Oct. 21, 2005
Final Stats
SALT LAKE CITY - The UNLV Rebels (9-10, 5-2 MWC) lost its first Mountain West Conference match since Sept. 24 with its three-game loss to Utah (14-6, 6-3 MWC) in Salt Lake City Friday night. The Rebels have now lost two-straight with the addition of the loss at Nevada, Reno earlier this week. Utah snapped UNLV's four-match conference winning streak with tonight's 32-30, 30-19, 30-25 sweep.
Utah outplayed UNLV at the Crimson Court as the home team piled up 10 more kills (53-to-43) and dominated at the net with 16 more total blocks (25-to-9). The Ute attackers hit for a .386 average in their first two games, but finished with a .304 tally thanks to a lackluster game three average of .156. Utah's lowest hitting percentage (.156) was still better than two of UNLV's games. Utah had a total of five errors through two and 15 total for the match. UNLV had 10 errors in each of its first two games and eight in the third.
UNLV started off well as they were in game one until the end. The Rebels held game point twice (29-28 and 30-29), but were unable to finish out the game for an early lead. The Utes used their rebound in game one to turn a tied game two (16-16) into a 30-19 victory. The Rebels held a three point advantage in game three with a 21-18 lead, but the Utes evened things up at 21 and won nine of the final 13 points for the game and match.
Lauren Miramontes led the Rebels for the fifth-consecutive match with her 11 kills. Jennifer Johnson and Maria Aladjova added nine apiece, but no player with five or more kills hit higher than .235. Melody Nua assisted on 34 kills, while Jada Walker and Michelle Banks each stopped 10 Ute attacks.
Airial Salvo had a match-high 13 kills and was closely followed by Lori Baird's 11 and Whitney Webb's 10. The same three racked up nice hitting percentages, as well. Salvo led all Ute attackers, with six or more kills, with a .414 average. Webb amassed a .364 average, while Baird followed with a .381 figure. Shannon Krug had a match-high 41 assists, while Danielle Leichliter had 17 digs.
Up next for UNLV is a drive south on I-15 from Salt Lake City to Provo, Utah for Saturday evening's match against #15 BYU. The Cougars bring a perfect 16-0 overall record into the match and sit atop the MWC with a 9-0 mark. Saturday night's match will be aired live on CSTV and streamed through the MWC's website (www.theMWC.com). The match begins at 6 pm PT.
