Oct. 31, 2008
Final Stats
SAN DIEGO - The UNLV Rebels (13-11 overall, 6-5 Mountain West) dropped a 3-1, Mountain West Conference affair to the San Diego State Aztecs (8-13, 5-6) on the road Friday night at Peterson Gym. The Rebels have now lost its last three contests for its first three-match losing streak since 2005 (Oct. 17-22) and its first in league play since 2004 (Oct. 30-Nov. 6). UNLV came out strong in the first set, but faltered in the remaining three to lose by set scores of 25-15, 23-25, 12-25, 22-25.
UNLV was out-hit in the match by a .252 to .180 margin, while the Aztecs racked up five more kills (55-to-50) and four less errors (26-to-22). The Rebels owned the better hitting efficiencies in the first two sets, but were only able to win the first. After the intermission, SDSU stormed out with .452 and .235 tallies in the third and fourth frames, respectively, to take the match. UNLV maxed out with its .385 hitting in the first, but never swung above .212 the remaining stanzas. SDSU, on the other hand, hit in the .100s prior to the break, but came out strong when it counted.
Cursty Jackson and Erin Greenwood led the Rebels offensively. Jackson equaled her career-high in kills as she led all attackers with her 14 successful swings and topped the team with her .367 hitting. Greenwood knocked down 12 kills, of her own, while hitting .310.
Melody Nua notched her 10th 40-plus assist match of the season, as she helped out on 40 of 47 kills. Nua has now tallied 10 or more assists in 113 of 114 career matches.
Camille Cunningham tied for the match-high in digs with 15.
SDSU used a balanced attack to pick up the win tonight. The Aztecs had four players amass double-digits in kills with Lauren Van Orden leading the way with her 13, while hitting at a staggering .632 pace. Kelsey Manasco and Stephanie Darnell provided 12 kills apiece. Kyley Sexton rounded out the quartet with her 11.
Besides topping the team out in attacking, Van Orden did was the best tonight for the Aztecs in helping others out also. She managed to couple her 13 kills with a team-high 28 assists for the match's only double-double of the night.
Leah Lathrop followed Van Orden's assist tally closely, as she dished out 23 helpers.
The Aztec defense was led by Michelle Ferrer's 15 digs.
UNLV returns to action against the BYU Cougars on Thursday, Nov. 6 (7:00 pm), in Las Vegas at the Cox Pavilion. The Rebels will then follow that contest up with one vs. Utah on Saturday, Nov. 8 (1:00 pm).
Notes: Melody Nua keeps moving up in the various categories in the UNLV record book. Nua keeps adding to her all-time assist lead, which improved to 4,599. She moved into a second-place tie with Lauren Miramontes (2003-07) in all-time matches (113) played and trails Jada Walkers' (2004-07) 114 by one. She sits tied with Maria Aladjova in all-time sets played with 419. Walker tops out the sets list with 431. She jumped to third in all-time digs with her six stops tonight. She now owns 923 digs.
