Sept. 20, 2011
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) -
2011 Volleyball Notes - Week Five
FIRST SERVE: The UNLV Rebels have two matches scheduled this week with the first one on the road and the second at home. UNLV will venture away from Las Vegas for the first time since Labor Day weekend with a quick jaunt to Reno, Nev., for a Wednesday night match (6:00 pm) against in-state rival Nevada, Reno. The Rebels return home to open their Mountain West slate with a visit by San Diego State on Friday evening (7:00 pm).
: The UNLV Rebels remain in Las Vegas following the San Diego State match with two more Mountain West matches the following weekend. UNLV welcomes Colorado State to town first on Thursday, Sept. 29 (7:00 pm) and follows that up with a visit by Wyoming on Saturday, Oct. 1 (1:00 pm).
REBEL REWIND: The UNLV Rebels went 1-2 last weekend at its own UNLV Classic. UNLV opened up with a 3-2 win over Fresno State on Friday night before it suffered consecutive losses to San Francisco and Baylor on Saturday. The loss to San Francisco came in straight sets, while the Baylor one was a five-set slugfest.
Makenzie Moea'i and Stephanie Thelen were named to the all-tournament team.
The Rebels' offense was led by Moea'i and her 49 kills, 3.77 kills per-set average and .368 hitting efficiency. She threw down at least 14 kills in all three matches and hit .255 or better. She hit .438 against Fresno State (16 kills) before she one-upped herself with a .481 effort vs. San Francisco (14 kills). She also had eight digs and seven blocks.
In all, three players had 22 or more kills with Madeline Westman and Taylor Richard tying for the second most on the weekend with 22 apiece. Westman added 15 blocks (two solo), nine digs, two assists and two aces to her offensive numbers. Richard, on the other hand, made the transition from libero to outside hitter last weekend. She hit .288 at the net besides chipping in with 23 digs, five assists, three aces and one solo block.
Stephanie Thelen led the team in assists with 121 for an average of 9.31 per set. She had at least 24 helpers in all three matches with 47 vs. Fresno State and 50 more vs. Baylor. She also added 23 digs, 11 kills, seven assisted blocks and one ace.
Defensively, Allison Davies stepped up and moved into the libero position when Richard became a hitter. Davies led the team with 48 digs (3.69 dps) last weekend and had at least 11 digs in all three matches. She topped out at 24 against Baylor.
Overall, four players had at least 23 digs. Daryn Glenn was second on the team with 24, besides having 18 kills, six aces, five assists and four assisted blocks.
SMALL-SCREEN REBELS: The UNLV Rebels will appear on television once during the 2011 regular season. UNLV's contest at San Diego State on Oct. 21 will be aired live on The Mtn. First serve is slated for 6:00 pm from Peterson Gym.
REBELS PICKED SEVENTH IN MOUNTAIN WEST POLL: The UNLV volleyball team was picked to finish seventh this season in the 2011 Mountain West Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's eight head coaches. The Rebels received 20 points to finish six spots behind Colorado State's 60 points and five first-place votes.
The coaches' votes led to three teams being separated by only nine points with CSU atop the list, but followed closely by New Mexico and San Diego State. The Lobos garnered three first-place votes and 56 points for second place, while the Aztecs got 51 points for third.
TCU was tabbed fourth with 41 points, while Wyoming and Boise State were fifth and sixth with 27 and 25 points, respectively. UNLV checked in at seventh and Air Force rounded out the eight-team league with eight points.
