Oct. 8, 2005
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS - UNLV (8-8, 4-1 MWC) pushed its winning streak to three games with a 3-1 victory over the visiting San Diego State Aztecs (11-6, 3-2 MWC). More importantly, the winning streak is occurring at a good time of the season as the Rebels are in the midst of their Mountain West Conference season. With the win, UNLV sits alone in second-place thanks to scores of 30-24, 24-30, 32-30, 32-30 in the four-game match.
After splitting the first two games, the final two went down to the wire as UNLV had to stave off comeback attempts from their guests. 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- and match-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 and her match- and season-high 23 kills. Miramontes, the reigning MWC Player of the Week, 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. The 10 kills from Johnson are a season- and high for the freshman.
Nua picked up her fourth double-double of the season as she assisted on 52 kills and dug out 15 Aztec attacks. Nua known more for setting the ball, was a bit on the offensive tonight, as she threw down a season-high seven kills for the freshman.
The Rebels defenders spread out the dig numbers as Michelle Banks led the way with 16 and was backed up by 15 from Nua and Walker and 11 from Kristin Koochi.
Similar to the Rebel attackers, SDSU placed four players on the stat sheet with double-figures in kill category. Audra Dent led her team with 22 and was followed by Lindsey Noll's 18, Melanie Greene's 13 and Brandie Molnar's 11. Greene (13 kills, 17 digs) and Molnar (11 kills, 19 digs) amassed double-doubles in the match. Kristen Castillo (33) and Leah Lathrop (24) split the helper duty as they totaled 57 of the team's 69 assisted kills. Aime Cordeiro racked up a match-high 35 digs.
Up next for UNLV is a visit from the MWC's newest member, TCU. Currently, the Horned Frogs (11-6, 1-2 MWC) sit in seventh-place with two games to play before their trip west to Las Vegas. The match will be played in the Cox Pavilion with a start time of 7:00 p.m.
