The Wolf Pack women’s basketball team won 18 games last season, the most wins in a single season in eight years. The softball team won the Western Athletic Conference regular season championship, advanced to the championship of the NCAA Regionals and Coach Michelle Gardner was named WAC Coach of the Year. The two programs exemplify the success of Wolf Pack athletics this past year, and next year promises to be just as exciting.

Nevada has put together a special athletics season pass called the Employee Pack Pass. A regular season pass has a value of more than $2,000. The Employee Pack Pass is offered to University part-time and full-time faculty and staff for only $250 (one pass per employee) until Aug. 22.

“This package is a way for the University of Nevada Athletics Department to say ‘thank you,’” said Meredith Montoya, director of group and season ticket sales. “As a way to thank the faculty and staff for their hard work, we want them to bring friends and family to support our student-athletes.”

The pass includes four admission tickets to many of the University’s 2008-2009 Wolf Pack home games and matches including baseball and football as well as women’s basketball, softball, volleyball and soccer.

“We are more than just football and men’s basketball,” Montoya said. “When we have more people at the events it is more exciting, especially in the sports where we don’t get as many fans. (The pass) gives University faculty a chance to come to support some of the student-athletes that they teach, and it gets them out to see teams they may not have thought to watch play.”

The Employee Pack Pass began in 2005. Now it extends to the faculty and staff of Truckee Meadows Community College, Desert Research Institute, Western Nevada College and Washoe County School District employees.

The Wolf Pack’s 2008 football season is one of the next opportunities for people to use the Pack Pass. The season kicks off Saturday, Aug. 30 at Mackay Stadium against Grambling State. The schedule also features five other home games against Texas Tech, New Mexico State, Utah State, San Jose State and Boise State.

Season tickets for this football season range from $95 to $125, and sales for some areas of the stadium will require seat donations; however, students who graduated in December 2007 or in May or August 2008 have the opportunity to purchase two-for-one football tickets.

“We want to congratulate all of the University’s graduates and give them an opportunity to continue to be a part of the special experience that is Wolf Pack football at Mackay Stadium,” Nevada Athletics Director Cary Groth said.

Women’s soccer begins Nevada’s home athletics season this fall. The Wolf Pack hosts UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. Aug. 22 at Mackay Stadium.

Call the Link Piazzo Ticket Office at Legacy Hall at (775) 348-PACK (7225) or stop by in person. A special season ticket application for graduates is available online at the Wolf Pack web site.

To purchase an Employee Pack Pass, interested faculty and staff can contact Montoya at mmontoya@unr.edu or at (775) 682-6905.