Sept. 17, 2004

FRESNO, Calif.- - UNLV hung on to beat Oral Roberts in five games Friday morning as the Rebels beat the Golden Eagles 29-31, 30-26, 30-27, 24-30 and 15-6 at the Fresno State Invitational in Fresno, Calif.

Freshman libero Jada Walker set a UNLV record with 31 digs in the match, eclipsing the old record of digs in a match by eight. Teammate Nina Franchini previously held the record of 23 digs, set last season against Kentucky on Nov. 27. Walkers's 31 digs also tied the Mountain West Conference record, which she now shares with Adrianne Bradley-Drake who set the record on Sept 9, 2000 while playing for Utah.

Lauren Miramontes led the Rebels offensive attack in the five-game thriller, setting a career-high with 20 kills in the match. Mariana Pencheva set a career-high in kills with 12 as well and Brittani Lumsden (12) and Maria Aladjova (10) also reached double-figures in kills. Senior setter Nicki King recorded her third double-double in a row with 46 assists and 15 digs.

It was the first time this season that the Rebels lost the first game of a match and came back to win the match and UNLV is now 2-0 in five-game matches in 2004. In the deciding game UNLV's defense, which finished the match with 96 digs and 14 blocks, limited ORU to just one kill and a -.176 hitting percentage.

Orieta Zuzic paced the Golden Eagles with 21 kills and 11 digs. Brittany Arnold had 31 assists and fellow setter Maura Cicala added 18 assists.

This was the first match for the Rebels in the Fresno State Invitational and they will play two more matches before returning home Saturday night. UNLV plays Fresno State at 3:00 p.m. Friday and then San Francisco at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.