Nov. 19, 2008
LAS VEGAS -
Week Thirteen Release in PDF Format 
First Serve<> The Rebels return home this week to close out the 2008 Mountain West Conference regular season. After kicking off the league slate on Sept. 18 at Air Force (1:00 pm), UNLV will host the Falcons to end the 16-match schedule. The match will also be important, as the Rebel volleyball program will recognize Gerryn Moran, Camille Cunningham, Melody Nua and team manager Zach Thomas on "Senior Day".
Air Force comes to Las Vegas after playing Thursday night at San Diego State. The Falcons enter the week 5-22 overall and 0-14 in MWC play. After starting the year 4-7, Air Force has only managed one win in its last 16 matches (prior to this weekend). In the all-time series, UNLV owns a 23-2 advantage. The Rebels have won 18 straight dating back to 1999. Air Force's last win came on Oct. 23, 1999 (a 3-1 sweep in Las Vegas). UNLV has never lost at home to the Falcons in 12 tries.
On The Sidelines: UNLV will welcome the #14 Florida Gators to Las Vegas to wind down the 2008 regular season on Nov. 29. The Gators have been featured in the Bison/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll all year long and currently sit 21-3 overall and 15-2 in the SEC heading into this weekend's action at home vs. Mississippi State and Alabama.
Weekly Rewind: at Wyoming: UNLV's (15-12 overall, 8-6 Mountain West) 3-2 victory on the road, in Laramie, Wyo., against the Wyoming Cowgirls (4-18, 3-10) gave the Rebel program its fifth-straight season of hitting the 15-win barrier. This was the second time in three matches that the Rebels had to go the distance, while achieving the feat only twice in the first 24 contests. UNLV now sits at 2-2 in five-set affairs with tonight's win with set scores of 24-26, 25-20, 20-25, 26-24, 15-11.
Tonight's win marks the first time in 2008 that the squad rallied back from a 2-1 deficit. In six previous matches, in which, the Rebels trailed by two through three frames, the team owned a record of 0-6.
UNLV improved to 18-11 in the all-time series and have won six consecutive tilts. The Rebels are now 6-7 overall in Laramie and have won two in-a-row.
The Rebels out-hit the Cowgirls by a .178-.to-.151 margin. UNLV collected five more kills (65-to-60) and registered three more errors (34-to-31) in the win. The Rebels hit in between .048 (third) and .286 (first), with two sets in the .000s and three in the .200s. Wyoming had its worst stanza in the deciding fifth frame, when they hit .000. The Cowgirls best effort was in the third at .243.
Melody Nua and Sara Nehf led the Rebel offense to victory. Nua picked up her 13th double-double of the season with a 47-assist and 13-dig effort. Nehf notched her third double-double in a seven-match stretch with a combination of 10 digs and a career-high 17 kills.
Erin Greenwood followed closely behind Nehf's kill figure with 15 of her own. Greenwood owned UNLV's best hitting efficiency with a .300.
Camille Cunningham notched her 11th 20-plus dig match of the year with a contest-high 25. Cunningham was joined by three more Rebels in double-digit dig figures. Gerryn Moran joined Cunningham in the 20-dig club with a career-high 20.
at Colorado State: The UNLV volleyball team's (15-13 overall, 8-7 Mountain West) misfortunes on the road against the 16th-ranked Colorado State Rams (22-3, 12-2) continued on Sunday afternoon, as the Rebels were swept by the Rams. The Rebels were unable to duplicate the success they achieved on Oct. 16, in Las Vegas, when they upset the then 13th-ranked Rams by a 3-1 margin. CSU managed to exact some revenge, while taking today's "Senior Day" match by set scores of 27-25, 25-12, 25-22.
In all, the Rams own a 22-6 edge in head-to-head meetings and improved to 12-1 in contests played in Fort Collins. The squads have split the last eight meetings down the middle.
UNLV was held to its worst hitting efficiency of 2008, as the offense hit -.043. Coincidentally, the lowest tally over the years rendered by the Rebels prior to today's performance was a .013 at CSU on Oct. 13, 2006. Today, the Rams' defense held UNLV to a season-low 29 kills, while forcing them to make a season-high 34 errors. The Rebels' best hitting came in the third when they posted a .031, while a -.219 in the second was the worst.
CSU did not fare any better on the offensive side of the ball. The Rams tallied a .119, which is the lowest the Rebels have held an opponent in the last nine matches. CSU ranged between .054 (third set) and a .240 (second), with a .106 (first) sitting in between.
The Rebels top performer on the day was Gerryn Moran, who contributed on the offensive and defensive side equally. Moran was only one of three players that attempted an attack and registered a positive hitting efficiency, as she swung at .105. She tallied seven kills, while pitching in two assists, eight digs and four blocks (one solo).
Sara Nehf led the squad in kills with eight.
Melody Nua notched 20 assists, which marks the 26th time this season she has reached that figure in a match. Nua has now achieved double-digits in 117 of 118 career contests.
Camille Cunningham led the team in digs with 14.
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 4,739 through three-plus years of play. She already owns the 2nd, 3rd, 8th and 9th-best single-season tallies in school history.
Nua has knocked out two other career records that were only a year old. She surpassed former teammate Jada Walker's (2004-07) all-time matches (116) and sets played (431) records. Nua now owns the matches mark with 118 and sets with 436.
She has dished out 1,010 total helpers and notched double-digits in all 28 of UNLV's matches this season and has achieved the feat in 117 of 118 career matches. Her best match, thus far, in 2008 came 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 245. She has hit the double-digit mark in digs on 13 occasions.
She has 13 double-doubles on the year with help from double-figure assist and dig totals. In all, she has 40 double-doubles for her career.
Although she is known for setting up her attackers, she is known to contribute one every now and then. She has 78 kills of her own this year with a season-high six occurring twice: Arizona State (Aug. 29) and Oregon (Sept. 12).
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 .276 average and in total blocks (266), assisted blocks (226) and fifth in solo blocks (40).
At the net, she is first in blocks with 74 (15 solo, 59 assisted) with a season-high six coming against TCU on Oct. 25.
She is second on the team in kills (273) and kills-per-set (2.73). She is hitting at a .283 efficiency, which is the best amongst Rebels. She has amassed 10 or more kills in 14 matches. Nine of those double-digit kill contests have come in the past 12 matches.
Prior to this past Sunday's Colorado State match, she had racked up a team-best 137 kills and topped the squad with her 3.42 kills-per-set average in the previous 11 contests. She was hitting at a .308 clip, which included a .579 outing at BYU (Oct. 11). She nearly surpassed that effort with one a week later vs. Wyoming (Oct. 18), when she hit .567.
She tied her career-high in kills with 22 vs. BYU (Nov. 6). Coincidentally, she initially set her personal-best against the Cougars on Nov. 23, 2007, in the MWC Tournament semifinal match.
Prior to her latest achievement vs. BYU, her season-best to-date was against South Carolina (Aug. 30) in ASU's Sheraton Classic. Against the Gamecocks, she knocked down 20 kills with only one error in 42 swings and hit .452.
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 519 digs and sits second all-time in that category with 1,249 defensive stops. The 519 digs ranks as the third-most in a single-season at UNLV, while her 2007 tally of 354 is 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 28 matches this season with 11 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 23. She has seven 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 Sept. 18, Jackson has seen plenty of court time, as she has played in all 19 matches and 69 sets.
In the last 19 matches, she has tallied 187 kills which equates to 2.71 kills-per-set and a .250 hitting efficiency. She has amassed no less than five kills in all but one match (at Colorado State on Nov. 16), while maxing out at 19 vs. BYU (Nov. 6). In all, she has hit double-digit figures in eight of the 19 contests.
She racked up a .750 hitting efficiency against Georgia State (Sept. 20) to rank as her best outing to-date. She has seven matches in which she has hit above .300.
Not only has she been strong attacking, she has been just as effective as a blocker. In the past 19 matches, she is second on the team with 52 blocks (12 solo, 40 assisted).
Overall, she has thrown down 197 kills (2.56 kps) and is second on the team with a .259 hitting efficiency. At the net, she is second with 60 blocks (15 solo, 45 assisted).
Nehf Said: Sara Nehf has racked up 152 kills on the year for an average of 2.30. Nehf has seen action in 24 matches and 66 sets, but has been more of a factor lately.
In the past 12 matches, she has contributed 123 kills (third most) for an average of 2.93 kills-per-set. She has tallied eight or more kills in 10 of the 12 contests, while topping out at a career-best 17 at Wyoming this past Thursday. She had previously set a career-high of 15 vs. Utah (Nov. 8).
In the same 12-match time frame, she has produced defensively, as well. She has 66 digs, while picking up 10 vs. Wyoming (10-18), 12 vs. BYU (11-6) and 10 at Wyoming (11-13-08) to combine with her kill totals for her three double-doubles in 2008 and four total for her career.
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 (284) and kills-per-set (3.02). She has hit for double-digits in 15 of UNLV's 28 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.
It's Just G: Up until three matches ago Gerryn Moran was playing more of a defensive role, but has since seen more face time at the net.
Currently, Moran sits third on the team in digs with 236. She had reached the 16-dig mark on three occasions before pushing her career-high to 20 after last Thursday's match at Wyoming (Nov. 13). In all, she has amassed 10 or more digs in nine matches this year.
Prior to Nov. 8 (Utah), she had only connected on eight kills, but in the past three contests she has managed to throw down 18. In this past week's matches (at Wyoming, at Colorado State), she nailed seven in each tilt.
Before racking up the kills, she had helped offensively by collecting 14 two-assist matches and serving up 16 aces.
Sam I Am: Through 28 matches of play Samantha Richard has three double-doubles (Dayton, Cal State Fullerton and San Diego State). Richard 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).
As her double-double efforts show, she is a balanced offensive/defensive player. She sits fifth on the team in kills with 124 and comes in fourth in digs with 213.
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.
She has 10 matches with 10 or more digs with a season-high 17 coming against Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 6.
She is fourth on the squad in aces with 13.
Court, Class Success: A pair of UNLV volleyball student-athletes was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Eight Team on Nov. 6. Jessica Walters was tabbed to the first team for the second straight year, while Erin Greenwood was selected to the third team. Walters is now eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-America status by virtue of being placed on the district's first team.
Walters and Greenwood are no strangers to receiving academic recognition, as they each have been named to the Mountain West Conference's Academic All-Conference Teams the past two years. Each has been honored on the MWC's Scholar-Athlete Teams, as Greenwood has three selections to Walters' two.
The duo has also been named the past two recipients of the Top Sports Award the past two academic years (Walters 2007-08, Greenwood 2006-07). Walters went one step further and took home UNLV's Most Outstanding Female Athlete honors in April 2008.
