Vallin to make last NCAA trip

      Senior Marianne Vallin will be out to cap a brilliant career at UNLV next week in the NCAA Championships at Stanford, Calif.
      Vallin, the Western Athletic Conference women's Player of the Year, will be competing in singles in her fourth straight NCAA Tournament.
      Vallin, a native of Sweden, will also compete in the doubles tournament with partner Gee Gee Garvin, a freshman from Vista, Calif.
      Vallin, 23, has a 1-3 record in NCAA singles competition. She lost in the first round as a freshman and last year as a junior.
      As a sophomore, she defeated Margie Lepsi of Tennessee 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round before losing to Ania Bleszynski of Stanford, 6-3, 7-6.
      Vallin also qualified for the NCAA in doubles as a freshman and sophomore, but her teams were eliminated in the first round both times.
      Vallin, 18-6 in singles, is ranked 12th in the nation. Vallin and Garvin, 13-5, head into the tournament as the No. 25 doubles team.
      Vallin broke the school record for career singles victories with 124, breaking current pro Jolene Watanabe's mark of 120. Watanabe played at UNLV from 1987-90.
      Vallin received the 1997 Gladys Heldman Award, presented to the senior women's tennis player who best balances athletics and academics.
      Vallin will be honored at an awards banquet in Dallas on June 14.
      "I would call this the biggest honor in the history of the program," said Lady Rebel tennis coach Ola Malmqvist.
      The women's singles and doubles play is scheduled to start Monday. Pairings have not been announced.
      -- MEN'S TOURNEY -- UNLV will also have one singles player in senior Luke Smith and one doubles team in the NCAA Men's Tournament at UCLA next week.
      Smith will team with senior Tim Blenkiron. Both players are natives of Australia.
      Smith will be competing in doubles for a school-record third time.
      He teamed with former Rebel great Roger Pettersson to win three matches and advance to the semifinals last year before losing to Justin Gimelstob and Srdjan Muskatirovic of UCLA.
      Smith and Blenkiron, 12-4, are ranked No. 19.
      In singles, Smith had a 14-9 record in dual matches this season and a 59-43 career record at UNLV. He goes into the tournament ranked 65th.
      The singles tournament is scheduled to start Wednesday with the doubles getting underway Thursday. Pairings have not been announced.
     
      Royce Feour's tennis notes are published Friday. He can be reached by phone at 383-0354, by fax at 383-4676 or by e-mail at Royce_Feour@lvrj.com.