by Landon Dyksterhouse
Daily Lobo
Maja Kovacek and Iva Gersic helped win the first Mountain West Conference championship in the 26-year history of the women's tennis program. But winning in straight sets is easy compared to growing up in a country fighting for freedom.
Coach Kathy Kolankiewicz discovered Kovacek and Gersic back in March 2002 on a recruiting trip. It was Kolankiewicz' first trip to Croatia, and she attended an amateur tennis tournament called "The 10,000 Dollar Tournament."
Her goal was to find one good tennis player. The trip went better than expected - she found two.
Kolankiewicz saw Gersic play only one match - which she lost - and saw Kovacek play two matches. Kolankiewicz talked to both girls after their matches and gave them information about UNM. Then she came back to New Mexico and did not hear from them for a couple of weeks.
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Kolankiewicz talked to Kovacek a few weeks later. Kovacek said she felt it would be best for her to come to the United States. A week later, Kolankiewicz got ahold of Gersic, who said she would also like to come to UNM. But signing the two Croatians was no simple task.
"It is getting tougher and tougher to get international kids in because of Sept. 11 and the paperwork," Kolankiewicz said. "Plus both kids had not taken the SAT or the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)."
Kolankiewicz reserved two scholarships for Kovacek and Gersic. The girls had to achieve certain scores on the tests in May in order to enroll.
Kovacek passed both tests on the first try, and was able to enroll in August of 2002.
"I have had it (English) in school since fourth grade," Kovacek said. "But we watch a lot of TV, so that's where my English came from."
Gersic did not have as much English in her background and had difficulty with the TOEFL test. She was able to enroll in August 2003, and Kolankiewicz never gave up on her.
"I really believed in her," Kolankiewicz said. "I felt she could really help this team. Obviously, she has proven why I wanted to wait."
Kovacek and Gersic finished the regular season with only one loss between them, but the journey to UNM was not easy. Kovacek and Gersic dealt with tough times coming from Croatia - the country fought for independence in the early '90s.
"It was hard because when the war started I lived in Bosnia," Kovacek said. "I had to move back to Croatia and leave the house and the car behind. My dad was in the military and we were separated from him. I didn't know if he was going to come back or not, but my parents did a good job sheltering me from it. But we could definitely feel it."
Sometimes sirens went off in Gersic's town of Koprivnica, forcing the family to hide. Gersic would play games to get her mind off of the war, but still knew at age nine what was going on.
"We would play games, and take all of our stuffed animals and blankets and go to the basement and just wait," Gersic said. "We knew what was going on. The feeling of war was horrible."
Kovacek and Gersic devoted their time to tennis and were widely recognized. Each of them was named high school Athlete of the Year in their respective regions. In Croatia, intercollegiate athletics do not exist.
"Back home, when you're done, you're done," Kovacek said. "You can either go pro or go to college. You can't do both."
Their talent provided them an opportunity to come to the United States to receive a degree and still play tennis. Kovacek and Gersic said the most difficult thing about coming to New Mexico is being so far away from their families and adapting to the food.
They said they are getting used to the food, and they like Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
But the doughnuts are not slowing Kovacek and Gersic down - they play the No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches for UNM, and played a large role in bringing UNM women's tennis the first MWC regular-season championship in the 26-year history of the program. Each of the women also finished with over a 3.5 GPA last semester.
"We are very proud and lucky to have both of them on the team," Kolankiewicz said. "I would like to always keep the tradition of having one Croatian on the team because we have had a lot of good luck with our Croatians."
