Rebels battle tough situation at NCAAs

Victoria Sun

Monday, May 13, 2002 | 10:05 a.m.

LOS ANGELES -- Two hours before the 18th-ranked UNLV women's tennis team should have been getting ready to play No. 39 Oregon, it found itself fatigued and bored.

What should have been a 10-minute car ride from the team hotel to the University of Southern California's Marks Tennis Stadium turned into a frustrating one hour and 15 minute ordeal Saturday morning.

A run/walk for breast cancer research surrounded the campus causing numerous streets to be blocked off and bringing traffic to a standstill.

The biggest roadblock of all, however, turned out to be Oregon.

The Ducks upset the Lady Rebels 4-2 in the first round of the NCAA Division I women's team tennis championships in a match that UNLV won't soon forget.

"I think it's just so sad because we had such a good season," said Marianne Bakken, the team's lone senior. "I know we're a better team than this.

"We had a rocky start coming in here. The doubles, we didn't really get any momentum going at all. It was just hard. It sucks to end it on this note."

UNLV, the Mountain West Conference champion, finished the season 20-4 while Bakken ended her career 60-57 in singles and 22-9 in doubles.

The rough ride to USC wasn't ideal, but there was no excusing the way UNLV allowed the Ducks to dominate the match early.

Bakken and Gyorgyi Zsiros, UNLV's No. 2 doubles tandem, led Oregon's Janice Nyland and Daria Panova 2-0 before losing 8-4. The Lady Rebels' No. 1 team of Paulina Janus and Agnieszka Abram fell behind in their match against Courtney Nagle and Davina Mendiburu 2-5 and eventually lost 8-6.

Once Oregon won the first two doubles matches giving it the first point of the match, the third match between the Lady Rebels' No. 3 team of Tracie Chong and Leentjie Oosthuizen was suspended.

"The doubles point set the tone for the match," Cory said. "It was huge.

"We were flat. The girls were in a bad mood when we got out on the court. It just wasn't our day."

For UNLV, things got worse before they got better.

Janus, the No. 1 singles player, lost 6-4, 6-1 to Panova, giving Oregon its second point.

Zsiros, at the No. 2 spot, easily beat Monika Giecys, 6-3, 6-1 to put UNLV on the scoreboard. The Lady Rebels had reason to be optimistic when Chong and Bakken each won the first set of their matches, but they eventually lost their second sets and finished with different outcomes.

Oosthuizen was frustrated by Mendiburu, Oregon's No. 5 singles player, who chose to slice, hack and lob her way to a 6-1, 6-2 victory putting the Ducks up 3-1.

UNLV's No. 3, Abram, lost the first set to Nyland, 4-6, then evened things up by winning the second set 6-4. Shortly after Chong closed out her match, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, allowing the Lady Rebels to keep striving for a comeback.

Trailing Oregon 2-3, the fate of UNLV rested in Bakken's and Abram's hands.

Two wins equaled a team victory while a loss by either meant the Ducks would advance.

In the third set of Bakken's match with a match point against her, she pounded a forehand long giving Nagle a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory and the Ducks the decisive fourth point. Abram's match was thus suspended at 1-1 in the third.

"She has the type of game that if she's on, she's on," Bakken said, clearly upset with her performance. "If she's off, then she sprays the ball all over the place. The first set, she didn't really put that many balls in.

"Then she stepped up. However, it's no excuse. It was 4-4 in the second set and I was up 40-0. I should have taken it right there. I just didn't take the important points."

Her college career officially over, Bakken looked sad, angry and depressed -- not only for herself, but for her teammates.

After all, this was an Oregon team they easily beat two years ago.

Oregon is a much better team now, but UNLV is just as improved. The Rebels are a young squad that should be able to make another NCAA tournament run next season.

"It's great that our team is full of young people and great players," Zsiros said.

On Sunday, USC defeated Oregon 4-0 to advance in the tournament.