Aug. 30, 1999
Fri., Sept. 3 UMKC vs. UNLV 2:00 p.m. PDT
Iowa State vs. Southern Illinois 5:00 p.m. PDT
Iowa State vs. UNLV 8:00 p.m. PDT
Sat., Sept. 4 Southern Illinois vs. UMKC 12:00 p.m. PDT
UMKC vs. Iowa State 3:00 p.m. PDT
Southern Illinois vs. UNLV 6:00 p.m. PDT
Matches at Lied Gymnasium, Las Vegas, Nev. (1,500 capacity)
The UNLV volleyball team will open the 1999 campaign at home as it hosts the Official All-Star Cafe/UNLV Volleyball Classic. Competing in the round-robin event will be the Rebels, Iowa State, Southern Illinois and UMKC. The Rebels will open up play on Friday, Sept. 3, at 2:00 p.m. PDT against UMKC in the first of three matches Friday. Iowa State will then face Southern Illinois at 5:00 p.m., while UNLV and Iowa State will wrap up the day?s action at 8:00 p.m. On Saturday, Sept. 4, Southern Illinois will face UMKC at 12:00 p.m., with UMKC vs. Iowa State following at 3:00 p.m. UNLV will face Southern Illinois in the tournament?s final match at 6:00 p.m. All matches will be played at UNLV?s Lied Gymnasium.
THE OPPONENTS
UMKC comes into 1999 with six letterwinners returning from last year?s team, which includes five starters. The Kangaroos finished the 1998 season with an overall record of 13-18 and finished tied for fourth in the Mid-Continent Conference with a 5-7 mark. UMKC is coached by Steve Dallman who is in his second year with the Kangaroos and has a four-year head coaching record of 45-86.
Iowa State comes into 1999 with four letterwinners returning from last year?s team, which includes three starters. The Cyclones finished the 1998 season with an overall record of 3-29 and finished 11th in the Big 12 Conference with a mark of 1-19. Iowa State is coached by Linda Grensing who is in her first year. She has a five-year career head coaching record of 62-83.
Southern Illinois comes into 1999 with six letterwinners returning from last year?s team, which includes two starters. The Salukis finished the 1998 season with an overall record of 19-12 and finished 3rd in the Missouri Valley Conference with a mark of 12-6. SIU is coached by Sonya Locke who is in her ninth year at the school with a record of 125-116. She has a nine-year career head coaching record of 160-121.
THE REBELS
UNLV returns nine 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. Head Coach Deitre Collins is in her fourth season and has a career record of 37-48.
NEW FACES
The Rebels welcome the addition of six newcomers 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 Burnably, B.C., and Robyn Shea a 5-10 junior setter from Salt Lake City, Utah, who transferred from Weber State.
REBEL RETURNERS
The Rebels return nine players from last year?s squad. Included in those nine are five seniors. The Rebels return 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 are Nora Bernson, a 5-10 sophomore outside hitter, 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.
PROBABLE REBEL STARTERS
No. Player Pos. Ht. Yr.-Exp. Hometown/Last School 1998 UNLV Statistics14 Christel Eves MB 5-10 Sr.-3V Henderson, Nev./Basic HS 2.82 kpg, 1.17 bpg7 Danielle Gerlach OH 6-0 Sr.-3V Edwards, Calif./Desert HS 2.20 kpg, 1.83 dpg2 Maria Julia Goes S 5-9 So.-TR Sorocaba, Brazil/Nat. Amer. U. NA13 Amber Graham MB 5-11 So.-1V Las Vegas, Nev./Cimmaron-Mem. HS 2.05 kpg, 0.98 bpg6 Jeanette Graves OH 6-1 Sr.-1V West Jordan, Utah/Salt Lake City CC 3.55 kpg, 1.37 dpg4 Justine Kamelamela OH 6-0 Jr.-2V Aiea, Hawai?i/Maryknoll HS 3.68 kpg, 2.56 dpg
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. It 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.
THE LAST TIME
Last year, UNLV opened the season on the road with three wins at the Nanook Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska. The Rebels ended up winning their first five matches of the year. In Last year?s Official All-Star Cafe/UNLV Volleyball Classic, the Rebels took second place. UNLV defeated Youngstown State 3-0, New Mexico State 3-1, and lost to Southwest Texas State 3-1. The last time UNLV opened the season at home was during the 1979 season when the Rebels won the UNLV Invitational.
THE NEXT TIME
After this week?s Official All-Star Cafe/UNLV Volleyball Classic, UNLV will open its road schedule as it travels to College Park, Md., to compete in the Terrapin Invitational, Fri., Sept. 10 and Sat., Sept. 11. The Rebels will face Louisville, Rutgers and Maryland.
SERIES HISTORY
UNLV has never faced UMKC or Southern Illinois in volleyball. UNLV leads the all-time series history with Iowa State 1-0. UNLV won 3-0 on Sept. 3, 1998, in the Nanook Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska, in their only meeting.
UNLV CHOSEN TO FINISH FOURTH IN MWC BY COACHES
The 1999 Mountain West Conference Volleyball Preseason Coaches? Poll predicts UNLV will finish fourth out of eight teams in the conference following the 1999 campaign. The following is the order that the MWC coaches predict 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 will open 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 is Penn State, followed closely by Stanford, Nebraska, Hawai?i and 1998 NCAA champion Long Beach State. Rounding out the top 10 are Pacific, Brigham Young, Florida, Wisconsin and UCLA.
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 is the only volleyball player ever to be named the Broderick Cup recipient, earning the award as the best female collegiate athlete in 1983. She 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. Her career head coaching record is 37-48.
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 KEE WILLIAMS
Kee Williams (Hawai?i ?95) is in her second year as assistant coach at 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.
ASSISTANT COACH CARRIE PENFIELD
Carrie Penfield (Arizona ?98) is in her first season as assistant coach at UNLV. Penfield 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.
USA TODAY/AVCA
TOP 25 POLL
1999 preseason poll - Aug. 12, 1999
Rank Team Pts ?98 Rec. ?98 Rank. 1 Penn State (30) 1,420 35-1 2 2 Stanford (20) 1,387 27-4 9 3 Nebraska (1) 1,284 32-2 3 4 Hawai?i (3) 1,258 32-3 5 5 Long Bch St. (5) 1,226 36-0 1 6 Pacific 1,196 26-6 10 7 BYU 1,186 31-4 6 8 Florida 1,169 35-3 4 9 Wisconsin 963 30-5 710 UCLA (1) 815 16-12 1611 UCSB 781 28-6 1212 Pepperdine 722 19-11 1513 Texas 667 27-5 814 Illinois 644 22-11 1415 Arizona 621 22-7 2016 Texas A&M 562 21-9 1817 Ohio State 517 17-14 2418 San Diego 500 24-6 1919 Colorado 336 22-7 1720 Arkansas 322 29-6 1321 USC 314 24-6 1122 Michigan State 294 23-7 2223 Kansas State 202 19-12 2324 Colorado State 173 24-8 NR25 L. Marymount 144 18-8 NR
Others receiving votes: Louisville (95), Texas Tech (89), Clemson (89), Notre Dame (82), Minnesota (64), Indiana (58), Santa Clara (36), North Carolina (30), Utah (24), Sacramento State (23), Northern Iowa (22), Miami, Ohio (17), Baylor (16), Georgia Tech (15), Virginia (12), Houston (12), Washington State (10), Washington (9), Florida State (7), Arizona State (7), South Florida (5), Northern Illinois (5), San Jose State (4), South Carolina (3), Eastern Washington (3), Illinois State (3), Oral Roberts (3), Georgetown (2), Ball State (2), UNLV (1), Temple (1), Nevada, Reno (1), Ohio (1).
1999 MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
The inaugural Mountain West Conference Volleyball Tournament will be held November 24-27 at Smith Fieldhouse on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. All eight conference teams will compete in the single elimination tournament. Tickets are available through the BYU ticket office at (800) 322-2981 and media credentials will be handled by the Mountain West Conference?s Elaine Adams (719) 533-9510.
1999 PRESEASON COACHES? POLL School National Rank1. Brigham Young No. 72. Colorado State No. 243. Utah Received Votes4. UNLV Received Votes5. Wyoming6. New Mexico7. San Diego State8. Air Force
UNLV TICKET PRICES
Admission for UNLV volleyball matches is $4.00 for adults, $2.00 for students, faculty, staff and Senior Rebel Club members. UNLV students and Junior Rebel Club members will be admitted free of charge. Groups of up to 20 people are $15 and groups over 20 people are $1 per person. Season tickets may be purchased for $35 and a year-long Olympic Sports Pass for $75. For more ticket information, please call (702) 895-UNLV.
