Nov. 10, 2001

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV volleyball team fell to No. 15 Utah 3-1 (33-31, 26-30, 21-30, 25-30) at the Cox Pavilion on Saturday night.

UNLV heads into next week's Mountain West Conference Tournament with an 8-6 league record, 9-13 overall. Utah finishes the regular season at 19-5, 11-3 in MWC play.

The Rebels started strong, taking a close 33-31 contest over Utah in game one, but couldn't hold onto that momentum. UNLV let the Utes pull ahead in the next three games and never caught up.

The Rebels pulled briefly ahead in game four at 23-22, hoping to force a fifth deciding game, but Utah battled back to win the game (30-25) and take the match victory.

Patricia Assuncao led the Rebels with 19 kills and 11 digs. She also added three block assists and three service aces in the losing effort.

Nicki King also turned in a double-double performance at the setter spot with 45 assists and 12 digs.

Blair Wilkes finished the match with 15 kills and a .464 attack percentage (15-2-28), as well as five blocks, two solo and three assisted. Leiana Oswald added 11 kills.

Sheila Ocasio-Clemente, who leads the nation in blocks per game, added seven blocks in the match, but it was Michelle Johnson who led the way at the net, knocking down eight blocks. Johnson also finished with five kills.

As a team, the Rebels out-blocked Utah 18-12 for the match.

Christina Kirschner came in and made big contributions in games three and four. She finished with six block assists and two kills.

Shannon Chase and Janna Mackey had 10 and eight defensive digs, respectively, on the night.

Sylva Strzinkova led Utah with 22 kills and 18 digs. Five other Utes finished with double-digit kills.

UNLV travels to Provo, Utah for the conference tournament which begins on Thursday. The Rebels, as the fifth seed, will take on fourth-seeded San Diego State in first round play. UNLV lost both regular season matches against the Aztecs, 3-1 and 3-2.