Sept. 27, 2008
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS - The UNLV Rebels (8-7 overall, 2-1 Mountain West) lost a tightly played volleyball match in straight sets to the New Mexico Lobos (12-2, 2-1) Saturday afternoon at the Cox Pavilion. The match was a see-saw affair that witnessed ties as late as 23-23 in the first two frames, but ultimately the Lobos prevailed. UNM staved off a rally by the Rebels in the third to claim the set and match. The Lobos won the match with set scores of 25-23, 25-23, 25-22.
UNLV owns the series with a 15-7 edge, but the loss snapped an eight-match winning streak the Rebels had ridden since 2004.
The first set featured 13 ties and five lead changes. After a 14-14 tie, UNLV built as much as a three point lead on two occasions (19-16 and 21-18). The Lobos knotted things up at 21-21 and even took a short-lived lead before a 22-22 tie. The teams traded the next two points for a 23-23 tie, but UNM managed to get an attacking error from UNLV before a Jeanne Fairchild kill sealed the set.
The second set was similar to the first, but without as many ties (seven) or lead changes (two). Once again, UNLV jumped out to a lead after a 9-9 tie. The Rebels owned two four-point leads (13-9 and 14-10), but never could muster more of an advantage. The Lobos evened things up at 20-20. After fighting through three ties, the Lobos got a kill from Anna Lehne and an attacking error by a Rebel to end the stanza.
UNM looked like they were going to run away with the third, but watched as UNLV pulled within a point of tying things up at 22-21. The Lobos had a six-point lead at 20-14, but the Rebels won seven of the next nine to get close. The Lobos put some breathing room between themselves and UNLV by winning the following two points before the Rebels scored its last at 24-22. A kill by Lehne ended the set and match.
The Lobos out-hit UNLV by a .242 to .146 margin. The visitors amassed four more kills (45-to-41) and seven less errors (16-to-23) in the match. UNLV hit in the .100s throughout the contest with a .171 in the third, as its best. UNM, on the other hand, hit around the .200 barrier in the first two sets before swinging .333 in the third.
The Rebels were led by Melody Nua's fifth double-double of the season and 32nd of her career. Nua dished out a match-high 36 assists and dug out 10 Lobo attacks. She sits 11 assists shy of tying Nicki King (2001-04) atop UNLV's all-time assist chart. Nua owns 4,250 for her career, while King finished with 4,261.
Samantha Richard and Jessica Walters led the Rebel attack with their double-figure efforts. Richard contributed a match-high 14 kills, while hitting .444 to lead her squad in that category. Walters managed to knock down 10 kills.
Camille Cunningham had the match-high in digs with 16.
Fairchild and Lehne topped all Lobo attackers with their 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Jade Michaelson picked up 33 of the 42 assists for UNM. Gayle Tripp and Lisa Meeter contributed double-digit dig totals in the match. Tripp was credited with 14, while Meeter had 10.
The Rebels return to action on Sunday, Sept. 28 (5:00 pm) with a match vs. Nevada, Reno.
