Coach hopes home is sweet for soccer team

Thursday, Sept. 23, 1999 | 12:02 p.m.

UNLV women's soccer coach Staci Hendershott is hoping Tuesday's 3-2 victory over Cal State Fullerton set the tone for the remainder of the Rebels' three-game home stand.

The Rebels snapped a three-match losing streak with the victory, which gave Hendershott reason for optimism heading into games this weekend against Long Beach State (Friday at 7 p.m.) and Cal State Northridge (Sunday at 7 p.m.) at Johann Field.

"It's nice to be back at home after five games on the road," Hendershott said. "We found a lot of our chemistry (Tuesday) night and we had people who were really hungry to score.

"We've been doing a great job with our buildup, now we're just working on that final third, on finishing our shots. We did a good job on that final third against Fullerton and hopefully we can build on that in these next two games."

Hendershott said moving Anita Pedford into a more prominent role on offense, where she led the Rebels in scoring and was the Western Athletic Conference's Freshman of the Year last season, was an attempt to provide a boost to an offense that had been shut out in four straight matches before scoring three goals Tuesday.

"I was playing Anita Pedford in the back because I wanted us to be stronger defensively," Hendershott said. "But I'm starting her back up top because we were just missing some of the offensive spark."

Hendershott said she is confident the Rebels can improve on the 8-10-1 record they posted in the program's first season last year.

"We wanted to be above .500 this year and I think with our schedule, that we definitely should be able to do that," she said. "One of our other goals is to be in the top end of the Mountain West Conference.

"I think we're starting to get our chemistry, and if we continue on this pace, we'll be OK."

Sophomore Janae Sims leads the Rebels (3-3-1) with three goals while freshman Cosette Joffs and sophomore Breanna Seaton each have scored twice.

* VOLLEYBALL: The Rebels (7-1) will face their second nationally ranked team in a week when they travel to No. 10 Pepperdine tonight for a nonconference match.

UNLV started the season with seven straight wins before falling to No. 19 USC last Saturday in the UNLV Invitational.

* MEN'S SOCCER: After playing six straight home matches, the Rebels begin a four-match road swing this weekend at the UNM Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M.

UNLV (3-4) will take on Air Force Friday and Centenary Sunday in the tournament at the University of New Mexico Soccer Complex.

The Rebels will play at Vanderbilt and Western Kentucky next weekend before returning home Oct. 15 to play UCLA.

* CROSS COUNTRY: Sharlene Downing will return to the lineup Saturday when the Rebels compete in the Sundodger Invitational in Seattle.

Downing, the Rebels' No. 2 runner last year as a junior, missed UNLV's first two meets this season because of an injury. Senior Stephanie Davidson has posted the Rebels' top finishes in each of the first two meets.