Feb. 24, 2011
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) -
Week Three Release 
Leading Off: After playing their first 10 games at home, the UNLV Rebels hit the road this upcoming weekend. UNLV will travel to Riverside, Calif., to play in UC Riverside's Amy S. Harrison Classic (Feb. 25-27).
The Rebels will face Boise State (9:00 am) and Cal State Northridge (11:30 am) on Friday, Feb. 25. The team will follow the doubleheader with single games on Saturday against UC Riverside (9:00 am) and Sunday vs. Cal State Northridge (12:30 pm).
On Deck: The UNLV Rebels return to the friendly confines of Eller Media Stadium to host their third tournament of the season. UNLV will welcome San Diego, Troy, Bradley, Kansas and San Jose State to Las Vegas for the three-day affair.
The Rebels will play a pair of games on both Friday, March 4 and Saturday, March 5 before a single contest on Sunday, March 6.
Looking Back A Week: The UNLV Rebels went 3-3 in their last six outings, which includes a 2-3 performance in the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic and a 4-3 win over Southern Utah this past Tuesday night.
UNLV opened up the Louisville with a 9-6 loss to in-state rival Nevada, Reno on Feb. 17. They followed that up with a 4-3, eight-inning win over Arkansas and a 14-9 loss to Utah State on Feb. 18.
The Rebels closed out the tournament with a split on Saturday losing a hard-fought, seven-inning affair to Southern Illinois-Edwardsville by a 1-0 score before handing #3/7 Tennessee its first loss of the season, 4-3.
UNLV capped off the six-game run with a 4-3, come-from-behind win over Southern Utah. Paige Emerson cranked a two-run, walk-off home run to give the Rebels the victory.
Stefany Valentino led the Rebels offensive with a .545 batting average, eight runs, two home runs, 12 total bases, 1.091 slugging and .706 on-base percentages. Valentino also added six hits and two RBI.
Tayler Aleman hit .400 in four games of action. Aleman had four hits, three of which went down in the scorebook as doubles and attributed to her .700 slugging percentage. She also contributed four RBI and one run.
Ashli Holland hit at a .389 clip with seven hits, four RBI and four runs. Holland added a triple and a home run to the mix.
In the circle, Amanda Oliveto made five appearances with three coming as starts. Oliveto went 3-1 with three complete games and an ERA of 1.33 in 26.1 innings pitched. She notched wins over Arkansas (Feb. 18), Tennessee (Feb. 19) and Southern Utah (Feb. 22) and suffered a 1-0 loss to SIU-Edwardsville (Feb. 19). She struck out 37 batters in all and seven or more in four outings.
We Beat Them: The UNLV Rebels knocked off the previously unbeaten #3/7 Tennessee Lady Vols last Saturday by a 4-3 final score.
UNLV scored all four of its runs in the second inning off an RBI-single by Heather Harrison and Tayler Van Acker's three-run home run. Amanda Oliveto held the Lady Vols' offense in-check most of the game, as they chipped away at the lead. Oliveto threw 3.2 innings of relief for the win and struck out seven.
The win over the ranked squad was the first for UNLV since Feb. 10, 2008, when they knocked off then-#3/2 Arizona State in Las Vegas. ASU wound up only losing five games that season en route to claiming the national championship.
Perfect Against One Of The Best: The UNLV Rebels had three Southeastern Conference programs scheduled for 2011 and have since played them all to much success. UNLV owns a perfect 3-0 against arguably one of the toughest conference in the country.
The Rebels began the season with a 10-9, nine-inning win over Mississippi State (Feb. 11) in the Sportco Kick-Off Classic. They followed that win with two more in this past weekend's Louisville Slugger Desert Classic. UNLV defeated Arkansas (Feb. 18) by a 3-2 score in eight innings before the Tennessee win.
