LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV men's and women's swimming and diving teams combined for 15 individual top-3 finishes to open up its double-dual meet against Hawaii and Wyoming Thursday at Jim Reitz Pool.

On the women's side, the Rebels hold leads of 105-62 against Wyoming and 81-80 versus Hawaii after one day of competition. In addition, UNLV's men's squad sits in front of Wyoming 127-39 and trails Hawaii 111-56 heading into Friday's final day of swims.

THE RUNDOWN – WOMEN:
 *Junior Teneka Ash began the individual event victories for the Rebel women in the 1650 free, recording a season-best time of 16:57.72. Also contending in the 1650, junior Filio Raftopoulou notched a fourth-place finish with a time of 17:26.70.
 *Kate Afanasyeva opened up her final regular season home meet with a win of the 100 free, touching with a mark of 55.48. The Scarlet and Gray top times on the day for the 100 free were rounded out by junior Kacey Kiuchi's (56.92) fifth-place finish and senior Eva Kim's (57.08) sixth-place finish.
 *In the 100 breast, the Rebel freshman trio of Calysta Bartlett, Sarah Koopmans and Rae Ann Dressel posted top-5 finishes. Bartlett (1:03.58) led the way in second place, while Koopmans (1:05.34) and Dressel (1:05.51) took fourth and fifth, repectively.
 *UNLV tallied another three of top-5 finishes in the 200 fly, as Ash (2:04.47) placed second and was followed by her Scarlet and Gray junior counterparts Carissa Armijo (2:05.02) in third and Gabby Lizzul in fourth (2:07.32).
 *Junior Kristina Schneider piled on a third-place finish for the Rebel women in the 100 free with a time 51.42. Meanwhile, senior Lauren Smith (51.90) reeled in a sixth-place finish to kick off her final home meet.
 *Coming up with UNLV's seventh top-3 finish on the day, freshman Ruby Howell tagged the wall in third place in the 200 IM with a time of 2:05.98 as she crawled within .27 seconds of a second-place finish.
 *Finishing the meet's opening day of swims, the Rebel women's 'A' 200 free relay squad unit of Schneider, Afanasyeva, Kim and senior Caitlyn Schreiber finished in second-place with a time of 1:33.29. Their finish was paired with a third-place finish  by the Scarlet and Gray's 'A'  400 medley relay team of Kiuchi, Bartlett, Afanasyeva and Schneider (3:44.97) who kicked off the round of swims for the day in second place..
 *Junior Montse Moreno dove her way to second place for the Rebel women in the 1-meter with a score of 308.70.
 
THE RUNDOWN – MEN:
*Vuk Celic paced a 1-2 finish for the Rebel men in the 1650 free, as he outmatched the field for a first-place swim with a time of 15:20.88. Sophomore Cam Castro completed UNLV's 1-2 distance punch in second place, logging a time of 15:47.16.
 *Leading the way for the Scarlet and Gray in the 100 back, sophomore Panos Bolanos (49.38) finished in second place. Along with Bolanos' swim, junior Hayden Cornellison (50.23) contributed a fourth-place finish to highlight UNLV's top 100 back times on the day.
 *Junior Jack Binder (55.93) grabbed second place for the Rebels to spearhead a trio of Scarlet and Gray top-5 finishes in the 100 breast. Junior Ivan Zhukau (57.05) finished in fourth and senior Sean Gage (57.29) jumpstarted his senior meet in fifth place.
 *In an evenly matched 200 fly race, Bolanos returned to the pool to take third place with a time of 1:51.73 in his second top-3 finishes on the meet's opening day. His time just outlasted his Scarlet and Gray teammate in junior Michal Cukanow (1:51.85), who inched his way to a fourth-place finish within .12 seconds of Bolanos' time.
 *The top UNLV finishers in the 100 free were sophomore Christopher Mykkanen (45.71) in third, and seniors Bryan Chavez (45.81) and Richard Szilagyi (46.02) who took fourth and fifth to begin their respective senior meet outings.
 *The Rebel men's 'A' squad took second in the 200 free relay to finish the opening swims of the meet, as freshman George Ratiu, Chavez, Szilagyi and Reece Hemmens teamed up for a time of 1:21.96. In the first relay event to kick off the men's races, UNLV recorded a third-place in the 400 medley relay behind its 'A' squad's time of 3:21.35 posted by Bolanos, juniors Sam Willstrop and Casey McEuen and Hemmens.
 *Senior Jesse Cawley launched himself to a third-place finish in the men's 1-meter, scoring a 300.45 to open his round of dives on senior week.

QUOTABLE: "It's great to have three evenly matched teams competing here for a multi-day session. This type of competitiveness is exactly what we need as we prepare for our Conference meets." -Head coach Ben Loorz
 
UP NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV will spring back into action for Senior Day on Friday to close out the tri-team dual meet, which is slated for a 9 am start.