Oct. 3, 2001

THE OPPONENTS

SAN DIEGO: The University of San Diego volleyball program is off to a 2-0 start in the West Coast Conference and a 9-3 overall mark after beating San Francisco 3-1 (30-22, 21-30, 30-15, 30-25) last weekend.

The Toreros opened conference play with a win over No. 20 Santa Clara, the second time San Diego defeated a ranked opponent this season.

UNLV has never lost to San Diego on the volleyball court, holding a 2-0 overall series advantage heading into Thursday's match. The Rebels and Toreros have not met since 1984, when UNLV took both matches, one during the regular season and one during the California Classic in Berkeley.

SAN DIEGO STATE: The Aztecs improved to 3-1 in league play after dropping a match to No. 10 Colorado State and defeating Wyoming last week. After just four league matches, the Aztecs already have 37 service aces, an average of 9.25 per match. SDSU would need to average 6.3 per match the rest of the season to break the MWC record of 102 held by Colorado State. SDSU is 8-0 this season when hitting over .200 and 0-3 when hitting under .200.

The Rebels are only 1-8 lifetime against San Diego State with the lone win coming during the 1998 season.

THE REBELS

The Rebels dropped to 2-2 in the league and 5-5 overall with a pair of 3-0 losses to Wyoming and tenth ranked Colorado State over the weekend.

Junior middle blocker Blair Wilkes continues to lead the Rebels offensively, notching a team-high 15 and 8 kills against Wyoming and Colorado State respectivley.

The Rebel defense is currently holding its opponents to a paltry .193 attack percentage. UNLV has also outblocked its opponents 116.5 to 73 on the season thus far.

ON THE BLOCK

Freshman Sheila Ocasio-Clemente continues to lead the nation in blocks with 2.08 per game, while teammate Michelle Johnson ranks 11th at 1.62 per game.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE CLUB

Patricia Assuncao was the first Rebel to notch a double-double on the season and now has three. She picked up a pair of double-doubles in the Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic to start the season. She had 13 kills and 12 digs against New Orleans and 11 kills and 11 digs against Tulane. She also had 19 kills and 15 digs against Gonzaga at the 2001 Gameworks/UNLV Invitational.

Michelle Johnson notched her first double-double of the season against New Orleans in the Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic. She knocked down 11 kills and 11 blocks to help the Rebels to a 3-2 victory over the Privateers.

Leiana Oswald picked up her first double-double of the season against Western Carolina in the 2001 Gameworks/UNLV Invitational. She finished the match with 12 kills and 13 digs.

Sheila Ocasio-Clemente also picked up her first double-double of the season at the 2001 Gameworks/UNLV Invitational. She knocked down 12 kills and 13 blocks against American in the final match of the tournament.

WILKES ATTACK

Junior Blair Wilkes had totaled double-figure kills in eight straight matches this season before the team's 3-0 loss to tenth ranked Colorado State. Wilkes still led the team in the match, but could only muster eight kills.

20-KILL CLUB

Leiana Oswald is the first Rebel to pick up 20 kills on the season. She had 20 kills on 48 attempts against Gonzaga on September 7.

SEASON HONORS

Junior middle blocker Blair Wilkes was named MVP of the Gameworks/UNLV Invitational, as voted on by the participating teams head coaches. Freshman setter Nikki King was also honored with a spot on the All-Tournament Team.

REDSHIRTS

Transfers Jodi Hendricks, Tera Mayes and Serene Hunter have redshirted the 2001-2002 season.

INJURY UPDATE

Sarah Fachner, who redshirted last season with a knee injury, has torn the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee and will likely take a medical redshirt this season.

Senior setter Maria Julia Goes is out at least another week with a stress fracture in her foot.

DEMAND A RECOUNT!!!

Following an appeal of the tie-breaking procedures for the 2001 Gameworks/UNLV Invitational, the outcome was changed and Gonzaga was awarded the tournament title, with UNLV finishing second.

With American, Gonzaga and UNLV all posting 2-1 records in the tournament and a head-to-head tie-breaker not identifying a winner, administrators looked to a second tie-breaker to determine the winner.

"Game record" (American 7-4, Gonzaga 8-5 and UNLV 8-4) eliminated American University, leaving only Gonzaga and UNLV with eight wins each. Tournament rules specified that once a third team is eliminated, administrators must go back to the first tie-breaker (head-to-head) rather than look at game winning percentage, thus Gonzaga wins the title.

PHOTOS

Members of the media can now download photos from the Mountain West Conference website. The photo gallery contains head shots and action photos of all MWC coaches. You can also download student-athlete mug shots and selected action photos from all 19 league sports.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 2001 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship will accommodate a field of 64 teams. The pairings for the tournament wil be announced on Sunday, Nov. 25, 2001. Mountain West Conference memeber San Diego State will host the 2001 Final Four Dec. 13 and 15.

Nov. 29-Dec. 2First and Second Round(at participating institutions)
Dec. 6-7, Dec. 7-8 or Dec. 8-9Regionals(at participating institutions)
Dec. 13 and 15Final FourCox Arena at Aztec Bowl (12,414 capacity)San Diego, Calif.San Diego State University

Deitre Collins is UNLV volleyball's all-time winningest coach with 60 wins. Karen Lamb, who compiled 39 wins from 1985-87, is second on the list.

REBELS ONLY, PLEASE!

Please remember, UNLV (acronym on all references please) is home to the Rebel volleyball team -- not the Runnin' Rebels! Only the men's basketball team at UNLV is named the Runnin' Rebels.

ON THE WEB

UNLV Athletics information may be found on the web at www.unlvrebels.com...Mountain West Conference info may be obtained at www.TheMWC.com.