August 4, 1998
LAS VEGAS - UNLV was picked to finish in fourth place this season in the Western Athletic Conference volleyball coaches' preseason poll released by the league Tuesday.
The Rebels, who finished seventh last year with a 9-18 overall record and 2-12 in the conference, received 72 points, which was four less than third-place choice SMU, in the eight-team Mountain Division.
1997 WAC runner-up Colorado State, with 13 of the possible 16 first-place votes, was the favorite to win the Mountain Division. The Rams were followed by Wyoming (three first-place votes), SMU, UNLV, TCU, Rice, Tulsa and Air Force.
In the Pacific Division, defending WAC Champion Brigham Young received 13 first-place votes. BYU was followed by Hawai'i (three first-place votes), Utah, Fresno State, San Diego State, New Mexico, San Jose State and UTEP.
In other UNLV volleyball news, Rebel Head Coach Deitre Collins directed the United States Junior National Volleyball Team to the gold medal at the NORCECA (North America, Central America and Caribbean) Zonal Championships held last month in Cuernavaca, Mexico. With the victory, the team qualified to participate in the World Championships next year in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic. Collins was asked to remain as the team's head coach for next year.
UNLV opens its volleyball season on the road in Fairbanks, Alaska, Sept. 3-5 at the Nanook Classic against Iowa State, Alaska Fairbanks and Duke. The team's first home match will be Friday, Sept. 11 vs. Youngstown State in the Official All-Star Cafe/UNLV Volleyball Classic.
1998 WAC VOLLEYBALL COACHES' PRESEASON POLLPacific Division Mountain DivisionBrigham Young (13) 118 Colorado State (13) 117Hawai'i (3) 105 Wyoming (3) 108Utah 88 SMU 76Fresno State 73 UNLV 72San Diego State 72 TCU 63New Mexico 49 Rice 59San Jose State 37 Tulsa 47UTEP 26 Air Force 22
1998 WAC ChampionBrigham Young (13)Hawai'i (3)
