Nov. 18, 1999
LAS VEGAS - The UNLV volleyball team will host its two final regular season matches this weekend. The Rebels will face Air Force on Friday, Nov. 19 and New Mexico on Saturday, Nov. 20. Both matches will be held at Lied Gymnasium (1,500) and begin at 7:00 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 19 Air Force at UNLV 7:00 p.m.
Match at Lied Gymnasium (1,500), Las Vegas, Nev.
Sat., Nov. 20 Wyoming at UNLV 7:00 p.m.
Match at Lied Gymnasium (1,500), Las Vegas, Nev.
THE OPPONENTS
Air Force (17-9, 5-7 MWC) has lost four of its last five matches and is currently in fourth place in the Mountain West Conference...AFA is coached by Penny Lucas-White who is in her fourth year at the school with a record of 35-77 and in her ninth year overall with a career mark of 130-156...The Falcons are led in kills by Brooke Effalnd (3.68), in digs by Effland (3.12), in blocks by Summer Koons (1.28) and in assists by Tharammony In (12.07).
New Mexico (9-20, 4-8 MWC) has won two of its last three matches and is currently in fifth place in the Mountain West Conference...UNM is coached by Laurel Brassey Iversen who is in her 15th year at the school with a career mark of 253-186...The Lobos are led in kills by Amber Smith (3.59), in digs by Smith (2.40), in blocks by Erika Sansoni (1.02) and in assists by Janelle Torres (9.29).
THE REBELS
UNLV (10-13, 2-10 MWC) started off the year with a best-ever record of 7-0...The Rebels are coming off a split on the Colorado State/Wyoming trip...UNLV recorded its biggest win of the season over then-No. 14 Colorado State (who was previously unbeaten on the season and is still its only loss) on Oct. 16...UNLV returned eight players and five starters from last year's squad that finished the season with an overall record of 23-8...The Rebels finished tied for second in the Western Athletic Conference's Mountain Division with a mark of 11-3 and lost in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament to then-No. 6 BYU...Head Coach Deitre Collins is in her fourth season and has a career record of 47-61...The Rebels are led in kills by Angie Sylvas with 3.91 per game, digs by Justine Kamelamela with 2.63 pg and blocks by Alicia Erickson with 1.23 per game.
NEW FACES
The Rebels welcomed the addition of six newcomers this season in Shannon Chase, a 5-9 freshman outside hitter/defensive specialist from Las Vegas, Nev., who transferred to UNLV from Colorado State (but didn't play intercollegiate volleyball there), Alicia Erickson, a 6-4 sophomore middle blocker from Las Vegas, Nev., who transferred from Washington State, Oge Fitz, a 5-10 sophomore outside hitter from San Jose, Calif., who transferred from Cal State Fullerton, Maria Julia Goes, a 5-9 sophomore setter from Sorocaba, Brazil, who transferred from National American University, Leiana Oswald, a 6-0 freshman middle blocker from Burnaby, B.C., and Robyn Shea a 5-10 junior setter from Salt Lake City, Utah, who transferred from Weber State.
REBEL RETURNERS
The Rebels returned eight players from last year's squad. Included in those eight are five seniors. The Rebels returned two all-conference players in second team All-WAC selections Angie Sylvas and Justine Kamelamela. Sylvas, a 5-11 senior outside hitter, was also selected to the All-WAC Tournament Team last season. She led the team in kills per game and digs per game last season. Kamelamela, a 6-0 junior outside hitter, was second on the team in kills per game and third in digs per game. Also returning were Christel Eves, a 5-10 senior middle blocker, Danielle Gerlach, a 6-0 senior outside hitter, Amber Graham, a 5-11 sophomore middle blocker, Jeanette Graves, a 6-1 senior outside hitter, Ana Ramos, a 5-4 junior defensive specialist, and Kendra Wilkinson, a 5-4 senior defensive specialist.
LAST WEEK
Last week, UNLV lost at No. 11 Colorado State 8-15, 8-15, 15-13, 4-15 and defeated Wyoming to snap a six-match losing streak 15-8, 10-15, 15-11, 15-6.
NEXT WEEK
UNLV will travel to Provo, Utah, next week to compete at the Mountain West Conference Tournament. The tournament will be held Wednesday, Nov. 24 through Saturday, Nov. 27 at BYU's Smith Fieldhouse. The seedings will be announced following this weekend's action. The tournament is single elimination.
SERIES HISTORY
UNLV leads the all-time series with Air Force 5-2. Air Force won the last meeting earlier this season in Colorado Springs, Colo., 9-15, 15-6, 17-15, 15-5. New Mexico leads the all-time series history with UNLV 3-1. New Mexico won the last meeting earlier this season in Albuquerque, N.M., 15-10, 15-11, 8-15, 15-7.
UNLV CHOSEN TO FINISH FOURTH IN MWC BY COACHES
The 1999 Mountain West Conference Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll predicted UNLV would finish fourth out of eight teams in the conference following the 1999 campaign. The following is the order that the MWC coaches predicted the conference will end up this season: Brigham Young, Colorado State, Utah, UNLV, Wyoming, New Mexico, San Diego State and Air Force.
UNLV RECEIVES VOTES IN PRESEASON POLL FOR FIRST TIME
For the first time in program history, the UNLV volleyball team opened a season after being mentioned in the USA Today/AVCA preseason national poll. UNLV received votes three separate weeks in 1998, but has never received prior mention in a preseason national poll. This year, the Rebels received one vote in the preseason poll. Topping the preseason poll was Penn State, followed closely by Stanford, Nebraska, Hawai'i and 1998 NCAA champion Long Beach State.
REBEL REWARDS
UNLV won the title of the Official All-Star Cafe/UNLV Volleyball Classic with a 3-0 mark. Senior Angie Sylvas was named MVP of the tournament, while senior Christel Eves and junior Robyn Shea were both named to the all-tournament team....UNLV was declared runner-up at the Maryland Tournament based on total games, even though both UNLV and Colorado State went 3-0 at the event. Junior Justine Kamelamela and sophomore Amber Graham were named to the all-tournament team...The Rebels took second place at the UNLV Invitational falling in the championship match to No. 19 USC in three games...Senior Jeanette Graves and sophomore Amber Graham were selected to the all-tournament team.
REBELS STARTED SEASON WITH BEST-EVER MARK
UNLV started the season with seven straight wins before dropping their first match of the year to No. 19 USC. The 7-0 record was UNLV's best start in program history. UNLV's previous best start was in 1979 and 1998, when the team started 5-0 both seasons.
EVES TIES REBEL MARK AT MARYLAND
Senior Christel Eves recorded 8 service aces against Maryland, which tied the Rebel record for most service aces in a match. In 1984, Debbie Brooks had 8 vs. UC San Diego.
REBEL DOUBLE-DOUBLES
This season, five Rebels have recorded a double-double in a match. Angie Sylvas has nine (21 kills, 17 digs vs. Louisville, 15 kills, 11 digs at Maryland, 18 kills, 12 digs vs. USC, 23 kills, 14 digs at UNR, 11 kills, 11 digs vs. Wyoming, 17 kills, 11 digs at UNM, 21 kills, 11 digs at SDSU, 10 kills, 18 digs at CSU, 26 kills, 14 digs at Wyoming), Justine Kamelamela has seven (16 kills, 13 digs vs. Louisville, 12 kills, 10 digs vs. Rutgers, 16 kills, 16 digs at Maryland, 11 kills, 19 digs vs. SDSU, 18 assists, 14 digs at UNM, 48 assists, 13 digs at AFA, 40 assists, 13 digs vs. Utah), Julia Goes has four (42 assists, 10 digs vs. Rutgers, 78 assists, 10 digs vs. UNR, 48 assists, 10 digs vs. SDSU, 45 assists, 13 digs at Wyoming), Jeanette Graves has three (12 kills, 11 digs vs. USC, 17 kills, 15 digs at SDSU, 13 kills, 10 digs vs. Utah), Danielle Gerlach has two (11 kills, 11 digs vs. Utah, 13 kill, 15 digs at Wyoming) and Christel Eves has one (10 kills, 15 digs vs. UNR).
REBEL 20-KILL CLUB
UNLV has had two players break the 20 kill barrier in a match this season...Angie Sylvas has done it five times with 23 kills at UNR, 21 kills vs. Louisville, 25 kills at Air Force, 21 kills at San Diego State and 26 kills at Wyoming...Jeanette Graves recorded a season-high 20 kills at Air Force.
COLLINS BECOMES REBEL VB'S ALL-TIME WINNINGEST COACH
With UNLV's win over Southern Illinois, head coach Deitre Collins became the program's all-time winningest coach. The win over SIU was her 40th with the program and it surpassed Karen Lamb, who compiled 39 wins from 1987-85. Collins currently has 46.
UNLV STRONG AT HOME
UNLV has now won 18 of its last 23 home matches at Lied Gymnasium. The Rebels won 15 straight at home dating back to the 1998 season before losing to USC this season. The Rebels were 13-1 at home during the 1998 season.
REBEL NOTES
UNLV had 17 service aces in its match at Maryland...That figure is only two off the UNLV record of 19 set at California in 1984...UNLV's next highest service ace total in a match this season is 11...Kendra Wilkinson recorded her first career kill at UNR...Wilkinson is a senior...The Rebels had five players record double figures in kills at UNR...UNLV had a season-high hitting percentage vs. New Orleans of .391...The Rebels have also recorded the following season-high totals for a match: 86 kills at UNR, 203 attacks at UNR, 81 assists at UNR, 82 digs vs. Louisville, 21.0 total blocks at SDSU...Jeanette Graves and Amber Graham both hit .643 against New Orleans (10 kills, 1 error, 14 attacks)...UNLV defeated then-No. 14 Colorado State for its first victory against a ranked team in six tries this season and it is CSU's only loss of the season.
HEAD COACH DEITRE COLLINS
Head coach Deitre Collins is now in her fourth year at UNLV. Collins, who is a former member of the U.S. National Team and a three-time NCAA All-American middle blocker at Hawai'i, led UNLV to a 23-8 record in 1998. The team advanced to the semifinals of the WAC Tournament and recorded its best-ever win percentage for a season. For her efforts, Collins was honored with the 1998 WAC Mountain Division Co-Coach of the Year award. Before being named head coach of the 15th intercollegiate athletics program at UNLV on July 10, 1995, she served as an assistant at the University of South Alabama for one season (1994). Prior to that, she was an assistant at Houston (1993) and Northern Arizona (1993-94). Collins, who is the fourth coach in the history of Rebel volleyball, graduated from Hawai'i in 1995 with a bachelor of arts degree in broadcast communications. She was the first-ever volleyball player to be named the Broderick Cup recipient, earning the award as the best female collegiate athlete in 1983. Last season, Long Beach State's Misty May became the second. Collins also is a two-time Broderick Award honoree, being named the best collegiate volleyball player for the seasons of 1982 and 1983. Those same years, she led the Rainbow Wahine to consecutive NCAA championships as well as a record of 110-5 in her final three seasons. She is UNLV volleyball's all-time winningest coach by wins and her career head coaching record is 47-61.
ASSISTANT COACH KEVIN HAMBLY
Kevin Hambly (BYU, '98) is in his third year as assistant coach at UNLV. He is a former Brigham Young standout volleyball player, playing for the Cougars from 1992-95. The starting middle blocker from 1993-95, Hambly was a first-team All-American in 1995. He was the head coach of Highline, a men's club team in Northridge, Calif., prior to joining the Rebel coaching staff.
ASSISTANT COACH CARRIE PENFIELD-HALVORSEN
Carrie Penfield-Halvorsen (Arizona '98) is in her first season as assistant coach at UNLV. Penfield-Havorsen came to UNLV from the U.S. National Team where she played from January to April, 1998. At Arizona, she was All-Pac-10 her senior season.
DIR. OF VOLLEYBALL KEE WILLIAMS
Kee Williams (Hawai'i '95) is in her second year with UNLV. Williams came to UNLV from the U.S. National Team where she was training before suffering a career-ending injury. A star at Hawai'i from 1990-94, she was a first-team All-American selection and a three-time All-Big West Conference honoree.
LAST YEAR
In only its third season back on campus after an 11-year hiatus, the 1998 UNLV volleyball team finished the season 23-8 and recorded its best winning percentage for a season in program history. The team finished second in the WAC's Mountain Division with an 11-3 mark. The team, which qualified for its second WAC Tournament, recorded its first-ever postseason win over Utah and advanced to the semifinals falling to No. 6 Brigham Young. Head Coach Deitre Collins was named the WAC's Mountain Division Co-Coach of the Year. The team eclipsed its win total of the year before of nine in only its 13th match of the season and set the record for most consecutive wins with 10 at one point during the year. UNLV was dominant at home, going 13-1 at the Lied Gymnasium.
LAST YEAR'S INDIVIDUAL ACCOLADES
UNLV had three players named to the All-WAC team in 1998. Meri-de Boyer, who has graduated, was UNLV's first-ever first team All-WAC member, while Angie Sylvas and Justine Kamelamela were both selected to the second team. Sylvas was also named to the All-WAC Tournament Team, which made her the first Rebel ever to be named to that team. Christel Eves, Boyer and Kamelamela were all named WAC Player of the Week at one point during the season. Kamelamela was named to the all-tournament team of the Carolina Classic, the Official All-Star Cafe/UNLV Volleyball Classic and the Nanook Classic. Eves was on the all-tournament team at the Carolina Classic. Sylvas was named MVP of the Nanook Classic, while Boyer was named all-tournament at the Nanook Classic.
