UNLV’s Malec cruises in NCAA championship play

Tuesday, May 23, 2000 | 9:32 a.m.

MALIBU, Calif. -- UNLV senior Katarina Malec made her NCAA singles championship debut Monday. And the native of Warsaw, Poland, gave no signs of ending her trip anytime soon as she crushed her first-round opponent.

With heavy fog rolling in off the Pacific Ocean on the seaside campus of Pepperdine University, 29th-ranked Malec needed only 59 minutes to dispatch 49th-ranked Veronika Safarova of USC, 6-0, 6-1.

In doubles play, Malec and Marianne Bakken became the first UNLV women's doubles team to win a match at the NCAA championships.

The singles win was Malec's 16th straight and raised her record to 36-5 -- just one away from the school's single-season record set by Marianne Vallin in 1994.

Malec broke Safarova's service six times and lost only the first game of the second set.

The 2000 Mountain West Conference player of the year said the cold, foggy conditions did not hinder her game.

"I like this kind of weather," Malec said. "It feels like England. ... I feel like I am really prepared for this tournament, but it was a big relief to get the first match out of the way."

Malec will face Clemson's Carmina Giraldo in the second round today. Giraldo was a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, winner over Cal's Amy Jensen.

In doubles action, Malec and Bakken, ranked 27th, downed 46th-ranked Ashleigh Dolman and Maria Galoustova of Oklahoma State, 6-0, 5-7, 6-2, in first-round play.

The Lady Rebel tandem won its 15th straight match and improved to 25-3.