Sept. 13, 2008
Final Stats
EUGENE, Ore. - The UNLV Rebels (4-5) notched its first winning streak of the season on Saturday by winning both of its matches on the final day of the Oregon Classic held in Eugene, Ore. After sweeping its first match of the year vs. Baylor this morning, UNLV duplicated the feat tonight with a 3-0 win over Eastern Washington (3-6) to close out the Classic. The Rebels dropped the Eagles by set scores of 25-22, 25-17, 25-20.
The Rebels out-hit the Eagles by a whopping .258-to-.083 margin, but EWU managed to knock down two more kills than UNLV. The tale of the match was errors committed by the team's attackers. UNLV recorded only 11 errors with no more than four in any set, while EWU, on the other hand, managed 10 errors in two of its sets. The Eagles even hit a -.028 in the second frame.
UNLV's offense was led by Jessica Walter's match-high 11 kills. Walters swung at a .435 clip with only one error in 23 attempts. Cursty Jackson smashed a .500 hitting efficiency with six kills and no errors in 12 tries.
Melody Nua topped all Rebel setters with 24 assists. Nua tallied all but seven of UNLV's helpers.
Camille Cunningham was tops in digs for the Rebels with 11 stops of the EWU attack.
The Eagles got eight-kill matches from Ashley Hamilton and Alysha Cook, but their efforts weren't enough. Besides contributing with kills, Hamilton chipped in a match-high 26 assists. Mandy Daniels was the top defensive player with 10 digs.
Walters and Kelsey Keeler were named to the Oregon Classic's All-Tournament Team.
The Rebels remain on the road next week with four matches in Colorado. UNLV will open up Mountain West Conference action on Sept. 18, with a match at Air Force followed by the final non-conference tournament of the season. The team will play three in the University of Denver Invitational on Sept. 19-20. Denver, SMU and Georgia State will participate in the invite, as well.
