Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Vallin realizing potential with control on court

Marianne Vallin's best friend is her worst enemy.

When it's on her side it goes by the name of Drive. When it's working against her it's known as Temper.

Drive has guided the UNLV tennis star to a No. 7 national ranking, All-American status two years ago as a freshman, and a 24-10 record this year heading into Saturday's meeting with San Diego State at Fertitta Tennis Complex.

But Temper might be what has kept her from climbing any higher.

"I've had some really good wins and I've had some losses I shouldn't have had," said Vallin, a native of Sweden whose accent is detectable only when her speech becomes animated.

She has been listed as high as No. 8 in the country this year, but currently is No. 17. That ranking does not include a major victory, her first in three tries this year against No. 1 Vicky Maes of Arizona on April 4.

It does, however, include a loss to Kansas' Kylie Hunt just two weeks earlier, a match in which she took the first game and led 3-1 in the second. But Vallin began making mistakes, started yelling at herself, drew a warning from the official and folded.

"I think that loss helped me," said Vallin, second on UNLV's all-time victories list with 87, 33 behind leader Jolene Watanabe.

"After that I turned it around and started playing great. I realized I gotta be solid. I should have beaten her."

She knows her baseline game had little to do with that loss.

"I get really upset and really happy sometimes," she said before deliberately slashing a horizontal line with her open hand. "It's hard to be very ... I can't be completely quiet. That's just not me. I'm very competitive, stubborn. I hate losing."

Vallin is a great player, according to coach Ola Malmqvist, a fellow Swede who convinced her to attend UNLV. In fact, he claims she can win the national title this year ... if she can control her emotions.

"She needs to be more professional on the court, get a little more steady in her head," Malmqvist said.

UNLV men's player Luke Smith helps with that. He and Vallin date.

"He helps me a lot. I'm happy with him," she said, noting Smith will spend the summer with her in Sweden. They spent last summer in his homeland of Australia.

"He knows a lot about tennis and he knows my game."

Vallin's face turns red when asked if Smith is her future husband, but says it's possible. That could be a factor after graduation, when Vallin's thoughts turn toward the pro circuit.

"When I was little (turning pro) was all I thought about and I guess to a certain extent now," Vallin said. "But I don't like to think too much about it now. I'm suffering from anxiety about graduating next year. I don't know what I want to do.

"If I really play well next year, I'll at least try it for a year."

If playing professionally doesn't work out, Vallin will have her degree to fall back on. In the meantime, she'll attempt to apply her classroom experience to her performance on the court.

Her major? Psychology.

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