November 25, 1998
LAS VEGAS - Led by junior Angie Sylvas' mtach-high 13 kills, the UNLV volleyball team defeated Utah 16-14, 15-12, 15-9 in a Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament quarterfinal match Wednesday at MGM Grand Garden.
With the win, UNLV (23-7), the WAC Mountain Division's No. 2-seed, will face Brigham Young, the Pacific Division's No. 1-seed on Friday, Nov. 27 at 7:00 p.m. PST on Fox Sports Net. BYU defeated Wyoming 15-13, 15-5, 15-3 on Wednesday in a quarterfinal match.
"We are very excited about the win," UNLV Head Coach Deitre Collins said following the match. "Coming in, one accomplishment we wanted to achieve was to get in the top four of the conference. It was big for us to accomplish that."
The win was UNLV's first-ever postseason victory and marks the first time the Rebels have defeated Utah in five tries. UNLV has won its last four matches and has matched its highest-ever win total of 23, which was set in 1984.
"Two years ago we had a poor showing in the tournament against Utah, so it was a real good step for our program to be able to come in here and compete," Collins said."
The Rebels were assisted in the win by junior Danielle Gerlach's match-high-tying 11 digs. Senior Meri-de Boyer recorded 39 assists and 10 digs for UNLV.
Utah, the Pacific Division's No. 3-seed, fell to 20-9 and was led by senior Sara Shakula's 11 kills. Sophomore Brooke Barton recorded 11 digs for the Utes.
Utah recorded 47 kills to UNLV's 46, while the Rebels out-dug Utah 50-44. Both teams recorded 45 assists, while UNLV recorded a .192 hitting percentage to Utah's .140.
In game one, UNLV jumped out to a 12-2 advantage on 10-straight points off sophmore Ana Ramos' serve. Utah crept back into the game, eventually taking the lead at 13-12. UNLV remained tough, however, and scored the final three points of the game.
"We knew Utah is a real good team," Collins said. "A 12-2 lead doesn't mean anything. They started playing and we got a little nervous. We called a timeout and tried to concentrate on serving and passing, the things that we stress as being most important."
UNLV led 13-9 in the second game when Utah battled back to cut the advantage to 13-12. UNLV scored the final two points, highlighted by Sylvas' final kill to take the game.
Trailing 4-3 in the third game, UNLV went on a 4-0 run and increased its advantage to 10-5. Utah cut it to 10-8, but the Rebels scored five of the final six points of the match.
