Oct. 29, 2005
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS - The Rebels (11-11, 7-3 MWC) brought their overall record to the .500 barrier and stayed in the top-tier of the Mountain West Conference race with this weekend's sweeps in matches over Air Force (Thursday) and New Mexico (Saturday). UNLV swept the season series' with both schools and pushed its dominance over both teams to 13 (Air Force) and four (New Mexico). The Rebels took the match against UNM with scores of 30-28, 30-22, 30-24.
The Rebels out hit the Lobos 44-to-38 in the kill department and .248-to-.173 in hitting. UNLV hit no worse than .200 in all three of its games, while UNM broke .200 once. Neither school hit for more than eight errors in any game, as UNM had eight errors in both games' one and two. UNLV's highest error tally was seven in game three, the first two games closed out with six errors in each.
In game one, UNLV got behind from the get-go. UNM increased its lead gradually through the game and was ahead by as much as eight (15-7) before UNLV started its comeback. The Rebels knotted the game up at 18-18 after reeling off 10 of 13 points. The rally began with a kill by Maria Aladjova to bring the margin to within six (15-9) and was helped by Melody Nua staying at the service line for five serves and Aladjova serving it up four times. Once the game was tied, the Lobos began to pull away again by winning the next four points (22-18). UNLV held serve for five-straight points following a kill by Kortney Reid. Points were traded back and forth with the score being tied at 27-27 before UNLV took the match on their second game-point for a final of 30-28.
Game two was a much easier affair for the Rebels as they took control of the game early. After jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead, the Rebels gradually increased its lead as the game progressed. The lead usually hovered around four-to-five points until the 21-16 juncture. The margins began to grow to as high as eight, which was also the final margin in game two (30-22).
Game three nearly followed the same pattern as its #2, but the Rebels never held a comfortable lead until the final point (30-24). UNLV had leads of six on five occasions, but let the Lobos creep back into striking distance when six was hit at the 10-4 and 20-16 marks. The lead fluctuated to as low as two and as high as six, with UNLV taking the final five points of the match following a UNM timeout.
The Rebels were led on the offensive by Mariana Pencheva's season-tying match-high hitting percentage of .667 (14-0-21). Maria Aladjova racked up the second-most kills on the team with nine. Michelle Banks and Kortney Reid threw down seven, apiece. Melody Nua assisted on 31 kills, while Jada Walker stopped 17 Lobo attacks.
Michelle Miller was the top attacker for UNM as she nailed 12 kills. Chelsea Sondrup added nine more, while Nicole Ryan had seven. Sarah Kwasigroch had 30 assists. No Lobo hit double-digits in digs with Gayle Tripp getting closest to 10 with eight.
Next up for UNLV is a road trip through the Rocky Mountains next weekend. The Rebels will play at Colorado State on Friday (Nov. 4) and head north to face Wyoming on Saturday (Nov. 5). Both matches are slated to begin at 6 pm PT.
