Utah Valley State (5-5) vs. UNLV (5-4)

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Date: September 25th
Time: 2:00 p.m. (MST)
Site: Cox Pavilion @ UNLV
Internet Broadcast: None
Series Record: First Meeting

OREM, Utah - The Utah Valley State volleyball team is getting quite accustomed to life on the road playing nine of their ten matches away from home this season. The Wolverines will be on the road again Saturday as they travel to UNLV for a 2:00 p.m. (MST) match-up.

Wolverine Update:
The Wolverines (5-5) matched up against a tough Idaho State defense last Tuesday night, as the Bengals beat the Wolverines in three games at Reed Gym, 30-27, 30-22, 30-24. ISU out-blocked UVSC 12-6, and forced the Wolverines to make 30 attack errors.

"Idaho State played really well tonight," said head coach Sam Atoa. -"They played very good defense. We had chances to put the ball away, but just couldn't do it."

The Wolverine's normal offensive attack of Deise Borghetti and Alina Wallauer was contained by ISU. The typically steady duo were both held to hitting percentages under .100 on the night. Borghetti did finish the match with 10 kills, but made seven attack errors in 33 attempts. Wallauer ended up tallying nine kills, while making seven errors on 29 total attacks. As a team, UVSC hit just .111.

Setter Lacee Koelliker had to call upon middle blockers Jessica Endres and Stephanie McFarland more often, which Atoa was pleased with.

"It was good to see our middles get more attempts," said Atoa. "It was something we need to work on, so we have a more balanced attack."

Endres ended up with 30 attempts, and she notched a team-high 11 kills, while making just three errors, and finished with a solid .267 hitting clip. McFarland had 6 kills, and hit .214 in the match. Koelliker had another solid night distributing the ball with 42 assists.

Three Wolverine players finished with double-figures in digs. They were: Koelliker with 10, and Wallauer and Chelsea O'Neal finished with 13 a piece. Borghetti was one dig shy of a double-double as she recorded nine kills, to go along with her 10 kills.

"We need to learn from this, and make better choices," said Atoa. "I saw some good things that we can build on."

Borghetti Honored Two Weeks in a Row:
Senior right side hitter, Deise Borghetti was named to the Nike Portland Pilot Invitational All-Tournament team September 18th, and on September 11th 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).

Double Trouble:
Three different Wolverines have notched double-double performances this year, they are: Alina Wallauer with 6, Lacee Koelliker with 4, and Deise Borghetti with 3.

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.

Borghett, 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.

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:
UNLV: The Rebels open Mountain West Conference play Friday night against San Diego State, before taking on the Wolverines on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. (MST). UNLV is currently 5-4 overall, before Friday night's match against the Aztecs. The Rebels most recently went 2-1 in the Fresno State Invitational, sandwiching wins over UVSC's next opponent Oral Roberts and San Francisco, around a loss to Fresno State. UNLV is led offensively by two freshmen outside hitters and a sophomore middle blocker. The outsides are Lauren Miramontes (3.78 K/G) and Maria Aladjova (3.75 K/G), and the middle is Brittani Lumsden (3.17 K/G). All-time UNLV assist leader, Nicki King, compliments the Rebel hitters. King should end her career at UNLV with close to 4,400 assists.

Up Next:
The Wolverines continue their current nine game road swing with one more away game at Oral Roberts on Wednesday, September 29th before returning home for their second home game this season. First serve against ORU is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. (MST).