Feb. 7, 2007
LAS VEGAS -
Week One Release in PDF Format
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Leading Off: The 2007 softball season is here and the Rebels will start the action with the Alexis Resort Kick-Off Classic (Feb. 8-11). Heading to Las Vegas for the six-team tournament are: Tulsa, Illinois-Chicago, Nicholls State, Marshall and Pacific. UNLV is scheduled to play a total of five games with two meetings against Tulsa and none versus Pacific.
On Deck: The Louisville Slugger Desert Classic (Feb. 15-19) will take place the second weekend of the season and feature 26 teams. The LSDC is one of the premier collegiate softball tournaments in the country, as well as, one of the largest. The games are split between three complexes (UNLV's Eller Media Stadium, Stephanie Lynn Craig Park and the Russell Road Complex). UNLV will play all seven of its contests at EMS. Oregon State, Florida International, Central Florida, Northwestern, UCLA, Illinois and Utah State will play the Rebels on their home turf.
Alexis Resort Kick-Off Classic Schedule:
Thursday, Feb. 86:00 pm UNLV vs. Tulsa
Friday, Feb. 99:00 am Illinois-Chicago vs. Nicholls State11:15 am Illinois-Chicago vs. Marshall1:30 pm Tulsa vs. Nicholls State3:45 pm Tulsa vs. Pacific6:00 pm Marshall vs. Pacific
Saturday, Feb. 109:00 am Illinois-Chicago vs. Tulsa11:15 am UNLV vs. Tulsa1:30 pm Illinois-Chicago vs. Pacific3:45 pm Nicholls State vs. Pacific6:00 pm UNLV vs. Marshall8:15 pm Nicholls State vs. Marshall
Sunday, Feb. 119:00 am UNLV vs. Nicholls State11:00 am Marshall vs. Pacific1:00 pm UNLV vs. Illinois-Chicago
Rebel Opponents In 2007: The Rebel's 2007 schedule is comprised of 40 different opponents. Of those 40 opponents, 17 of them reached the 2006 NCAA Tournament. There are five NCAA qualifiers (UCLA, Texas, Northwestern, Arizona State and Oregon State) that advanced to the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Both major polls were released last week and in each of the Top 25 standings there are seven of UNLV's 2007 opponents. There are four opponents that place third through sixth in the USA Today/NFCA Preseason Poll and in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Preseason Poll and those are: UCLA, Northwestern, Arizona State and Oregon State. Cal comes in 10th in both polls, while Texas and Fresno State rank differently in the polls. In the NFCA poll Texas is 17th, but tied for 18th in the USA Softball rankings. Fresno State comes in at 21st in the NFCA and 20th in the ESPN.com.
2007 Tournaments: The Rebels will participate in seven tournaments this season with four of those taking place in Las Vegas. UNLV will play in Las Vegas four of its first five weekends. The team hosts the Alexis Resort Kick-Off Classic (Feb. 8-11) this weekend and follows that up with the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic (Feb. 15-19). After a road trip to the Palm Springs Classic (Feb. 23-26), the Rebels return home for back-to-back weekends of home play with the UNLV Invitational (March 2-5) and the Eller Media Stadium Classic (March 8-11).
The team will head to Tampa, Fla., for the USF-Speedline Invitational (March 16-18) following a neutral doubleheader to be played in Fullerton, Calif., against Texas and Fordham on March 13. The Rebels have three opponents set for the Invitational and then will be seeded into bracket play. The final tournament will be the Pacific SFT Mini Tournament (March 24-25) in Stockton Calif., in which the Rebels will play Pacifc and Sacramento State twice.
2007 Mountain West Conference Preseason Poll: In a vote by the six Mountain West Conference's head coaches, the Rebels collected 19 points for a second-place selection. San Diego State was chosen to repeat as regular season champions, as they took five of the six first-place votes and 25 points overall. BYU was tabbed third, as they tallied one first-place vote and 17 points. Utah (14 points), Colorado State (10) and New Mexico (five) rounded out the fourth through sixth spots.
