Sept. 12, 2006

LAS VEGAS -

Weekly Release Four.1 in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

First Serve: The UNLV Rebels open up Mountain West Conference play on Wednesday, Sept. 13 against the San Diego State Aztecs. The Rebels bring with them a 7-2 record and are riding a five-match winning streak. The Rebels won its own UNLV Invitational last weekend with three straight wins over UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Northridge and Xavier. Combining the UNLV Invitational wins and two from the Baden Cougar Challenge (UC Davis and Boise State), the Rebels have won five straight.

Following the SDSU match, the Rebels play two of their final three non-conference opponents, Long Beach State and UC Riverside, on Friday, Sept. 15 and Saturday, Sept. 16.

Scouting the Opponent:

San Diego State Aztecs: 4-5Letterwinners Returning/Lost:   8/6Starters Returning/Lost:    5/22005 Overall/Conference:    16-14/8-8 (5th)
Team Leaders:Melanie Greene: Kills (129) & KPG (3.69)Leah Lathrop:   Assists (307) & APG (9.90)Aime Cordiero:  Digs (198) & DPG (5.66)Audra Dent:     Blocks (36)
~UNLV trails the series 8-14, but have won the past five in the series.~Last meeting - Nov. 24, 2005:  UNLV won 3-1.

Lumsden Earns MWC Weekly Honor: UNLV outside hitter Brittani Lumsden earned Mountain West Conference Volleyball Player of the Week honors after her play this past weekend in the UNLV Invitational, marking her first career award.

Lumsden, a 5-11 junior from Brea, Calif., helped the Rebels to a 3-0 record en route to being named the UNLV Invitational Tournament MVP. Against UC Santa Barbara, she recorded a match-high 18 kills to go along with seven digs. Lumsden followed with a double-double (11 kills, 11 digs) vs. Cal State Northridge. She also had four total blocks vs. the Matadors. Against Xavier, Lumsden collected her second straight double-double, notching 17 kills and 12 digs, while also striking for four service aces and two total blocks.

On the week, Lumsden averaged 4.60 kills, 3.00 digs, 0.70 blocks and 0.50 service aces per game, while hitting .291 (46-16-103).

UNLV Invitational Revisited: The UNLV Rebels played in its third and final regular season tournament this past weekend. The Rebels hosted the UNLV Invitational and wound up taking home the tournament championship with a perfect 3-0 record. UNLV defeated UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge by identical 3-0 scores and Xavier by a 3-1 margin.

Cal State Northridge and UC Santa Barbara tied for second-place with their identical 1-1 schedules. Xavier came in fourth with an 0-3 record. Due to Cal State Northridge and UC Santa Barbara being members of the Big West Conference the two teams did not play.

UNLV placed three on the all-tournament team with Brittani Lumsden taking MVP honors and being joined by Jessica Walters and Melody Nua.