Oct. 31, 2010
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV Rebels (8-16, 3-7 MWC) rallied for a 3-2 victory over the TCU Horned Frogs (13-11, 4-6 MWC) Sunday afternoon in Mountain West Conference volleyball action from the Cox Pavilion. After winning the first set, UNLV fell behind by a 2-1 margin before claiming the final two frames for its fifth five-set victory in six tries this season. The Rebels won the contest with set scores of 25-20, 22-25, 14-25, 25-20, 15-11.
The Rebels turned things around in the fourth set just moments after falling losing the third set by 11 points (25-14). TCU took a 1-0 lead, but watched UNLV score two straight and that was the end of it. The home squad slowly built its lead through the frame and even hit a nine-point cushion at 21-12 before tying up the match with its five-point win (25-20).
UNLV kept the pedal down in the fifth and staked itself to a two-point lead through the first two points. TCU pulled within one winning the third point of the set, but that was as close as the visitors would get the remainder of the way. The Rebels struck out to a six-point differential twice at 10-4 and 12-6. The Horned Frogs then won four straight to pull within two at 12-10, but UNLV wound up winning three of the final four points for the set win.
UNLV took control of the first stanza after they rattled off six straight points to turn a two-point deficit (14-12) into a four-point cushion (18-14). The Rebels pushed out to four different four-point leads before eventually claiming the opening set by five at 25-20.
The second set was TCU's once they took hold at the 3-2 juncture. The Horned Frogs never relinquished the lead from that point on although UNLV tied things up five times afterwards. TCU went up two different times at five before winning by three, 25-22.
TCU maintained the momentum following its win in the second with another in the third. After scoring the set's first point they never relinquished it until they hit the 25-point barrier.
The match featured 18 ties and eight lead changes with the first two sets featuring the majority of each with 15 of the former and seven of the latter. The third and fifth sets were both won by the squad that won the first point, while the fourth had three ties and one change.
The Rebels were led offensively by career outings from Sara Nehf and Candice Thomas. Nehf threw down a personal-best 25 kills in the match, easily surpassing her previous high of 21 set on two different occasions. She also attempted 56 attacks, which was also a career high and also chipped in eight digs and two assisted blocks.
Thomas had 17 kills and hit at a .455 clip. She only committed two errors in 33 attempts. She came up big at the net with five assisted blocks and provided two digs, as well.
Kelsey Keeler joined Nehf and Thomas in the double-digit kill club with 12 of her own. Keeler hit .360 and also had six digs and two assisted blocks.
Madeline Westman was instrumental on both sides of the net for UNLV with seven kills and six blocks (one solo). Westman also served up a career-best four aces.
Kendra Glendenning and Amanda Alles split the setting duties for the Rebels with each dishing out 30 assists. Glendenning's tally were a career-high for her. She also had seven digs, while Alles added four blocks (one solo) and two digs.
Kela Lau Hee topped all defensive players in the match with 23 digs.
TCU got double-doubles from Christy Hudson, Jordan Raines and Meghan Horio. Hudson and Raines used a kill-dig combination to achieve the feat, while Horio conjoined assists and digs. Hudson had 14 kills on .433 hitting, 18 digs and five assisted blocks. Raines had 12 kills, 14 digs, three blocks (one solo) and one assist. Horio had a match-high 40 assists and added 10 digs, as well.
UNLV hits the road for a pair of conference contests on the road this week. The Rebels will face the #14 Colorado State Rams at 7:00 pm on Thursday, Nov. 4 in Fort Collins, Colo. They will follow that up with a visit to Laramie, Wyo., on Saturday, Nov. 6 with a tussle against the Wyoming Cowgirls at 1:00 pm.
