Feb. 11, 2011
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) -
Week One Release in PDF Format 
Leading Off: The UNLV Rebels open up the 2011 softball season this weekend in their own Sportco Kick-Off Classic, which will be played entirely at Eller Media Stadium. The Classic will run from Friday, Feb. 11 through Sunday, Feb. 13.
UNLV welcomes Mississippi State, UC Riverside, Illinois-Chicago and #10/11 Washington to Las Vegas for the three-day event.
The Rebels open up with back-to-back games Friday against Mississippi State (3:45 pm) and UC Riverside (6:00 pm) before playing another pair on Saturday vs. Washington (1:30 pm) and Illinois-Chicago (Feb. 12).
Sportco Kick-Off Classic Schedule:
Friday, Feb. 1109:00 am Illinois-Chicago vs. Mississippi State11:15 am Illinois-Chicago vs. Washington01:30 pm UC Riverside vs. Washington03:45 pm UNLV vs. Mississippi State06:00 pm UNLV vs. UC Riverside
Saturday, Feb. 1209:00 am Mississippi State vs. Washington11:15 am Mississippi State vs. UC Riverside01:30 pm UNLV vs. Washington03:45 pm UNLV vs. Illinois-Chicago06:00 pm UC Riverside vs. Illinois-Chicago
Sunday, Feb. 1310:00 am Illinois-Chicago vs. Mississippi State12:15 pm Washington vs. UC Riverside
Tournament and GameTracker information can be found at - www.UNLVRebels.com.
On Deck: The UNLV Rebels will stay at home for a second consecutive weekend with their seventh annual Louisville Slugger Desert Classic, which will be played at both Eller Media Stadium (corners of Swenson and Harmon in Las Vegas) and Stephanie Lynn Craig Park (corners of Russell and Galleria in Henderson). The Classic will run from Thursday, Feb. 17 through Sunday, Feb. 20.
UNLV will welcome 16 other teams to Las Vegas for the four-day event. Included in the mix will be six nationally-ranked teams: #1/2 UCLA, #4/7 Tennessee, #8/13 Hawai'i, #14/14 Oregon, #16/20 BYU and #20/18 Stanford.
The Rebels will face in-state rival Nevada-Reno on the tournament's opening night at 6:00 pm. They will then play a pair on Friday against Arkansas (3:45 pm) and Utah State (6:00 pm) before finishing up on Saturday with SIU-Edwardsville (1:30 pm) and Tennessee (3:45 pm). sponsored sport.
30th Season On Tap: The UNLV Rebels will play their 30th season this year after the university began to sponsor the sport in 1980. Shortly thereafter the program went dark for two seasons (1983, 1984) before being brought back on a permanent basis in 1985.
In the 29 years leading up to the 2011 campaign, UNLV made nine NCAA Tournament appearances, which included three visits to Oklahoma City, Okla., for the Women's College World Series (1990, 1991 and 1995).
The Rebels have had 20 NFCA All-Americans and 48 All-West Region selections.
In all, the team has composed a winning percentage of .502 with an overall record of 799-795-3.
Rebels Picked Third: The UNLV Rebels were picked to finish third in this year's Mountain West Conference Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's six head coaches. This is the fourth consecutive year that UNLV has been slotted in the third spot. The Rebels picked up 15 points in the poll to trail BYU and San Diego State, who both made the NCAA Tournament last season.
BYU racked up 24 points, including four first-place votes. SDSU followed closely behind with 22 points and two first-place votes. Colorado State, Utah and New Mexico rounded out the fourth through sixth spots, respectively, with 13, 11 and five points.
The 2011 Rebels' roster will have a much different appearance to it than in seasons past. After fielding a senior-laden team in 2010, this year's edition will lean more towards underclassmen with 11. In all, there will be nine seniors and juniors combined to help guide the team through the four-month schedule. The team will welcome six freshmen and two transfers into the fold, as well.
Ashli Holland is the lone all-conference performer returning from last year's squad that went 33-20 overall and 10-5 in league action. In all, Holland has been chosen All-MWC three times.
She led the team in RBI last year with 42, while batting .364 with 52 hits (10 doubles and eight home runs) and scored 39 runs.
Besides Holland, the Rebels return all three of its pitchers (Jessica O'Connor, Traci Odegard and Kylie Wagner), as well as, centerfielder Paige Emerson and Tayler Aleman, who will make the transition from third base to shortstop this season.
The Schedule: The UNLV Rebels will participate in eight tournaments, which will comprise 36 of the team's 53 scheduled games. UNLV will host four tournaments, including the Sportco Kick-Off Classic and the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic (Feb. 17-20) that take place the first two weeks of the season. The Rebels will also present the Eller Media Stadium Classic (March 4-6) and the Pre-Conference Round-Up (April 2-3).
The team will hit the road for four tournaments to be played in the Golden State. UC Riverside will be the Rebels' first destination Feb. 25-27 prior to three consecutive weekends on the road at UC Santa Barbara (March 11-13), Stanford (March 18-20) and Cal Poly (March 25-27).
The Rebels will play two non-conference contests against Southern Utah (Feb. 22) and Western Illinois (March 16) in between the eight tournaments and the 15-game Mountain West Conference slate that begins in Fort Collins, Colo., at Colorado State on April 8.
The schedule is peppered with six teams (BYU, Oregon, San Diego State, Stanford, Tennessee and Washington) that the Rebels will play a total of 11 times this year that participated in last year's NCAA Tournament.
Preseason Rankings: The UNLV Rebels will face five teams that are ranked in both preseason polls (USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball). Tennessee is the highest positioned of the quintet with a fourth-place entry into the USA Today/NFCA poll, while they are seventh according to the ESPN.com/USA Softball. Washington (#10/#11), Oregon (#14), BYU (#16/#20) and Stanford (#20/#18) round out the other four ranked highly by the pollsters.
