Softball team has Mountain West title expectations as season begins

“Absolutely not,” she said. “It happened two years ago and it still hasn’t hit me. I never expected that to happen, but when you put in the work, the results will come. That’s my motto.”

Blando and her Rebel teammates have put in the work the past three years under coach Lisa Dodd and they all hope the results will come this season in the form of a Mountain West title.

“The year before I got here, they won three games in the conference. We started at the bottom and have worked really hard to build it up,” said Dodd, the fourth-year UNLV coach who as a player helped lead UCLA to the 2004 national title. “We’ve improved every year a little bit and I think we’re finally at the point where the expectations are raised. We fully expect to win the Mountain West. We’ve got some good competition but that is the goal.”

UNLV, which went 25-30 last year and finished fifth in the MW, will open its 2016 season Thursday at home against Texas Tech in its opener of the Sportco Kick Off Classic at Eller Media Stadium. The Rebels will play six games in five days to start their quest for a conference crown.

“My No. 1 goal is getting a Mountain West championship ring,” Blando said. “The team’s looking great. We’re moving in the right direction, the team is coming together well and we’re working hard.”

The Rebels rely on Blando to ignite their offense from the leadoff spot, but they’ll have to kickstart their season without their leader as she’s expected to be sidelined for a week or two as she recovers from minor arthroscopic knee surgery.

“I should be back in a couple of weeks,” Blando said Friday.

Blando, from Chino Hills, Calif., batted .469 in MW action and .412 overall in 2014 en route to earning Player of the Year honors. She followed that up last season by leading UNLV in virtually every offensive category, including batting average (.389), home runs (15), RBIs (46), hits (70) and runs (55).

“She’s just a sparkplug for us. She sets the tone,” Dodd said. “She hits for both power and average. She has good speed, is aggressive on the bases and defensively is very solid. We want the ball hit to her when the game is on the line.

“She didn’t play much her freshman year and that sort of lit a fire under her. There’s been no contest for her ever since.”

Dodd is most impressed with Blando’s work ethic.

“That’s what makes her special. She plays hard every day and is always trying to get better,” she said. “She makes everybody better because of that.”

UNLV also will be led by seniors Alyssa Cordova, a second baseman who will start at shortstop until Blando returns; Emily Haslinger, who hit .310 with nine homers and 31 RBIs last season; and Francesca Foti, a local product from Liberty High School who hit .301 last season.

The Rebels also feature sophomore starting catcher Brooke Stover, a Palo Verde product, and have high expectations for freshmen Alyssa Batastini, from Reno, and Myranda Bueno.

UNLV returns its top two pitchers as well in juniors Kwyn Cooper (9-4, 4.32 ERA) and Morgan Ettinger (10-11, 4.69).

“We have a good nucleus of upperclassmen and good freshmen pushing everybody else,” Dodd said. “We’re moving in the right direction. It’s going to be a good year if we can get all the pieces to work together.”

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Four Rebels were honored as conference athletes of the week. UNLV senior Lucas James was named the Western Athletic Conference men’s Diver of the Week, freshman Aiwen Zhu was named the MW women’s tennis Player of the Week and senior AJ McInerney and sophomore John Oda were named the MW men’s Co-Golfers of the Week.

James won both diving events in the Rebels’ dual meet with Wyoming on Jan. 30 in Las Vegas. Zhu went a combined 5-0 in singles and doubles in UNLV’s victories over New Mexico State, Weber State and Pacific. McInerney and Oda each shot 8-under-par 208 to tie for individual medalist honors and lead the Rebels to the team title at the LMU Invitational at Lake Las Vegas’ Reflection Bay Golf Club. UNLV, which finished at 30-under-par 834, beat Saint Mary’s by 28 strokes.

10-YEAR OLD SIGNS

Henderson 10-year-old Jeremy Fjelsted, who has been diagnosed with leukemia, joined the UNLV men’s soccer team in a signing ceremony Friday at Peter Johann Memorial Field. The event, which took place in conjunction with Team IMPACT, was attended by Fjelsted’s family, Rebels coach Rich Ryerson and the UNLV players.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow him on Twitter: @tdewey33