Nov. 17, 2006
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State concluded its 2006 regular season schedule as it dropped a 3-0 decision (30-24, 30-23, 30-24) to UNLV in Peterson Gym Friday evening. With the loss, the Aztecs fall to 11-17 overall and finish 5-11 in the Mountain West Conference. The Rebels, meanwhile, improved to 19-9 as they finish 10-6 in the MWC.
As was fitting on Senior Night for SDSU, fourth-year Aztec Melanie Green and Audra Dent led San Diego State with nine and seven kills respectively. Dent added five blocks and a pair of digs while Greene notched a pair of digs and an assist on the night as well.
UNLV's Lauren Miramontes led all players with 18 kills and added six blocks while teammate Michelle Banks had 15 kills, seven digs and six blocks.
Although the Rebels hit just .172 for the match, it was enough to secure the victory with SDSU hitting .116. The Aztecs hitting percentage was attributable in part to UNLV's defensive play at the net as it recorded 11 team blocks on the night.
In the opening contest, UNLV scored the first four points of the game and led the entire way en route to the six-point victory. The Aztecs were unable to get no closer than three and trailed by that margin at 25-22 before the Rebels scored three straight to essentially put the game away. UNLV was led by six kills from Miramontes while Greene, Dent and Leah Lathrop had three apiece for the home side.
The second game was a closely contested affair that saw the visitors take the early lead only to see the Aztecs knot the score at 14-14. However, with the score tied again at 16-16, the Rebels took control with three straight points as SDSU was unable to get any closer the rest of the way. Michelle Banks had six kills and Miramontes added four more to her total to lead UNLV. Green and Lindsey Mahan had three each for San Diego State.
Game three saw UNLV win the first two points, the open up a 6-1 lead and never look back as it held off the Aztecs to wrap up the match. The Rebel's never led by more than five in the contest, and SDSU was able to close within one point at 18-17 before UNLV went on a five-point run. Miramontes continued to be the story as she struck for eight kills and hit .6363 in the game. Greene had four kills to lead the Aztec attack.
Aztec junior libero Aime Cordeiro finished the match with 17 digs and now has a total of 521 on the season, the second-most ever by an SDSU player. With at least one match left, she has a chance to break the school mark of 545 set by Jackie Mendez in 1988.
San Diego State will now prepare for next week's Mountain West Conference Tournament, which begins on Wednesday, Nov. 22, at UNLV's Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas. SDSU will be the number-seven or eight seed, depending on the outcome of Saturday night's New Mexico-Wyoming match in Laramie.
If Wyoming wins that contest, SDSU will be the seventh seed and open play on Thursday against the number-two seed. If UNM is victorious over the Cowgirls, SDSU will be the eighth seed and will begin on Wednesday with a match vs. Air Force.