Oct. 10, 2007

LAS VEGAS -

Weekly Release #8 in PDF Format
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First Serve: The UNLV Rebels got back on the winning side of the ledger with sweeps of Wyoming and Air Force last week. The Rebels look to keep things positive as they hit the road for matches at TCU and New Mexico this weekend, Oct. 12-13. The TCU Horned Frogs welcome the Rebels to Fort Worth, Texas on Friday, Oct. 12 (7:00 pm CT). On the following day (Oct. 13), the Rebels head to Albuquerque, N.M., to challenge the Lobos at 7:00 pm MT.

Week Five Opponents:

TCU Horned Frogs: 16-6 overall, 3-3 MWC

~ UNLV leads the all-time series 5-2, including all four meetings since TCU joined the MWC in 2005.

~ The Frogs are led by Kourtney Edwards' 281 kills (3.47 kpg) and 98 total blocks (1.21 bpg), Nirelle Hampton's 884 assists (10.91 apg) and Calli Corley's 352 digs (4.89 dpg).

New Mexico Lobos: 7-11 overall, 0-5 MWC (Host SDSU on Oct. 12)

~ UNLV leads the all-time series 13-6 and have won six straight.

~ The Lobos are led by Jeanne Fairchild's 293 kills (4.58 kpg), Jade Michaelsen's 468 assists (7.09 apg), Gayle Tripp's 272 digs (4.25 dpg) and Anna Lehne's 65 blocks (1.12 bpg).

Miramontes Earns MWC's Weekly Award: UNLV senior middle blocker Lauren Miramontes has been named the Mountain West Conference's Volleyball Player of the Week for the second time in her career. The honor is the second for a Rebel during the season, as Maria Aladjova was recognized on Sept. 17.

Miramontes, an Upland, Calif., native, helped the Rebels back into a tie for second-place in the league standings with sweeps of Wyoming and Air Force last week. Against Wyoming, she tallied 11 kills in 19 attempts with only one error for a .526 hitting efficiency. Miramontes also had three digs and five total blocks. In the win over Air Force, she turned in a hitting percentage of .684 (13-0-19), which is her career-best in matches where she has 10 or more attempts, while collecting four total blocks and three digs.

For the week, Miramontes averaged 4.00 kills, 1.50 blocks, 1.00 digs and 4.92 points per game, while hitting .605 in six games played. She also had just one hitting error in 38 total attempts.

On the year, she leads the team in total blocks (62), solo blocks (17) and assisted blocks (45). She is second on the team in kills (231), kills-per-game (4.05) and hitting (.276).

Rebels In The Poll: The Rebels dropped two spots from 33rd to 35th in the "receiving votes" category of the CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Poll, despite sweeping both of their matches this past weekend.. Currently, UNLV sits behind Louisville, Middle Tennessee, Sacramento State, Pepperdine, BYU, Long Beach State, Wichita State, Iowa State and Missouri State.

The Sept. 10 poll was the first time in the program's history that UNLV ranked so highly. The Rebels came in 26th and only sat 23 points behind then-#25 New Mexico State.

Colorado State keeps making a steady climb up the ladder, as they sit at #23 this week. Ever since they were 31st on Sept. 10, they've been creeping forward in increments of two. They moved to 29th (Sept. 17), then 27th (Sept. 24), then 25th (Oct. 1), to currently resting at #23 (Oct. 8).

BYU, on the other hand, has watched its top-25 recognition drop ever since losing 3-0 to UNLV on Sept. 13. Heading into that contest the Cougars were ranked #12, but have since watched their ranking fall to 17th (Sept. 17), then to 23rd (Sept. 24/Oct. 1) to 30th today.

Rebels' RKPI Ranks 28th In the latest Nitty Gritty Report produced by RichKern.com, the Rebels own the 28th-best RKPI in the country. The Rebels dropped from 20th to 28th this week, even through they swept both of their matches last weekend.

After defeating then-#12 BYU (Sept. 13) and Utah (Sept. 15), the Rebels owned the sixth-best RKPI on Sept. 17. Unfortunately, some recent losses have hurt the Rebels and dropped them from 6th to 15th to 20th to 28th.

The Start: After playing in 16 contests and three tournaments, UNLV owns a 13-3 record and three tournament titles. The 13-3 record is tied for the best after 16 matches of play in the program's history with that of the 1998 squad.

Included in 2007's 13 victories is a nine-match winning streak that lasted from Aug. 25 (Virginia) to Sept. 15 (Utah). That winning streak ranks as the second-longest in the program's history and fell one match shy of tying the record set in 1998.

Nationally Speaking - Team: The UNLV volleyball team ranks nationally in per-game statistics in hitting percentage, assists, digs and kills, as well as being tied for the 23rd-best winning percentage (81%). The statistics are compiled through Oct. 7.

~ Hitting: UNLV ranks 66th with an average of .236. Nebraska leads with a .347.

~ Assists: UNLV ranks 16th with an average of 15.23 apg. Nebraska leads with a 16.88 apg.

~ Digs: UNLV ranks 5th with an average of 20.04 dpg. Chattanooga leads with a 22.26 dpg.

~ Kills: UNLV ranks 20th with an average of 16.49 kpg. Nebraska leads with a 18.16 kpg.

Nationally Speaking - Individual: The UNLV volleyball team has three players rank nationally in individual per-game statistics in assists, digs and kills. The statistics are compiled through Sept. 23.

~ Assists: Melody Nua ranks 19th with an average of 12.93 apg.

~ Digs: Jada Walker ranks 11th with an average of 6.05 dpg.

~ Kills: Maria Aladjova ranks 70th with an average of 4.32 kpg.