Oct. 21, 2008
LAS VEGAS -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
First Serve: The UNLV Rebels open up the second half of Mountain West Conference action this week on the road. The Rebels will play in the states of New Mexico and Texas with matches on Thursday (Oct. 23, 6:00 pm PT) and Saturday (Oct. 25, 11:00 am PT). UNLV will travel to Albuquerque for a contest against the New Mexico Lobos on Thursday, before heading to Fort Worth to face the TCU Horned Frogs on Saturday.
The New Mexico Lobos are 15-4 overall and sit in a fourth-place tie with TCU with matching 5-3 records in conference play. The Lobos began 2008 winners of their first eight, but have since lost four of their last 11. In their last four games, the Lobos have alternated wins and losses. In the all-time series, UNLV owns a 15-7 edge. The Rebels had won eight straight dating back to the 2004 season before dropping a 3-0 decision in a tightly contested match on Sept. 27, in Las Vegas. UNLV has won the past four meetings between the two in Albuquerque.
The TCU Horned Frogs will face UNLV after hosting San Diego State on Thursday night. The Horned Frogs are 16-5 overall and 5-3 in conference action. TCU began the season with a 9-0 mark, but has since gone 7-5, which includes a 3-1 loss in Las Vega to UNLV on Sept. 25. In the all-time series, UNLV owns a 8-1 overall advantage. The Rebels have won seven straight dating back to 2005 when TCU joined the Mountain West. The teams split their season series in 1998 when both were members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).
On The Sidelines: After serving up the second half of the MWC slate this weekend, UNLV will stay on the road for a single contest next week. The Rebels will make a trip to Southern California for a Halloween (Oct. 31) affair with San Diego State on Friday night, 7:00 pm match.
Rebels In The Rankings: The Rebels have reeled off 11 wins in its last 14 matches to earn a spot in the "receiving votes" category of Monday's AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll. UNLV, who is tied with BYU at #38, are one of four Mountain West Conference teams to make an appearance in today's poll.
The Rebels are no strangers to the Top 25 Poll, as the squad spent 13 weeks in 2007 either ranked or receiving votes. The program had never been ranked until last year (Nov. 5). The team maintained its #25 rating for two weeks until spending the rest of the season receiving votes.
Weekly Rewind: vs. #13 Colorado State: The UNLV volleyball team (12-8 overall, 5-2 Mountain West) knocked off the 13th-ranked Colorado State Rams (16-2, 6-1) by a 3-1 score on Thursday night in the Cox Pavilion. The Rams entered the contest riding a 13-match unbeaten streak, but succumbed to UNLV for the third-straight time in Las Vegas. CSU jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead, but watched as the Rebels' defense was too much for the Rams' attack. UNLV won by set scores of 20-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-21.
The Rams out-hit the Rebels by a .198 to .184 margin, but couldn't overcome the home team's defense. CSU hit in the .200s in the first three sets (.234, .237 and .244), but fell below .100 in the third with a .096. UNLV, on the other hand, began slowly with a .049 in the first, but came out strong in the second with a .293 and followed with a .195 (third) and .196 (fourth).
The key to the match was UNLV's defense. The Rebels amassed a season-high 84 digs with five student-athletes collecting nine or more. Camille Cunningham led the way with a match-high 28 and was joined in double-figures by Melody Nua and Samantha Richard. Kela Lau Hee and Gerryn Moran picked up nine digs each in helping slow the CSU attack.
Besides helping out defensively, Nua was a major factor in UNLV's offensive output. She combined a team-high 42 assists with her 10 digs for her eighth double-double of the season and 35th of her career.
UNLV's offensive was led by a trio of Rebels with 10-plus kills. Jessica Walters led the way with her 16 kills, while hitting a team-high .333. Erin Greenwood and Cursty Jackson followed closely behind Walters' production with 13 and 12 kills, respectively.
vs. Wyoming: The UNLV Rebels (13-8 overall, 6-2 Mountain West) closed out the first half of conference play on Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 victory over the Wyoming Cowgirls (3-14, 2-6) in the Cox Pavilion. The Rebels maintained their dominance in the head-to-head series with their fifth straight victory and 10th consecutive in Las Vegas. UNLV won by set scores of 25-23, 25-19, 25-23.
The Rebels racked up their highest hitting efficiency of the season against Wyoming with their .412 tally. Wyoming managed to notch the best hitting by a UNLV opponent in a loss with a .306. The Rebels swung well in all three sets with a .417 in the first, .436 in the second and .385 in the third. UNLV only committed 12 errors in the match. The Cowgirls managed only 10 errors in the match, while between .286 (second) and .318 (first).
UNLV was led by double-doubles from Melody Nua and Sara Nehf. Nua combined a match-high 48 assists and 10 digs for her ninth of the season and 36th of her career. Nehf threw down 12 kills and picked up 10 digs for her first double-double of the year and second of her career.
The Rebel attack was spearheaded by Erin Greenwood's match-high 19 kills and career-best .567 hitting efficiency. Greenwood swung 30 times and only committed two errors.
Besides the double-digit kill tallies by Greenwood and Nehf, Cursty Jackson jumped into the fray with a season- and career-best 14 of her own.
Camille Cunningham was one of three Rebels to amass double-digits in digs. Cunningham had a match-high 11, while Nua and Nehf pitched in 10 apiece.
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 4,498 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 21 of UNLV's matches this season and has achieved the feat in 110 of 111 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 174. She has hit the double-digit mark in digs on nine occasions: Dayton (Aug. 29), South Carolina (Aug. 30), Wisconsin (Sept. 5), Cal State Fullerton (Sept. 6), New Mexico (Sept. 27), Nevada, Reno (Sept. 28), San Diego State (Oct. 3), Colorado State (Oct. 16) and Wyoming (Oct. 18).
She has nine double-doubles on the year with help from double-figure assist and dig totals in those matches listed above. In all, she has 36 double-doubles for her career.
Besides helping her hitters rack up kills, she is known to contribute one every now and then. She has 62 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 16 in 2008.
Besides taking over the top spot in the history books in assists, she sits ranked in matches played (7th, 111), sets played (4th, 408), aces (10th, 78) and digs (4th, 899).
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 .279 average, while coming in fifth in total blocks (237) and solo blocks (38) and seventh in assisted blocks (199).
At the net, she is first in blocks with 45 (13 solo, 32 assisted) with a season-high five coming against Denver (Sept. 19) and Colorado State (Oct. 16).
She is second on the team in kills (190) and kills-per-set (2.64). She is hitting at a .296 efficiency, which is the best amongst Rebels. She has amassed 10 or more kills in nine matches with three coming in UNLV's last trio of contests.
In those last three matches, the Rebels have gone 3-0 and the offense was spearheaded by Greenwood. She notched 44 kills (4.40 kps) and a .385 hitting efficiency in those matches. She threw down her best hitting efficiency of her career when she hit .579 at BYU (Oct. 11) and nearly surpassed that figure against Wyoming (Oct. 18) when she hit .567.
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 with only one errors in 42 swings and hit .452. The 20 kills were two shy of tying her career-best 22 racked up against BYU on Nov. 23, 2007.
In the Wyoming (Oct. 18) match, she had 19 kills and two errors in 30 attempts.
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 (250) and kills-per-set (3.47). She has hit for double-digits in 15 of UNLV's 21 matches. She has eight 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.
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 394 digs and sits second all-time in that category with 1,124 defensive stops. Coming into 2008, her 2007 output of 354 digs ranked fifth, she surpassed that figure two weekends ago 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 21 matches this season with nine 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 19. 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 12 matches and 41 sets.
In the last 12 matches, she has tallied 110 kills which equates to 2.68 kills-per-set and a .258 hitting efficiency. She has amassed no less than five kills in each match, while maxing out at 14 vs. Wyoming (Oct. 18). In all, she has gone into double-digits on five occasions. Against Georgia State (Sept. 20) she hit at a .750 clip.
Not only has she been strong attacking, she has been just as effective as a blocker. In the past 12 matches, she sits leads the team with 33 stuffs (six solo, 27 assisted).
Overall, she has thrown down 120 kills (2.45 kps) and is second on the team with a .273 hitting efficiency. At the net, she is second with 41 blocks (nine solo, 32 assisted).
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 21 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 121 kills for an average of 1.68 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 (163) and fourth in digs-per-set (2.26). She has seven 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.
Maurer Power: Leah Maurer has seen action in 14 matches this season (61 kills, .234, 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).
Nehf Said: Sara Nehf owns the third-highest hitting efficiency amongst the Rebels with a .256. Nehf has racked up 72 kills (1.89 kps) on the year, but has recently made an impact on the offense.
In the past four matches, she has contributed 35 kills for an average of 3.18 kps and is hitting .286. She has tallied nine or more kills in three of the four matches, while topping out at a career-best 12 this past weekend vs. Wyoming (Oct. 18).
Defensively, she has produced, as well. She had 16 digs in those four matches with 10 coming against Wyoming (10-18) to give her her second career double-double and first of the season.
From There To Now: UNLV began the year 2-5, but have since turned things around with 11 wins in its last 14 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 14 matches, the team has owned three winning streaks of three matches and won seven of the 11 by 3-0 scores.
