Oct. 16, 2007
LAS VEGAS -
Weekly Release #9 in PDF Format
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First Serve: The UNLV Rebels (15-3 overall, 6-2 MWC) return to the Cox Pavilion this Friday, Oct. 19 to open up the second-half of Mountain West Conference play. The Rebels closed out the first portion with four straight league wins, including two on the road this past weekend at TCU and New Mexico. The Rebels trail Colorado State (7-1 MWC) for the conference lead by only one match. UNLV will host San Diego State this Friday in a televised contest on The Mtn.
Week Five Opponents:
San Diego State Aztecs: 11-8 overall, 3-5 MWC.
~ SDSU leads the all-time series 15-10 and snapped UNLV's seven-match winning streak with a 3-2 win on Sept. 21 in San Diego.
~ The Aztecs are led by Stephanie Darnall's 231 kills (3.30 kpg), Leah Lathrop's 416 assists (6.30 apg), Aime Cordeiro's 438 digs (6.35) and Lauren Salisbury's 98 blocks (1.38 bpg).
Twice Is Nice For Aladjova: UNLV senior outside hitter Maria Aladjova has earned Mountain West Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the second time this season and third for her career.
Aladjova, from Sofia, Bulgaria, led the Rebels to a 2-0 record in league play with road wins at TCU and New Mexico, as UNLV took sole possession of second-place in the conference race. She collected back-to-back 20-kill matches for the second time this season and has a total of five matches with 20 or more kills in 2007. Against TCU, Aladjova tallied a season-best hitting percentage of .556 (20-0-36), while also notching seven digs and four assists in a 3-0 UNLV sweep. In Saturday's battle for second-place vs. New Mexico, she had 22 kills, while racking up six digs and three total blocks in the Rebels' four-game victory. Aladjova had a hitting efficiency of .327 vs. the Lobos, marking the seventh time she has hit above .300 this season.
For the week, Aladjova averaged 6.00 kills, 1.86 digs and 6.29 points per game, while hitting .418 in seven games played. She also had just four hitting errors in 91 total attempts.
On the year, UNLV has taken the honor on three occasions. Aladjova previously earned the award on Sept. 17, while Lauren Miramontes took it on Oct. 8.
Rebels In The Poll: The Rebels dropped one spot from 35th to 36th in the "receiving votes" category of the CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Poll released Monday, Oct. 15., despite sweeping both of their matches this past weekend. Currently, UNLV sits behind Louisville, Middle Tennessee, Sacramento State, Pepperdine, Wichita State, Long Beach State, Clemson, BYU, Missouri State and Oregon 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 #21 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), then to 23rd (Oct. 8) last week.
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), then to 30th (Oct. 8), to currently 33rd.
Rebels' RKPI Ranks 22nd: In the latest Nitty Gritty Report produced by RichKern.com, the Rebels own the 22nd-best RKPI in the country. The Rebels moved up six spots from 28th to 22nd this week after winning both of its matches on the road this past weekend.
After defeating then-#12 BYU (Sept. 13) and Utah (Sept. 15), the Rebels owned the sixth-best RKPI on Sept. 17. A loss at San Diego State the following week knocked UNLV to 15th, while a loss at Colorado State dropped them to 20th. Although the team swept past Wyoming and Air Force two weekends ago, its RKPI fell to 28th.
The Start: After playing in 18 contests and three tournaments, UNLV owns a 15-3 record and three tournament titles. The 15-3 record is tied for the best after 18 matches of play in the program's history with that of the 1998 squad.
Included in 2007's 15 victories are two winning streaks. The first was a nine-match winning streak that last from Aug. 25 (Virginia) to Sept. 15 (Utah) and ranks as the second longest in program history. Currently, the team is riding a four-match streak that began on Oct. 4 (Wyoming).
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 18th-best winning percentage (83%). The statistics are compiled through Oct. 14.
~ Hitting: UNLV ranks 51st with an average of .244. Nebraska leads with a .339.
~ Assists: UNLV ranks 13th with an average of 15.44 apg. Nebraska leads with a 17.02 apg.
~ Digs: UNLV ranks 5th with an average of 19.92 dpg. Chattanooga leads with a 22.77 dpg.
~ Kills: UNLV ranks 13th with an average of 16.72 kpg. Nebraska leads with a 18.37 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 Oct. 14.
~ Assists: Melody Nua ranks 13th with an average of 13.11 apg.
~ Digs: Jada Walker ranks 10th with an average of 6.05 dpg.
~ Kills: Maria Aladjova ranks 49th with an average of 4.51 kpg.
