schedule and will compete in the Jesse Owens Classic in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday rather than competing in the Steve Scott Invitational in Irvine, Calif.

The Classic will be held at the Jesse Owens Memorial Complex on the Ohio State University campus and more than 15 schools are slated to compete. It will be the Rebels' final meet prior to the Mountain West Conference Championships May 18-20 in Provo, Utah.