Oct. 14, 2008
LAS VEGAS -
Week Eight Release in PDF Format 
First Serve: The UNLV Rebels return home to Las Vegas after its first 1-1 trip to the state of Utah since 2002. The Rebels will welcome the 13th-ranked Colorado State Rams and the Wyoming Cowgirls to the Cox Pavilion to close out the first half of Mountain West Conference action. The tilt vs. CSU (Oct. 16) will be the third-straight match that the Rebels have been televised on the small screen, seeing as both the Utah and BYU contests were aired. UNLV-CSU can be viewed on The Mtn. (Cox Digital 334/DirecTV 616) at 7:00 pm. Wyoming and UNLV will serve it up Saturday afternoon (Oct. 18) at 1:00 pm.
The CSU Rams worked their way up to the 12th spot in the CBS College Sports Network/AVCA Division I College Coaches' Top 25 Poll on Sept. 29, but have since sat 13th the past two weeks. CSU owns a 16-1 overall mark and are a perfect 6-0 in MWC action. The Rams' only loss came in a neutral match against Pepperdine on Sept. 5. Since the loss to the Waves, CSU has rattled off 13-straight wins. The Rams did have a scare in their last match, as the New Mexico Lobos jumped out to a 2-1 lead only to watch CSU rally back for the 3-2 come-from-behind win. In the all-time series, CSU leads by a 21-5 margin, but UNLV has taken at least one match from the Rams in each of the past three seasons. The Rebels have won the past two in Las Vegas.
The Wyoming Cowgirls come to Las Vegas after a trip to San Diego State on Thursday, Oct. 16. The Cowgirls enter the week with a 3-12 overall record and 2-4 mark in MWC play. Wyoming began the season with eight consecutive losses, but have since won three of its last seven. In the all-time series, UNLV leads 16-11. The Rebels have won four in-a-row overall dating back to 2006 and the nine straight decisions in Las Vegas.
On The Sidelines: After closing out the first half of the Mountain West Conference action this week, UNLV will head to Texas and New Mexico for two matches. The Rebels will travel to Albuquerque, N.M., for a Oct. 23 match vs. the Lobos of New Mexico (6:00 pm PT). Two days later, UNLV will play the TCU Horned Frogs in Fort Worth, Texas on Oct. 25 (11:00 am PT).
Weekly Rewind: UNLV played two road matches last week with a 3-0 loss at Utah and a 3-0 win at BYU. The
at Utah: The UNLV Rebels' (10-8 overall, 3-2 Mountain West) misfortunes in Salt Lake City continued with their 3-0 loss to the Utah Utes (12-4, 4-2) on Thursday night at the Crimson Court. Dating back to 1997, the Rebels have gone 0-11 in Utah's capital city. Utah took the match by set scores of 25-13, 25-14, 25-22. The loss snapped the Rebels' two-match winning streak, while the victory propelled Utah to five straight wins.
The Utes had a staggering .368 hitting efficiency in the match, while holding the Rebels to their lowest figure of the season with a .123. Utah racked up nine more kills (45-to-36) and amassed 13 less errors (23-to-10). The home squad came out on fire with a .393 hitting efficiency in the first set and one-upped themselves with a .531 in the second, but dropped to an even .200 in the third and final set. On the other hand, UNLV hit between .031 and .167 in the match.
Sara Nehf and Cursty Jackson led the Rebels in kills and hitting efficiency in the match. Nehf knocked down a team-high 11 kills and swung for a .389 figure. Jackson threw down eight kills, while hitting .316.
Melody Nua dished out 25 of UNLV's 31 assists. Camille Cunningham led the Rebels in digs with 12.
at BYU: The UNLV Rebels (11-8 overall, 4-2 Mountain West) swept the BYU Cougars (9-7, 2-5) in Provo, Utah, Saturday night at the Smith Fieldhouse. The win was only the second for UNLV in the program's history in Provo. The Rebels have now won two straight over the Cougars and three of the last four meetings. UNLV won the match by set scores of 25-15, 25-11, 28-26.
The Rebels notched its second-highest hitting efficiency with their .341 outing. UNLV hit no worse than .220 (third set), while topping out at a staggering .565 in the first frame. BYU, on the other hand, was only capable of its .094 output. The Cougars' best stanza was their first, as they hit .212, but dropped to a lowly -.077 in the second before recovering for a .106 in the third. UNLV tallied 11 more kills (44-to-33) and nine less errors (14-to-23). In an odd statistic, BYU attempted 18 more attacks than UNLV with a 106-to-88 figure.
UNLV's offensive was led by a three-prong attack by Jessica Walters, Erin Greenwood and Cursty Jackson. Walters knocked down a match-high 14 kills, while managing a .520 hitting efficiency, which was the second-best for the Rebels. Greenwood smashed 12 kills and topped all hitters with her .579 hitting. Jackson threw down 10 kills and led the team in blocks with five (two solo).
Melody Nua led all setters in the match with her 33 assists. Camille Cunningham led the Rebel defense with 13 digs.
A Nua Record For The Books: With her 12th assist coming at the 2-2 mark of the second set vs. Nevada, Reno on Sept. 28, Melody Nua became the all-time assist leader in UNLV volleyball history surpassing Nicki King's (2001-04) 4,261. Nua has dished out 4,408 through three-plus years of play. She already owns the 2nd, 3rd and 8th-best single-season tallies in school history.
She has dished out double-digits in assists in all 19 of UNLV's matches this season and has achieved the feat in 108 of 109 career matches. Her best match, thus far, in 2008 came this at home vs. San Diego State (Oct. 3), where she dished out 54 helpers.
She has amassed the second-most digs on the team with 153. She has hit the double-digit mark in digs on seven occasions: Dayton (Aug. 29), South Carolina (Aug. 30), Wisconsin (Sept. 5), Cal State Fullerton (Sept. 6), New Mexico (Sept. 27), Nevada, Reno (Sept. 28) and San Diego State (Oct. 3).
She has seven double-doubles on the year with help from double-figure assist and dig totals in those matches listed above. In all, she has 34 double-doubles for her career.
Besides helping her hitters rack up kills, she is known to contribute one every now and then. She has 56 kills of her own this year with a season-high six occurring twice: Arizona State (Aug. 29) and Oregon (Sept. 12).
She is UNLV's second-best at serving up aces, as she has knocked down 15 in 2008.
Besides taking over the top spot in the history books in assists, she sits ranked in matches played (8th, 109), sets played (4th, 401), aces (10th, 77) and digs (4th, 878).
Going Green: Erin Greenwood has made her presence felt in the middle with her ability to attack and put back attacks. In UNLV's all-time record book, Greenwood ranks fourth in hitting efficiency with a .277 average, while coming in sixth in total blocks (232) and solo blocks (36) and seventh in assisted blocks (196).
She is second on the team in kills (158) and kills-per-set (2.43). She is hitting at a .290 efficiency, which is the second-best amongst Rebels.
At the net, she is first in blocks with 40 (11 solo, 29 assisted) with a season-high five (one solo) coming against Denver (Sept. 19).
Thus far, her best match of the season came against South Carolina (Aug. 30) in ASU's Sheraton Classic. Against the Gamecocks, she knocked down 20 kills and hit .452. The 20 kills were two shy of tying her career-best 22 racked up against BYU on Nov. 23, 2007.
This past weekend at BYU (Oct. 11), she notched a career-best hitting efficiency of .579. She threw down 12 kills with only one error in 19 swings.
On The Outside: Jessica Walters played well enough the first month of 2008 to earn all-tournament honors four times over. At the ASU Sheraton Classic (Aug. 29-30), Walters smashed 60 kills (4.62 kps) and hit .278. In the UNLV Invitational (Sept. 5-6), she had 29 kills (2.42 kps). In the Oregon Classic (Sept. 12-13), she collected 42 kills (4.20 kps) and hit .293. At the Denver Invitational (Sept. 19-20), she had 31 kills (3.10 kps) and hit .244.
She leads the team in kills (226) and kills-per-set (3.48). She has hit for double-digits in 14 of UNLV's 19 matches. She has seven matches of 15 or more kills and one where she tallied more than 20 (Arizona State - Aug. 29).
Against ASU (Aug. 29), she collected a career-best 27 kills, while hitting at a .404 clip.
She set a career-best in hitting efficiency when she smashed a .520 at BYU (Oct. 11). She knocked down 14 kills with only one errors in 25 swings.
Sam I Am: After growing up in Las Vegas, Samantha Richard began her collegiate volleyball career in Salt Lake City at Salt Lake Community College. After a stellar career at SLCC, Richard chose to come back to Las Vegas and close out the final two years of her eligibility at UNLV.
Through 19 matches of play she has three double-doubles (Dayton, Cal State Fullerton and San Diego State). She picked up her first two double-doubles in the season's first five matches with 10 kills and 12 digs for her first as a Rebel vs. Dayton (Aug. 29) and then 12 kills and 17 digs vs. Fullerton (Sept. 6). It took her 12 matches to notch her third double-double with a 14 kill-10 dig effort vs. San Diego State (Oct. 3).
She currently sits third amongst attackers with 119 kills for an average of 1.78 kills-per-set. She has notched double-digits in kills on four occasions, with New Mexico (Sept. 27) and San Diego State (Oct. 3) topping the list with 14 kills in each. In the New Mexico match, she hit a season-best .444 with only two errors in 27 swings.
Defensively, she is third on the squad in digs (152) and third in digs-per-set (2.27). She has six matches with 10 or more digs with a season-high 17 coming against Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 6.
She is third on the squad in aces with 11.
Another Cunningham: Camille Cunningham shares the same last name (but no relation) with a former UNLV all-time great...Randall Cunningham. Randall was inducted into the UNLV Hall of Fame in 1996 after his accomplishments on the gridiron, while Camille has spent her time on the court and has slowly worked her way into the record books.
After spending the past three years as a defensive specialist, she has taken over the libero jersey for the 2008 season. She leads the Rebels with her 355 digs and sits second all-time in that category with 1,085 defensive stops. Coming into 2008, her 2007 output of 354 digs ranked fifth, she surpassed that figure last weekend with her 2008 tally moving into that position.
She earned all-tournament honors in the UNLV Invitational (Sept. 5-6) and the Denver Invitational (Sept. 19-20).
She has registered at least 11 digs in all 19 matches this season with eight contests of at least 20. She amassed a career-best 33 against Arizona State (Aug. 29).
Not only does she stop opponents' attacks, but she manages to produce offensively for UNLV, as well. She leads the team in aces with 18. She has six matches in which she has at least two aces. She notched a career-best four aces against South Carolina (Aug. 30) and has two contests where she nailed down three.
Action Jackson: Before playing in UNLV's road trip through the state of Colorado (Sept. 18-20), Cursty Jackson had played in a total of four matches and eight sets. Since the Air Force match on Sept. 18, Jackson has seen plenty of court time, as she has played in all 10 matches and 34 sets.
In the last 10 matches, she has tallied 84 kills which equates to 2.47 kills-per-set and a .278 hitting efficiency. She has amassed no less than five kills in each match, while maxing out at 13 on two occasions. She knocked down her first 13 against Denver (Sept. 19) and then did it again vs. TCU (Sept. 25). She picked up 10 kills at BYU (Oct. 11) and has tallied nine kills twice, with one outing vs. Georgia State (Sept. 20) going down as her best hitting-wise with a .750 hitting efficiency.
Not only has she been strong attacking, she has been just as effective as a blocker. In the past 10 matches, she sits leads the team with 28 stuffs (five solo, 23 assisted).
Overall, she has thrown down 94 kills (2.24 kps) and is tops amongst the team with a .296 hitting efficiency. At the net, she is second with 36 blocks (eight solo, 28 assisted).
Maurer Power: Leah Maurer has seen action in 13 matches this season (60 kills, .240, 18 blocks), but made the most of her opportunity in UNLV's four-match home stand from Sept. 27 to Oct. 3.
In the quartet of matches, she led the team in kills with 39 and owned the highest hitting efficiency (.280) of players with 10 or more kills. She was third in kills-per-set with a 2.60.
She began the home stand with a nine-kill, four-block performance vs. TCU (Sept. 26) and then one-upped herself with 15 kills and a .448 hitting outing vs. Nevada, Reno (Sept. 28).
Against San Diego State (Oct. 3), she threw down 11 kills, while hitting .364.
She has led the team in hitting efficiency the past two matches.
Hi, My Name Is Kelsey: Kelsey Keeler had a sort of coming out party in the UNLV Invitational (Sept. 5-6). After playing sparingly as a freshman last year, Keeler has played in 17 matches and in 46 sets. She has collected 77 kills for a 1.67 kills-per-set average.
After registering only nine kills at ASU's Sheraton Classic, she had a monster weekend at the UNLV Invitational. She tied Jessica Walters for the most kills (29) and best kills-per-set mark (2.42).
She kept her play up in the Oregon Classic (Sept. 12-13), when she was named to her first career all-tournament team. She threw down 13 kills, four aces, 13 digs and eight blocks (one solo). Against Baylor (Sept. 13), she managed career-highs with four aces, eight digs and four blocks (all assisted).
She had her best match hitting wise, as a Rebel against then-10th ranked Wisconsin on Sept. 5. She knocked down a career-best 13 kills. She got stronger as the match progressed, as she threw down six kills in the fifth and final set. She followed that double-digit kill performance with a second against Cal State Fullerton (Sept. 6) when she picked up 10 more.
She hit a season-high .462 at Air Force (Sept. 18). She knocked down seven kills to only one error in 13 swings.
From There To Now UNLV began the year 2-5, but have since turned things around with nine wins in its last 12 matches.
The Rebels opened up the year with identical 1-2 marks in back-to-back tournaments, but then notched matching 2-1 records in the following two tournaments.
Over the past 12 matches, the team has owned two winning streaks of three matches and won six of the nine by 3-0 scores.
