October 26, 1998
UNLV TRAVELS TO UC IRVINE, AIR FORCE -
Rebels continue on the road with nonconference match vs. Anteaters, then start second half of WAC season vs. Falcons.
The UNLV volleyball team, which lost two critical WAC matches last weekend on the road at Wyoming and Colorado State will try to rebound this week as it continues on the road. The Rebels will travel to Irvine, Calif., for a nonconference match vs. UC Irvine on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at Crawford Hall at 7:00 p.m. PST. UNLV will then travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., to start the second half of the WAC season and face Air Force on Friday, Oct. 30 at East Gym 7:00 p.m. MST.
1998 UNLV Volleyball Results
Record: 16-5
Home: 9-1
WAC: 5-2
Away: 3-3
Vs. Top 25: 1-0
Neutral: 4-1
THE OPPONENTS -
UC IRVINE (7-17, 3-7 BIG WEST) lost last week at Boise State 3-1 and at Idaho 3-0...The Anteaters are led by sophomore Larissa Carter who is averaging 3.01 kills per game...Sophomore Teri Zartman is leading the team in assists with 9.89 per game...Head Coach Merja Connolly is in her third year at UCI with a record of 20-62...She is in her fifth year as a head coach with a career record of 56-83.
AIR FORCE (8-11, 1-6 WAC) lost last week at Colorado State 3-0 and Wyoming 3-0...The Falcons are in the midst of a three-match losing streak and recorded their only WAC win of the year vs. TCU 3-0...Air Force currently sits in a three-way tie for sixth place in the WAC's Mountain Division...Air Force is led by junior Brooke Effland who is averaging 3.21 kills per game and 2.70 digs per game...Freshman Kylie Adams is leading the team with 8.94 assists per game...Head Coach Penny Lucas-White is in her third year at Air Force with a record of 17-65...She is in her eighth year as a head coach with a career record of 112-142.
THE REBELS -
UNLV (16-5, 5-2 WAC) had its program-record 10-match win streak snapped with it loss at Wyoming 3-1 on Friday night...The following night the Rebels lost at Colorado State 3-1...The Rebels currently sit all alone in third place in the WAC's Mountain Division...UNLV is led by sophomore Justine Kamelamela who is fifth in the WAC in kills per game with 4.18...Junior Angie Sylvas leads the team in digs and is ninth in the WAC with 2.86 per game...Senior Meri-de Boyer is second in the WAC in assists with 13.76 per game...The Rebels return nine players and four starters from last year's squad that finished the season with an overall record of 9-18...The Rebels finished seventh in the Western Athletic Conference's Mountain Division with a mark of 2-12...Head Coach Deitre Collins is in her third season and has a career record of 30-45.
USA TODAY/AVCA TOP 25 POLL
Poll No. 7, Oct. 19
Rank Team Pts Rec. Lst Wk 1 Lng Bch St (38) 1477 18-0 1 2 Penn State (21) 1456 18-0 2 3 Nebraska (1) 1387 16-0 3 4 BYU 1308 17-1 5 5 Wisconsin 1235 17-2 6 6 Stanford 1186 14-2 7 7 UCSB 1144 18-2 4 8 Florida 1083 17-2 9 9 Hawaii 995 13-2 10 10 Pacific 928 15-3 11 11 USC 925 12-4 8 12 Texas 864 13-3 13 13 Colorado 785 13-2 12 14 Arkansas 704 14-3 14 15 Texas A&M 643 12-4 15 16 L. Marymount 556 14-4 17 17 Arizona 512 16-2 19 18 Illinois 510 13-5 18 19 San Diego 431 15-3 16 20 Louisville 368 16-2 20 21 Michigan State 299 12-4 22 22 Kansas State 227 12-5 23 23 Ohio State 185 10-7 21 24 Minnesota 132 14-5 25 25 UCLA 49 7-9 N/R
Others receiving points: North Carolina (43), Colorado State (12),Miami, Ohio (10), Texas Tech (10), Washington State (9), Eastern Washington (7),Cal Poly SLO (4), South Carolina (3), Florida State (2), Michigan (2), Cincinnati (1),Fairfield (1), Fresno State (1), Illinois State (1), Northern Illinois (1),Northern Iowa (1), Oral Roberts (1), Santa Clara (1), Wake Forest (1).
1998 WAC TOURNAMENT
The 1998 WAC Tournament makes its return to Las Vegas after a successful 1997 event. The tournament will be held Tuesday-Saturday, Nov. 24-28, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The top six teams from each division will participate in the four-round tournament, with matches every day except Thanksgiving (Nov. 26). The MGM Grand Hotel will serve as the tournament headquarters. Ticket prices are $30 for an all-session pass (11 matches) or $8 per single session (six total sessions). Tickets may be purchased by calling 1-800-929-1111.
LAST YEAR -
The 1997 UNLV volleyball team opened the season with a best-ever start of 7-1...After suffering some critical injuries the team struggled and finished with an overall record of 9-18 and seventh in the WAC's Mountain Divison with a 2-14 mark, failing to make the conference tournament.
IN ONLY ITS THIRD YEAR -
This is UNLV's third season with volleyball since the program was restarted in '96 after 11 years off.
WYOMING SNAPS UNLV'S WIN STREAK -
Cowgirls hand Rebels first WAC loss.
LARAMIE, Wyo. (10/23)--Led by junior Jessica Zehr's double-double of 14 kills and 13 digs, Wyoming defeated the UNLV volleyball team 15-10, 15-5, 8-15, 15-7 in a Western Athletic Conference match Friday at MultiPurpose Gym.
The loss was the first for the Rebels in their last 11 matches, snapping their program record 10-match win streak. It also marks the first WAC loss for UNLV (16-4, 5-1 WAC) this season.
Wyoming (10-9, 5-1 WAC) was assisted in the win by senior Jami Laya who recorded a match-high 25 digs.
UNLV was led by sophomore Justine Kamelamela's match-high 19 kills and team-high tying 10 digs. Freshman Nora Bernson added 10 digs as well, while juniors Christel Eves and Jeanette Graves each had 11 kills.
The Cowgirls out-hit the Rebels .181 to .109 for the match and recorded 78 digs to UNLV's 54. UNLV recorded 60 kills to UW's 52.
After jumping out to a 7-3 advantage, the Rebels struggled allowing Wyoming six-straight points and only managed three for the remainder of the game.
Wyoming held a 4-0 lead when UNLV cut it to 4-3, but from that point on it was all Cowgirls, outscoring the Rebels 11-2 the rest of the way. UW held a 4-3 advantage in game three when the Rebels went on a 5-0 run. After Wyoming scored two points, UNLV increased its lead to 12-6, eventually taking the game to force a fourth.
The Cowgirls jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the fourth game and increased their advantage to 12-1 before UNLV battled back to cut the score to 12-6. The Cowgirls, however pulled away from there to win the game 15-7 and the match 3-1.
UNLV FALLS TO COLORADO STATE -
Rams take control of WAC's Mountain Division with win over Rebels.
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (10/24)--Led by freshman Angela Knopf's match-high 22 kills, Colorado State defeated the UNLV volleyball team 15-17, 15-10, 17-15, 15-8 in a Western Athletic Conference match Saturday at Moby Arena.
With the win Colorado State (17-4, 7-0 WAC) remained perfect in WAC play and in first place. The Rams were assisted by junior Catie Vagneur's 21 kills and match-high 19 digs. Knopf also added a double-double with 11 digs.
UNLV (16-5, 5-2 WAC) was led by freshman Amber Graham's career-high 19 kills. Junior Angie Sylvas added 19 kills as well with 13 digs. Senior Meri-de Boyer had a match-high 53 assists and 13 digs.
The Rams out-hit the Rebels .237 to .187 for the match and recorded 71 digs to UNLV's 63. UNLV recorded 80 kills to CSU's 77.
Trailing 4-3 in the first game, UNLV scored five-straight points on sophomore Ana Ramos' serve and increased its advantage to 10-5 before Colorado State fought its way back eventually tying the score at 12-12. It was a see-saw battle from there as the Rebels outlasted the Rams 17-15.
In the second game neither team led by more than two points as they fought to a 10-10 tie. CSU pulled away from there scoring the final five points of the game to even the match up at one game apiece.
UNLV led 11-4 in the third game before CSU scored six of the next seven points to cut the Rebels' lead to two. UNLV then increased its advantage to 14-10 but CSU tied it up at 14-14 and eventually won 17-15 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
CSU jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the fourth game. UNLV cut it to 5-3, but the Rams scored nine of the next 10 points to take a 14-4 advantage. UNLV scored four points to cut it to 14-8, however the Rams scored after that to win the match 3-1.
NEXT WEEK -
UNLV will be back at home next week as it hosts Tulsa on Friday, Nov. 6, and Rice on Saturday, Nov. 7 in two WAC matches. Both matches will be held at Lied Gymasnium at 7:00 p.m. PST.
REBELS EXCEED LAST YEAR'S WIN TOTAL -
With its win over Nevada, Reno, UNLV won its 10th match of the season in only its 13th try...Last season the Rebels won nine matches total, while losing 18.
UNLV ON PACE TO HAVE RECORD-SETTING YEAR -
UNLV's current win percentage is .762. The best winning percentage a Rebel volleyball team has ever recorded was .588 in 1978 when the squad went 10-7. The most wins a UNLV volleyball team has had was 23 in 1984 when the team was 23-17. The Rebels would need to win the remainder of their matches to exceed that total.
REBELS SET RECORD FOR CONSECUTIVE WINS -
With its win over TCU, UNLV won its 10th match in a row, which set the program record for most consecutive vicories. The old mark was seven-in-a-row set in 1984. The Rebels had their streak snapped with the loss at Wyoming.
UNLV EXCEEDS WIN TOTAL OF LAST TWO YEARS COMBINED -
With their 15th win of the season vs. SMU, the Rebels exceeded their win total of the last two years combined. UNLV won five matches in 1996, its first season after 11 years off, and won nine matches in 1997.
UNLV EXCEEDS LAST YEAR'S CONFERENCE WIN TOTAL -
The win at Tulsa was UNLV's third conference victory of the season. That exceeds last year's total of two as UNLV was 2-14 in WAC play. UNLV also matched its win total in conference play of the last two years combined with its win over SMU. UNLV won three WAC matches in 1996 and two in 1997.
SERIES HISTORY -
UNLV leads the all-time series with UC irvine in volleyball 4-2. The first meeting was in 1984 and the last was last season. UNLV leads the all-time series with Air Force 4-1. The first meeting was in 1996 and the last was earlier this season.
THE LAST TIME -
UNLV defeated UC Irvine in Las Vegas on Sept. 5, 1997 the last time the two met 15-7, 15-10, 10-10. UNLV defeated Air Force earlier this month on Oct. 3 in Las Vegas the last time the two met 15-3, 15-6, 15-7.
HEAD COACH DEITRE COLLINS -
Head Coach Deitre Collins (Hawai'i, '95) is in her third season at UNLV. A former member of the U.S. National Team and a three-time NCAA All-American middle blocker at Hawai'i, Collins, led her first Rebel team to a 1996 WAC Tournament berth and this past summer led the U.S. Junior National Team to a gold medal performance at the NORCECA Zonal Championships, qualifying the team for the junior world championships in 1999.
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). The fourth coach in the history of Rebel volleyball, Collins is the only volleyball player ever to be named the Broderick Cup recipient, earning the award as the best collegiate athlete in 1983.
She also is a two-time Broderick Award honoree, being named the best collegiate volleyball player in 1983 and 1984. In 1982 and 1983, she led the Rainbow Wahine to consecutive NCAA Championships as well as a record of 110-5 in her final three seasons. Her career head coaching record is 30-45.
ASSISTANT COACH KEVIN HAMBLY -
Kevin Hambly (BYU, '98) is in his second 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 KEE WILLIAMS -
Kee Williams (Hawai'i '95) was named to the UNLV coaching staff this past summer. Williams, in her first year, 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.
TWO REBELS EARN WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS -
Senior Meri-de Boyer was named the Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the Mountain Division on Oct. 19. It marked the second time this season a UNLV volleyball player has received the honor and the third time in the program's history. Boyer led the Rebels to a 2-0 record during the week with wins against SMU and TCU. Against TCU, she recorded a triple-double with 55 assists, 10 digs and 11 block assists. Her block assists tied a single-match school record. She also added eight kills with only one error in 15 attempts for a .467 hitting percentage. Against SMU, she notched 70 assists with 13 digs.
Sophomore Justine Kamelamela received the same honor on Sept. 28. Kamelamela led the Rebels to a 2-0 record that week with wins against Utah State and San Diego State. Against Utah State, she had a match-high 14 kills, with only two errors on 28 attempts for a .429 hitting percentage. She also added 10 digs and four total blocks in the match. Against San Diego State, she hit .375 (15-3-32) along with five digs, one assist and one service ace.
MORE REBEL HONORS -
Sophomore Justine Kamelamela and junior Christel Eves were both named to the all-tournament team of the Carolina Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C....Kamelamela was named to the all-tournament team of the Official All-Star Cafe/UNLV Volleyball Classic in Las Vegas...Junior Angie Sylvas was named tournament MVP of the Nanook Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska...Senior Meri-de Boyer Kamelamela were both selected to that all-tournament team.
REBEL RECORDS SET -
UNLV set four team records vs. Southwest Texas State...They are most kills in a match (102), most attack attempts in a match (254), most assists in a match (89) and most digs in a match (96)...Angie Sylvas set the UNLV individual record for most attack attempts in a match with 75 vs. Southwest Texas State...Against TCU Meri-de Boyer tied the record for most block assists in a match with 11.
DOUBLE-TROUBLE -
So far this season four Rebels have recorded double-doubles...senior Meri-de Boyer has 10 in assists and digs, sophomore Justine Kamelamela has 11 in kills and digs, junior Angie Sylvas has nine in kills and digs, and junior Christel Eves has three in kills and digs.
TRIPLE-DOUBLE - Senior Meri-de Boyer recorded the team's first triple-double of the season when she had 55 assists, 11 block assists and 10 digs vs. TCU.
CAREER HIGHS SET -
UNLV players are putting up some impressive numbers this season and have added to their career highs...Meri-de Boyer had 11 block assists vs. TCU...Christel Eves had 16 kills vs. Idaho, five service aces vs. Fresno State, nine block assists, and tied her career-high three times with 11 digs vs. New Mexico State, George Mason and San Diego State...Danielle Gerlach had 15 kills vs. SWT...Justine Kamelamela had 29 kills at Rice and 16 digs vs. Duke...Keala Nihipali had 19 digs vs. SWT and 10 assists vs. Air Force...Michele Peoples had 11 kills vs. SWT...Ana Ramos recorded 19 digs vs. Southwest Texas State...Angie Sylvas had 27 kills vs. SWT.
NEWCOMERS STANDOUT -
Freshman Nora Bernson turned in a solid performance recording 11 digs and nine kills in the victory over Iowa State and added 14 kills vs. Youngstown State and 12 kills vs. Cincinnati...Sophomore Keala Nihipali has had four games with double figures in digs including a career-high 19 digs vs. SWT...Junior Jeanette Graves was impressive vs. Duke, recording 14 kills and seven digs before recording a career-high 20 kills vs. Cincinnati...Freshman Amber Graham recorded 12 kills vs. SWT and 13 kills vs. SMU before recording a career-high 19 kills at Colorado State.
LEADERS OF THE WAC -
The Rebels are second in the WAC in kills with 17.32 per game, third in assists (15.23), fifth in service aces (1.71), seventh in hitting efficiency (.223) and eighth in digs (15.42)...Individually Meri-de Boyer, Christel Eves, Amber Graham, Justine Kamelamela and Angie Sylvas are all among the WAC leaders...Boyer is second in the WAC in assists with 13.76 per game...Eves is ninth in hitting efficiency at .350...Graham is 15th in hitting efficiency at .307...Kamelamela is fifth in kills with 4.18 per game...Sylvas is fourth in service aces with 0.43 per game, is eighth in kils with 3.96 per game, and ninth in digs with 2.86 per game.
AMONG NCAA LEADERS -
Through matches of Oct. 18, UNLV was 11th in the nation in kills with 17.30 per game...UNLV was 17th in the nation in assists with 15.31 per game...UNLV was 20th in the nation in win percentage at 16-3 (.842)...Individually, senior setter Meri-de Boyer was 12th in the nation in assists per game at 13.80...Stats are updated every Tuesday.
REBEL POWER RATING -
In the AVCA/Sagarin Power Ratings through Oct. 18, UNLV was 57th in the nation...UC Irvine was 149th and Air Force was 195th...As a conference the WAC was seventh in the nation out of 32...The new ratings come out every Wednesday.
OTHER REBEL NOTES -
The Rebels had five players record double figures in digs vs. Duke, while three had double figures in kills...UNLV had four players record double figures in digs vs. New Mexico State...The Rebels had five players record double figures in digs vs. SWT and five had double-digits in kills, two with more than 25...UNLV had four players record double-figures in kills vs. Idaho...The Rebels had three players in double figures in digs vs. North Carolina...UNLV had four players in double figures in kills and digs vs. Cincinnati...
The win over #24 Fresno State was UNLV's first over a ranked opponent since the program restarted in 1996...It was also the first time UNLV has won more than one game in a match against a ranked team since the program restarted in 1996...UNLV recorded its best hitting percentage of the season vs. Air Force with .315...Air Force hit -.051 in the match, which is the lowest an opponent has hit this season vs. UNLV...Air Force recorded only 17 kills which is also the lowest for a UNLV opponent this season...
UNLV had four players record double figures in kills vs. SMU...The Rebels had 32 block assists vs. TCU, which is the most they have had in a match this season...For the first time since the program restarted in 1996, the UNLV volleyball team received votes in the USA Today/AVCA collegiate volleyball poll...In the Oct. 5 poll the Rebels received 12 votes and in the Oct. 12 poll UNLV received seven votes...At Colorado State, UNLV had four players in double figures in kills and three in digs.
UNLV'S RECORD WHEN IT...
wins the first game.. 14-2wins the second game.. 12-0wins the third game.. 14-2wins the fourth game.. 6-1plays a three-game match.. 8-1plays a four-game match.. 5-3plays a five-game match.. 3-1has more kills than opp.. 16-5has fewer kills than opp.. 0-0has equal kills as opp.. 0-0has higher hitting % than opp.. 16-0has lower hitting % than opp.. 0-5has equal hitting % as opp.. 0-0has more team blocks than opp.. 11-0has fewer team blocks than opp.. 4-3has equal team blocks as opp.. 1-2has more digs than opp.. 12-2has fewer digs than opp.. 4-3has equal digs as opp.. 1-0has more assists than opp.. 15-3has fewer assists than opp.. 1-2has equal assists as opponent.. 0-0has more service aces than opp.. 12-2has fewer service aces than opp.. 2-2has equal service aces as opp.. 2-1
STANDINGS 1998 WAC Volleyball Standings (as of 10/26)
Mountain Division
WAC Matches All Matches W L Pct. W L Pct.Colorado State 7 0 1.000 17 4 .810Wyoming 6 1 .857 11 9 .550UNLV 5 2 .714 16 5 .762Rice 4 3 .571 16 7 .696SMU 3 4 .429 12 10 .545Tulsa 1 6 .143 8 10 .444Air Force 1 6 .143 8 11 .421TCU 1 6 .143 4 18 .182
Pacific Division
WAC Matches All Matches W L Pct. W L Pct.Brigham Young 7 0 1.000 20 1 .952Hawai'i 7 1 .875 16 2 .889Fresno State 4 3 .571 15 4 .789San Jose State 4 3 .571 15 6 .714Utah 4 3 .571 14 6 .700UTEP 2 5 .286 10 8 .556San Diego State 1 7 .125 4 17 .190New Mexico 0 7 .000 6 13 .316
INTERVIEWS
Interviews with UNLV volleyball players and coaches may be arranged through volleyball SID Andy Grossman. Requests for interviews should be made at least 24 hours in advance by calling the UNLV sports information department.
