Sept. 29, 2005
LAS VEGAS - The 2005 edition of UNLV softball is looking to build upon last season's successful run to the NCAA Tournament. The spring schedule, announced today by head coach Lonni Alameda, is loaded with 16 teams that qualified for the 2004 NCAA Tournament, four of which advanced to play in the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla.
"We are very excited about the challenge that lies ahead for this program", said Alameda. "The veterans on this squad have been on a mission since we left Los Angeles last May. We have a long road ahead of us with many obstacles, one being 10 new faces. The program has added nine freshman and one transfer to the squad list. As a coaching staff we are elated that the team has taken a very assertive role in pushing hard for postseason play already. If you want to be a national championship program you have to play national championship caliber programs to see where you stand."
Some notable opponents for UNLV are: UCLA, Arizona, Texas, California, Texas A&M (twice), Oklahoma, Washington, Northwestern, Missouri (three times), Notre Dame, Penn State, Arizona State (three times), Oklahoma State, Cal State Fullerton (twice), Kansas and BYU (four times).
UNLV will participate in six regular season tournaments, three of which the Rebels will host. The Rebels will host the Alexis Resort Kick Off Classic (Feb. 9-12), the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic (Feb. 16-19) and the UNLV Invitational (March 2-5). The Louisville Slugger Desert Classic is one of the premier tournaments in the country. The Classic is compiled of 24 teams, 10 of which participated in the 2004 NCAA Tournament.
For the first time in school history, the Mountain West Conference Championship will be played in Las Vegas from May 11-13.
Two of the three tournaments that UNLV will travel to will be played in California, while the third will take place in Honolulu, Hawaii. For the second-consecutive year the Rebels will play in the Palm Springs Classic (Feb. 24-26). The Rebels will travel across the Pacific Ocean for four days in Honolulu for the Hawaii Spring Fling (March 8-11). The final tournament will be in Fullerton, Calif., at the Judi Garman Classic (March 16-19), formerly known as the KIA Classic.
Outside of the tournaments, UNLV will face four non-conference opponents. The Rebels will travel to Los Angeles, between the Hawaii Spring Fling and the Judi Garman Classic, on March 14 to face the UCLA Bruins in a single-game. On March 24, Arizona State will host UNLV in a doubleheader. On March 27-28, the Missouri Tigers come to Las Vegas for a three-game series. The final non-conference trip will be the Rebels' second visit to Fullerton for a doubleheader against Cal State Fullerton.
The Rebels round out their schedule with home and home doubleheaders with their Mountain West Conference foes. UNLV opens up MWC play with a doubleheader on March 30th at BYU and then travel north on I-15 to face Utah the following day.
UNLV hosts its first round of conference games with visits from Colorado State and New Mexico on April 7 and 9, respectively.
The final weekend of the regular season could be an exciting one as the Rebels host Utah and BYU on May 5 and 6, respectively. The Rebels amassed the most conference victories in 2004 with 17, but finished percentage points behind BYU for the regular season title, due to the Cougars having two conference games canceled because of inclement weather. Last season the two teams split the conference series with each winning two games.
View the complete 2006 UNLV softball schedule by clicking here.
