Sept. 30, 2005
Final Stats
Albuquerque, N.M. - The UNLV Rebels (6-8, 2-1 MWC) came away with its second five-game victory of the season in a 3-2 win over New Mexico (9-4, 1-2) at Johnson Gym in Albuquerque, N.M. In seven seasons of Mountain West Conference play, this is only the second time that UNLV has won its conference road opening match. Coincidentally, the first time the Rebels won its conference opener on the road came in the 2001 season against New Mexico. Tonight, the Rebels were led by a 21-kill performance by Brittani Lumsden en route to her team-high seventh double-double. Each game was a trade-off as UNLV won games one, three and five. The Rebels won the match with a final score of 30-19, 27-30, 30-23, 28-30, 15-8.
The Rebels held the hot hand in the hitting department as the team out hit its hosts .299-to-.217. UNLV also had five-game match highs with its 76 kills and .299 hitting percentage. The team also had its fewest total errors made in a five-game match, as well, with only 26 miss hits. New Mexico had 60 kills to 25 errors. The Rebels never hit below the .244 mark in any single game, with game one having the highest tally of .406 (15 kills, 2 errors, 32 total attempts). The Lobos fluctuated between the .125 and .318 mark in its first four games, but hit an even .000 in the fifth and deciding frame.
In the fifth game, UNLV earned the first seven points thanks to Lauren Miramontes having a hand in each play. Miramontes notched one of her 15 kills to take a 1-0 lead and a sideout to the Rebels. From points two through seven she was on the service line and even notched aces on the fifth and seventh points. New Mexico took a timeout after the fifth point, but was unable to to get the ball back until the eighth point of the game. UNLV held its largest margin at eight points with a 9-1 lead, but eventually put the game away with a seven point differential and a kill from Miramontes.
Lumsden's 21 kills set a new season-high for her individually. Besides racking up the offensive kill numbers, she helped out on the defensive side of the net with 13 digs. Maria Aladjova notched her team-high 10th double-digit kill match with 19 in the win. Miramontes (15) and Mariana Pencheva (11) rounded out the four Rebels in double-digit kills. Melody Nua tallied 60 assists, while Jada Walker and Michelle Banks dug out 19 and 11 Lobo attacks, respectively.
New Mexico had three players in double-digit kills with Nicole Ryan leading the team with 17. Kelly Therkelsen and Chelsea Sondrup had 17 and 12 kills, respectively. Sarah Kwasigroch picked up 50 of the team's 57 assists on kills. Gayle Tripp had 17 digs to top the squad.
In the record books, Walker moved into sixth-place in UNLV's all-time career dig record book. Currently, she has 644 in two seasons of play.
Up next for the Rebels is a trip to Colorado Springs, Colo., Saturday to face the Air Force Falcons (4-13, 0-3 MWC) at 6:00 p.m. Air Force hosted San Diego State on Friday night and lost 3-1 to the Aztecs.
