Oct. 13, 2005
LAS VEGAS -
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UNLV Puts Three-Game Win Streak On The Line Against TCU
The Rebels stay home for the second-consecutive week with a match scheduled for Friday evening against the newest member to the Mountain West Conference, TCU. The two are familiar with each other as both were members of the Western Athletic Conference when UNLV brought its volleyball program back to life in the 1996 season. Although both were together in the WAC for three seasons (1996-98), the schools met only twice. Both matches in 1998 went the distance as each school won at home.
UNLV enters the contest riding a three-game winning streak and winners of five of its last six matches. The Rebels dispatched San Diego State 3-1 last Friday. With the win, UNLV evened its record at 8-8 and moved into second-place (4-1) amongs MWC squads.
Last Week In Review
The Rebels continued their winning ways with the team's third win in a row last Friday night. UNLV has been hot of late as they have now won five of its last six. UNLV needed four games to dispatch the Aztecs of San Diego State and to move up to second-place in the Mountain West Conference standings.
The Rebels and Aztecs split the first two games with UNLV taking game one with a score of 30-24. SDSU flipped the same score around to its favor in game two. Games three and four were a bit more difficult for UNLV to win, as the Rebels had to play extra in both games. The Rebels won both with identical 32-30 scores.
In game three, the Rebels held numerous three point advantages near the end, but the Aztecs fought their way back from a 29-26 deficit to tie the game up. SDSU took a one-point lead at 30-29, but a kill from Melody Nua knotted the score at 30. Nua served out the game as back-to-back errors on the game's final two serves won it for the home team.
In the fourth and final game, UNLV held a 25-20 lead but the game evened up in the twelve points that followed at 28-28. SDSU held the game-point at 30-29, but UNLV fought back and evened it up on a side out and received kills from Ashley Flahaven and Lauren Miramontes, respectively, to close out the game and match.
UNLV out hit the Aztecs .217-to-.194, although SDSU tallied more kills in the match, 75-to-71. Each team had one game where they hit above the .300 barrier. UNLV's .300 game at the start with a .319 hitting percentage (19-4-47) in the first, while SDSU hit .304 (20-6-46) in the second game. The Rebels never had a game where the attackers hit more than eight errors. The Aztecs, on the other hand, tried to follow the same path as UNLV, but hit double-digits in one game, #4 with 13.
The Rebels were led offensively by Miramontes' match- and season-high 23 kills. Miramontes hit for a .347 clip (23-6-49) and was just one of four Rebels with double-digit kill numbers. Maria Aladjova was second in kills with 16, while Mariana Pencheva and Jennifer Johnson racked up 10 apiece.
