Oct. 7, 2008
Las Vegas -
Week Seven Release in PDF Format 
First Serve: After spending the last two weeks at home, UNLV will hit the road for the fourth time in 2008. The Rebels will play a pair of Mountain West Conference contests in the Beehive State with both being televised. First up will be a match vs. the Utah Utes on Oct. 9 (6:00 pm PT) in Salt Lake City. The UNLV-Utah affair will be shown live on The Mtn. (Cox Digital 334/DirecTV 616 in Las Vegas). Two days later (Oct. 11, 6:00 pm PT), the Rebels will head south down I-15 to Provo for a match against BYU, which will be aired by BYUTV (Cox Digital 352/DirecTV 374 in Las Vegas).
UNLV heads to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Utes, who are riding a four-match winning streak and sit on the outside looking in in the latest CBS College Sports Network/AVCA Division I College Coaches' Top 25 Poll. The Utes own a 11-4 overall record and are 3-2 in MWC play. Utah began the season 7-1, but dropped three straight before gaining momentum the past two weeks. In the all-time series, Utah owns a 24-3 advantage. The Utes won 19 straight between 1999 and 2006, but saw UNLV's fortunes change for the better in 2007. The Rebels took two of three from Utah, which included the MWC Championship match (3-2) on Nov. 24.
Prior to UNLV's meeting with BYU, the Cougars will host San Diego State on Oct. 9. The Cougars enter the weekend 9-5 overall and 2-3 in league action. After losing back-to-back matches this weekend on the road at TCU and New Mexico, the Cougars dropped out of the Top 25 poll and into the receiving votes category. BYU began the year with a 7-1 record, but has since lost four of its last six. In the all-time series, BYU owns a 22-4 edge. The Cougars had won 10 straight between 2002 and 2006, before dropping two of three to UNLV in 2007. The Rebels took the last meeting (3-2), which occurred in the MWC Tournament semifinals on Nov. 23.
On The Sidelines: After playing its road matches in Utah, UNLV returns home for a pair against #13 Colorado State and Wyoming on Oct. 16 (7:00 pm) and Oct 18 (1:00 pm), respectively. The CSU contest will be televised live on The Mtn. (Cox Digital 334/DirecTV 616 in Las Vegas). Weekly Rewind UNLV played only one contest last week, which closed down its four-match, two-week long home stand. The Rebels defeated San Diego State by a 3-1 margin to claim nine of the last 10 meetings between the two teams. The victory gave UNLV a two-match winning streak and its fourth win in its last five matches.
vs. San Diego State: The UNLV Rebels (10-7 overall, 3-1 Mountain West) picked up its 10th win of the season Friday night with a 3-1 victory over the San Diego State Aztecs (4-10, 1-3) in the Cox Pavilion. The win gives UNLV its second straight conquest over the Aztecs and its' ninth in the last 10 meetings between the teams. The Rebels won the match with set scores of 20-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-19.
UNLV out-hit SDSU by a .235 to .153 margin. The Rebels smashed 12 more kills (62-to-50) and amassed two less errors (24-to-26). UNLV came out of the gate strong with a .400 hitting efficiency in the first set, but couldn't match that success in the next two frames. They managed a .114 and .177 in the second and third sets, respectively. In the fourth and final frame, the Rebels hit at a .314 clip to take the set and match. SDSU, on the other hand, only hit well in its' second-set win with a .279. The remaining three sets were below .128.
Melody Nua and Samantha Richard led the Rebels offensively, as they both racked up double-doubles in the match. Nua combined a match-high 54 assists and 15 digs for her seventh of the season, while Richard used a match-high 14 kills and 10 digs for her third.
Leah Maurer and Erin Greenwood joined Richard in the double-digit kill category, as they knocked down 11 and 10, respectively. Maurer's .364 hitting efficiency was the highest notched by any player in the match.
Camille Cunningham led the match with 28 digs, while being teamed with Nua and Richard in double-figure 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 4,350 through three-plus years of play. She already owns the 2nd, 3rd and 8th-best single-season tallies in school history.
She dished out double-digits in assists in all 17 of UNLV's matches this season and has achieved the feat in 106 of 107 career matches. Her best match, thus far, in 2008 came this past weekend at home vs. San Diego State, where she dished out 54 helpers.
She has amassed the third-most digs on the team with 143. 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 53 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 (T-8th, 107), sets played (T-5th, 395), aces (10th, 77) and digs (4th, 868).
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 fifth in hitting efficiency with a .272 average, while coming in sixth in total blocks (230) and solo blocks (36) and seventh in assisted blocks (194).
She is second on the team in kills (144) and kills-per-set (2.36). She is hitting at a .274 efficiency, which is the second-best amongst Rebels.
At the net, she is first in blocks with 38 (11 solo, 27 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.
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 (209) and kills-per-set (3.48). She has hit for double-digits in 13 of UNLV's 17 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.
Her best hitting efficiency came against Eastern Washington (Sept. 13), when she posted a .435 with 11 kills and one error in 23 attempts.
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 17 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 113 kills for an average of 1.85 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 second on the squad in digs (145) and third in digs-per-set (2.38). 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 10.
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 330 digs and sits second all-time in that category with 1,060 defensive stops. She surpassed Brittani Lumsden's (2004-07) career tally of 922 a few weekends ago to move up the ladder. Coming into 2008, her 2007 output of 354 digs ranked fifth. She will surpass that figure soon, as her 330 in 2008 sit sixth.
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 17 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 17. 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 eight matches and 28 sets.
In the last eight matches, she has tallied 66 kills which equates to 2.36 kills-per-set and a .275 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 this vs. TCU (Sept. 25). She 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 eight matches, she sits tied for the team lead with 21 stuffs (three solo, 18 assisted).
Overall, she has thrown down 76 kills (2.11 kps) and its tops amongst the team with a .297 hitting efficiency. At the net, she is second with 29 blocks (six solo, 23 assisted).
Maurer Power: Leah Maurer has seen action in 11 matches this season (55 kills, .259, 16 blocks), but made the most of her opportunity in UNLV's four-match home stand over the past two weekends.
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 16 matches and in 43 sets. She has collected 76 kills for a 1.77 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.
