Utah Valley State (6-7) vs. Nevada (8-6)

Location: Reno, Nevada
Date: October 7th 
Time: 8:00 p.m. (MST)
Site: Virginia Street Gym @ UNR
Series Record: First Meeting

OREM, Utah - The Utah Valley State volleyball team will go back on the road this Thursday to take on the University of Nevada. The Wolverines are getting accustomed to being away from home, playing 11 of their first 13 matches away from Orem. UVSC is 4-7 in road matches this season, and 2-0 in the friendly confines of the Activity Center. First serve for the match against the Wolf Pack will be at 8:00 p.m. (MST).

Wolverine Update:
The Wolverines snapped their four game skid with a win over Westminster Tuesday night in the Activity Center. Krystal Taylor notched her first double-double of the season against Westminster with 12 kills and 10 digs. Lacee Koelliker tallied her sixth double-double against the Griffins, recording a match-high 42 assists, and a team-high 12 digs.

Continuing to the lead the charge offensively is the Brazilian duo of Deise Borghetti and Alina Wallauer. Borghetti is averaging 3.95 kills per game, while Wallauer tallies an average of 3.15 kills per game. Lacee Koelliker has been solid all year distributing the ball. She averages 11.00 assists per game. True freshmen, Jessica Endres and Chelsea O'Neal have been a pleasant surprise for head coach Sam Atoa. Endres, a middle blocker out of Gilbert, Arizona has been steady on the front line averaging 2.46 kills per game. O'Neal, a libero out of Magnolia, Texas, has been just as steady on the back line averaging a team-high 3.77 digs per game.

Most Recent Action:
In a rare home match for Utah Valley State, the Wolverines beat Westminster College in four games, 30-15, 31-33, 30-20, 30-26, on Tuesday night in the Activity Center.

The Wolverines, led by outside hitter Krystal Taylor and company, dominated most of the match, including games one and three in which they held the Griffins under 21 points, and hit .333 and .406, respectively.

Taylor finished with her first double-double of the season, notching 12 kills and 10 digs. Setter Lacee Koelliker also tallied a double-double, her sixth of the season, with a match-high 42 assists and a team-high 12 digs.

"This game was an opportunity to give some a lot of players some playing time," said head coach Sam Atoa.

Atoa played all 12 of his available players on Tuesday night, and saw some good things.

"I looked forward to doing some things we needed to get better at, and for the most part I thought we did that," said Atoa.

Other key contributors were Stephanie McFarland, who tallied 10 kills and hit .389, Anne Olsen with nine kills, and eight digs, Alina Wallauer with nine kills, and Jessica Endres with eight kills. Amber Smith also tallied eight digs for Atoa's rotating squad.

The Wolverines hit a solid .252 on the night and held the Griffins to a .111 hitting percentage. UVSC also recorded a season-high 12 service aces.

Double Trouble:
Four different Wolverines have notched double-double performances this year, they are: Alina Wallauer with 7, Lacee Koelliker with 6, Deise Borghetti with 4, and Krystal Taylor with 1.

Koelliker Named September Scholar Athlete of the Month:
Lacee Koelliker was named Scholar-Athlete of the Month for September. The award is given by the athletic department each month to a student athlete based on academic excellence, leadership, and performance in the field of competition.

Koelliker had a spring semester GPA of 3.950 that placed her on the athletic department's Honor Roll. She has a cumulative GPA of 3.932

The sophomore setter has been equally impressive on the court. During the month of September, Koelliker helped lead the Wolverine volleyball team to wins over Montana, Central Florida, Memphis, UC Davis and Portland. She has jumpstarted the Wolverine offensive attack with an impressive 11.05 assists a game.

She recorded 40 assists in a win at Montana. She also has over 40 assists in matches against Idaho State (42), UNLV (43), Oklahoma (46), UC Davis (47), Central Florida (55) and Cal Poly (59).

Academic and Athletic Excellence is not new for Koelliker. She graduated from Silverado High School in 2003 with High Honors and received an Honors Diploma with a 4.5 GPA. She also received the Nevada Silver Scholar award in 2002.

Koelliker was born June 27, 1985 in Las Vegas, Nevada to Lee and Laurie Koelliker.

Borghetti, Koelliker Receive Player of the Week Honors:
Utah Valley State right side hitter Deise Borghetti, and setter Lacee Koelliker received Division I Independent -??Player of the Week-?? honors for their performances in the Nike Portland Pilot Invitational September 16-18. Borghetti was honored as the Offensive Player of the Week, and Koelliker was named Setter of the Week.

Borghetti and Koelliker helped the Wolverines to a 2-2 overall record and runner-up finish in the invitational.

Borghetti, a senior out of Medianeira, Brazil, earned All-Tournament honors notching two matches with 20-plus kills (26 against UC Davis, and 22 against Cal Poly-SLO). In four matches she averaged a double-double with 17 kills and 10.25 digs per match. It was the second straight week that Borghetti was named to All-Tournament Teams, having been the only player to be selected in the BYU/Mizuno Classic last week.

Koelliker, a sophomore out of Las Vegas, Nevada, finished the tournament with 172 assists, an average of 10.75 assists per game. Against Cal Poly-SLO she tallied a season-high 59 assists, to go along with 10 digs. Koelliker notched 47 assists and 12 digs in a win over UC-Davis, and in a sweep over Portland State she recorded 38 assists and six digs. Against Portland in the championship match she finished with 28 assists and seven digs.

The awards were the first of the season for both Borghetti and Koelliker, and the second and third awards for UVSC this year.

Borghetti Honored Two Weeks in a Row:
Senior right side hitter, Deise Borghetti was named to the Nike Portland Pilot Invitational All-Tournament Team last weekend, and the week before she was named to the Mizuno Classic All-Tournament team. In the Mizuno Classic Borghetti averaged 4.45 kills, and 3.18 digs per game in the tournament. She had match-high kills against UCF (21), and Oklahoma (18).

Endres Named Newcomer of the Week:
Freshman middle blocker Jessica Endres was named the Division I Independent Volleyball Newcomer of the Week for her performance in the BYU/Mizuno Classic September 10-11. The weekly award is given to a true freshman or transfer player.

Endres, a true freshman from Gilbert, Arizona, helped the Wolverines go 2-1 in the Mizuno Classic. UVSC sandwiched wins over Central Florida and Memphis around a loss to Oklahoma. Against UCF Endres was called upon 20 different times, notching 13 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Against OU she tallied seven kills, and against Memphis, Endres carried the team with a match-high 17 kills, while hitting an impressive .536.

This season, eight Division I Independent schools have grouped together to elect Player of the Week awards. Those teams are Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas-Pan American, IPFW, Northern Colorado, South Dakota State, North Dakota State, Providence, and Utah Valley State. Awards are voted on by participating team sports information directors and released each Tuesday.

Last Year's Post Season Honors:
UVSC returns three players who received NCAA Division I Independent honors in 2003. They are: outside hitters Alina Wallauer and Krystal Taylor, and setter Lacee Koelliker.

Wallauer (173 K, 2.37 K/G) received two honors as she was named the D-I Independent -??Newcomer of the Year,-?? and to the All-Independent Second Team. Koelliker (379 A, 4.51 A/G) and Taylor (109 K, 1.85 K/G) were both named to the Independent All-Freshman Team.

Scouting the Opposition:
Nevada: The Wolf Pack come into Thursday's match with an overall record of 8-6, and 2-2 in Western Athletic Conference play. UNR took 6 th ranked Hawaii to five games, but came up on the losing end last Saturday. The Wolf Pack led two games to one, but allowed the undefeated Rainbows to win the final two games and take the match. UNR is led offensively by junior middle blocker, Salaia Salave'a. She pounds out an average of 4.84 kills per game. Sophomore Tristin Adams handles the setting duties and averages a solid 12.10 assists per game.

Up Next:
The Nevada match will be the first of a four-match road swing for the Wolverines before they come back to Orem for three consecutive home matches. UVSC will travel to Texas to match-up against two fellow NCAA Division I Independent teams. The Wolverines play Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on October 15 th , and then take on Texas-Pan American on October 16 th in Edinburg, Texas.