UNLV roundup: Ban, men’s golf team maintain lead

UNLV senior Shintaro Ban shot 4-under-par 68 for an 11-under 133 total and a three-stroke lead, helping the Rebels pace the 20-team John Burns Intercollegiate at 21-under 555 after two rounds in Lihue, Hawaii.

Junior Harry Hall is tied for fourth in the 122-player field at 6-under 138, freshmen Jack Trent and Garrick Higgo are tied for 20th at 2-under 142, and sophomore Justin Kim is tied for 63rd at 5-over 149.

Sophomore Justin Chong, competing as an individual, is tied for 101st at 10-over 154.

Texas A&M remains in second place, six strokes behind UNLV at 561, followed by Arizona (566), North Carolina (567) and Brigham Young (570). Virginia (571) is sixth and Utah (572) seventh.

SOFTBALL

At Eller Media Stadium, freshman Samantha Diaz hit a tying three-run homer in the seventh inning, and Brooke Stover hit a walk-off RBI single in the eighth to rally the Rebels to a 6-5 win over Buffalo in the Marucci Desert Classic.

In UNLV’s first game, Justine Federe hit a two-run double in the Rebels’ four-run second in their 5-3 win over Idaho State.

Against Buffalo (1-4), Federe went 2-for-3 and scored twice, and Myranda Bueno went 2-for-4 for the Rebels (6-1), who matched the Bulls’ seven hits.

Ufuoma Ogagan had a home run and a double for Buffalo.

UNLV was outhit 8-5 by Idaho State (0-2), but the Bengals committed four errors.

Emma Bordenkecher and Cassidy FitzGerald homered for Idaho State, and Haley Harrison and Genesis Zamora each went 2-for-3 with a double.

BASEBALL

At Wilson Stadium, Bryson Stott hit a one-out triple in the 10th inning and scored on Dillon Johnson’s bunt single to rally the Rebels to a 5-4 win over Indiana State in the Marucci Desert Classic in both teams’ season opener.

Stott, who finished 3-for-5, doubled and scored ahead of Kyle Isbel’s tying two-run homer in the eighth.

Isbel and Nick Ames each went 2-for-4, with Ames hitting a home run and a double.

Grant Robbins went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI for UNLV (1-0), which held a 12-10 edge in hits.

Chris Ayers went 3-for-3 for the Sycamores (0-1), who led 4-1 in the middle of the seventh.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

At Fertitta Tennis Complex, Aiwen Zhu, En-Pei Huang and Anna Bogoslavets each posted a straight-sets singles win and contributed to a doubles victory in leading the Rebels (7-3) to a 4-1 triumph over Arizona (6-2).

Zhu, ranked No. 63 nationally, improved to 8-0 in duals with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Devin Chypyha at No. 1 singles and improved to 18-4 in doubles while teaming with Huang for a 6-0 win over Chypyha and Camila Wesbrooks at No. 1.

Huang fell behind Wesbrooks 4-1 at No. 3 singles before storming back for a 7-6, 6-0 match-clinching victory.

Bogoslavets downed Talya Zandberg 6-1, 6-4 at No. 4 singles and teamed with Samantha Li for a 6-3 victory over Zandberg and Mary Lewis at No. 2 doubles.

MEN’S TENNIS

At Fertitta Tennis Complex, Alexandr Cozbinov and Eric Samuelsson each notched a straight-sets singles win and were part of a doubles victory for the Rebels (4-4) in their 4-3 loss to San Diego State (1-6) in both teams’ Mountain West opener.

Cozbinov downed Santiago Cevallos 6-3, 6-4 at No. 1 singles and teamed with Courtney Lock for a 6-4 win over Nicholas Mitchell and Sander Anderson at No. 1 doubles.

Samuelsson defeated Joel Popov 6-1, 7-5 at No. 4 singles and teamed with Clayton Alenik to beat Popov and Arnaud Restifo 6-3 at No. 2 doubles.

The Rebels lost two three-set singles matches, with Lock falling 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Anderson at No. 3 and Richard Solberg bowing 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to Rafael Gonzalez Almazan at No. 5.

WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING

At San Antonio, sophomore Sofia Carnevale won the 100-yard breaststroke in a program-record 59.87 seconds, helping the Rebels hold on to sixth place in heading into the final day of the 10-team Mountain West Championships.

Carnevale, Kyndal Phillips, Katsiaryna Afanasyeva and Sydney Schuette placed third in the 400 medley relay in 3 minutes, 36.77 seconds — the second-fastest time in program history.

Afanasyeva placed seventh in the 100 butterfly in 53.93 seconds, the fourth-fastest time in program history.

Boise State leads the team competition with 817 points, followed by UNR (736.5), San Diego state (734.5), Wyoming (657) and Colorado State (493) in the top five.

UNLV (446.5) is next, followed by New Mexico (435.5), Air Force (405), San Jose State (397) and Fresno State (382).

VOLLEYBALL

Melody Nua, who played with the Rebels from 2005 to 2008 and is the program’s leader in assists, was hired as an assistant coach. She has coached at the high school, club and collegiate levels, most recently as a Loyola Marymount assistant.

Nua lettered all four seasons at UNLV and was a two-time All-Mountain West selection, helping the Rebels win the 2007 league title.