Nov. 8, 2006
LAS VEGAS -
Weekly Release Twelve in PDF Format
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First Serve: The Rebels (16-9 overall, 7-6 MWC) closes out their 2006 regular season home schedule when Air Force (Friday, Nov. 10) and Colorado State (Sunday, Nov. 12) come to Las Vegas. UNLV enters the weekend after having its two-match winning streak snapped at Wyoming last Thursday, Nov. 2. The Air Force Falcons bring with them a 3-20 overall mark and sit winless (0-13) in league play, while Colorado State moved into second in the MWC at 10-2 and is 16-6 overall (The Rams play at San Diego State on Friday, prior to their trip to Las Vegas).
Scouting the Opponents:
Air Force Falcons: 3-20 Overall / 0-13 MWC2005 Overall / Conference: 5-28 Overall / 1-15 (9th)
Team Leaders:Katie Batchelder - Kills (191) & KPG (2.62)Kim Kallabis - Assists (459) & APG (6.85)Katie Batchelder - Digs (148) & DPG (2.03)Jocelyn Booker - Blocks (55) & BPG (0.75)
~UNLV leads the series 19-2, including wins in 14 straight matches since1999.~Last meeting: UNLV won 3-0 at the Academy on Oct. 14, 2006.
Colorado State Rams: 16-6 Overall / 10-2 MWC2005 Overall / Conference: 21-9 Overall / 12-4 (2nd)
Team Leaders:Jaime Strauss - Kills (254) & KPG (3.39)Ashley Fornstrom - Assists (944) & APG (12.59)Katelin Batten - Digs (284) & DPG (3.64)Tessa Nelson - Blocks (95) & BPG (1.23)
~CSU leads the series 20-3, including wins in 14 of the last 15 matches.~Last meeting: CSU won 3-0 in Fort Collins on Oct. 13, 2006.
UNLV at Wyoming Revisited: The UNLV volleyball team had its two-match winning streak snapped by the Wyoming Cowgirls in Laramie last Thursday evening. The Rebels dropped the match with game scores of 30-21, 30-24, 31-29.
The Cowgirls held UNLV's offense in check as the Rebels tallied a .122 hitting percentage, while amassing 10 errors each in the second and third frames. Wyoming, on the other hand, came out on fire with a .516 percentage in the first, but fizzled with much lower numbers in the second (.127) and the third (.096). The Cowgirls nailed 48 kills to the Rebels 42.
UNLV was held without a player hitting in double-figures in the kill department. Brittani Lumsden threw down nine kills and hit for a match-high .389 in the loss. Lauren Miramontes followed closely behind with eight kills. Melody Nua and Kristin Koochi split assisting duties as they dished out 22 and 16 helpers, respectively.
Defensively, the Rebels had two players amass 10 or more kills with Jada Walker's 13 and Michelle Banks' 11. At the net, the Rebels had 23 blocks (three solo). Miramontes was responsible for assisting on six of those 23, while Maria Aladjova had four (one solo) as did Erin Greenwood (one solo).
Seven Up: After 25 matches of play, UNLV sits at 16-9 in 2006. The Rebels hold a winning percentage of 64% and are seven-matches over .500. The last time in program history that a team was over .500 by seven or more matches this late in a season came in 1998. At the 25-match point, the `98 team sat 19-6.
The 1998 squad began the year 6-3 prior to rattling off a program-best 10 match winning streak to go 13-matches above .500. They pushed the mark to +16 prior to a loss in the final match of the season to conclude the year at 23-8 (+15).
Three Games and Out: Since the volleyball program was brought back in 1996, the program's longest streak of consecutive 3-0 wins was three, which was achieved in 1997, 1999 (twice) and 2004. The 2006 Rebels eclipsed the three-match 3-0 mark and created a new one to beat at four straight. On Sept. 2, in Pullman, Wash., at the Baden Cougar Challenge, UNLV blanked UC Davis and Boise State. On Sept. 8-9, at the UNLV Invitational, the Rebels skunked UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge. The Rebels nearly made it a five-match streak until Xavier took game three after trailing UNLV 0-2. On the year, the team has won 10 of its 16 matches in 3-0 fashion. The most 3-0 sweeps in any given season came in 1998 when the squad won 12.
What Comes After Four: Through the first four matches of 2006, the Rebels were 2-2. Since the loss to Washington State on Sept. 1, to even the record at 2-2 the team has won two-thirds (14 of 21) of its matches since. In this stretch there are winning streaks of six (the third longest in program history), four and two matches.
Saturday is Quite Alright: Saturdays have been good to the Rebels this season as the squad sits 11-1 on the day this season. The Rebels were 7-0 prior to its lone Saturday loss to then-#16 BYU on Sept. 23, but has since won four straight. UNLV sits 5-8 for the rest of the week.
