Nov. 14, 2000

Thursday, Nov. 16 vs. Utah 1:30 p.m.
Match at Moby Arena (8,745), Fort Collins, CO

THE OPPONENTS

UTAH: The Utes finished their MWC schedule with a 3-0 (15-10, 15-7, 15-6) win over the New Mexico Lobos at Albuquerque, NM on Sat., Nov. 11. The win improved Utah to 19-6 overall, 10-4 in the league play.

Senior Jen Snow-Richards led Utah with 10 kills for a .348 hitting percentage. Sophomore Katrena Ellett totaled nine kills for a .304 hitting percentage and 12 digs. Lenka Urbanova added six kills and 12 digs and senior setter Lucie Turkova posted eight kills, 33 assists and eight digs. As a team Utah had a .229 hitting percentage and added six total team blocks.

Utah Head Coach Beth Launiere needs just one more win to hit the 200 career-win mark.

THE REBELS

As a team, UNLV is averaging 12.75 kills per game for a .170 hitting percentage. Every week, the Rebels improve in almost every statistical catagory and are now averaging 11.26 apg, 12.44 dpg and 2.11 bpg.

"Our goal is to win our first match," said Collins regarding the upcoming tournament. "I feel really comfortable with the match against Utah. I want to see what we're about. This is a test for us, and regardless of the outcome, the outlook is good."

The Rebels were 12-14 overall in 1999 and while they have not matched that success this season, they have improved upon last year's 4-10 MWC record, going 5-9 in regular season league play...Head Coach Deitre Collins is in her fifth season and has a career record of 55-80.

SERIES HISTORY

Utah holds an 8-1 series advantage over UNLV following a pair of regular season losses in 2000. The lone Rebel win came in the 1998 WAC Tournament, hosted at the Thomas & Mack Center. UNLV defeated the Utes 3-0 (16-14, 15-12, 6-15), but fell in three to BYU two days later.

BROADCASTS

SportsWest will be televising every match of the 2000 McLeodUSA Mountain West Conference Volleyball Championship. All games on Thursday and Friday can be found on satellite on TELSTAR 7, TRANSPONDER K-01, position in arc 129 W, downlink frequency 11720 V. The championship game on Saturday can be found at TELSTAR 7, TRANSPONDER K-11, position in arc 129 W, downlink frequency 119P20 V.

LAST WEEK

Colorado State Recap: UNLV wrapped up the regular season with a 3-0 (15-6, 15-4, 15-6) loss to Colorado State on Saturday night in the Thomas & Mack Center. With the loss, UNLV falls to 6-18 on the season, 6-9 in the Mountain West Conference.

The Rebels matched Colorado State to start the first and third games, but quickly succumbed to the Rams' attack. Colorado State also excelled defensively, posting 34 blocks in the three-game match.

UNLV's Blair Wilkes continued to impress on the attack, posting eight kills with a .667 (8-0-12) attack percentage. The match marked her second straight without an attack error. She hit .900 (9-0-10) against Wyoming on Friday night.

Patricia Assuncao and Leiana Oswald each added seven kills in the loss. Oswald also finished with nine digs and three block assists.

"We're playing better than when we started the season," said UNLV head coach Deitre Collins. "Colorado State is a good team and we are not at that level yet. We're young and that is where we want to be someday."

Wyoming Recap: The UNLV volleyball team defeated Wyoming 3-1 (11-15, 15-8, 15-8, 15-5) in the Thomas & Mack Center on Thursday night. With the win, UNLV improves to 6-17 on the season, 5-8 in the Mountain West Conference.

Game one went back and forth with the Cowgirls taking a tightly contested first game 15-11. The Rebels rebounded quickly, finding their stride to easily wrap up the match in four behind a powerful attack by Blair Wilkes. Wilkes hit .900 (9-0-10) for the match with one dig and one block assist.

Four Rebels finished with double figure kills, led by Patricia Assuncao and Michelle Johnson who recorded 13 apiece. Johnson, a freshman, hit .462 (13-2-26) on the night and contributed five block assists.

Amber Graham added eleven kills, five digs and posted a match-high nine blocks, one solo and eight assisted.

Leiana Oswald picked up her fourth double-double of the season with ten kills and ten digs.

Wyoming was led by Melody Friehauf's 12 kills and four block assists.

"We started out slow," said UNLV head coach Deitre Collins. "It wasn't pretty, but it was a very balanced effort and we won."

A RANKED SCHEDULE

After 24 matches this season, UNLV has already faced ten nationally ranked opponents. UNLV has faced then-No. 9 Florida, then-No. 16 Wisconsin, then-No. 14 UC Santa Barbara, then-No. 2 Hawaii, then-No. 15 BYU, then-No. 3 and No. 6 Colorado State and twice faced then-No. 18 Utah. A third meeting with Utah will mark the eleventh match against a ranked opponent for the season.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE CLUB

So far this season, five Rebels have recorded double-doubles in a match...Maria Julie Goes has five (47 assists, 12 digs vs. Idaho State, 45 assists, 10 digs vs. Alabama, 35 assists, 10 digs vs. San Jose State, 58 assists, 20 digs vs. Utah, 65 assists, 10 digs vs. Nevada, Reno), Oge Fitz has two (20 kills, 11 digs vs. Idaho State, 13 kills, 11 digs vs. Alabama), Leiana Oswald has four (12 kills, 13 digs vs. Ball State, 11 kills, 15 digs vs. New Mexico, 18 kills, 15 digs vs. Nevada, Reno, 10 kills, 10 digs vs. Wyoming), Patricia Assuncao has three (13 kills, 12 digs and 12 kills, 13 digs vs. New Mexico, 15 kills, 14 digs vs. Nevada, Reno) and Amber Graham has three (18 kills, 11 digs vs. San Diego State, 12 kills, 11 digs vs. New Mexico, 18 kills, 18 digs vs. Nevada, Reno).

20-KILL CLUB

Oge Fitz (20 kills vs. Idaho State) and Leiana Oswald (20 kills vs. San Jose State) each joined the 20 kill club during the UNLV Gameworks Invitational recording 20 kills in a match. Patricia Assuncao also picked up 21 kills against Utah on Oct. 20.

REBELS IN THE MWC STATS

Maria Julia Goes is currently fifth in the Mountain West Conference in assists with 10.86 per game.

MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE STANDINGS (As of 11/14)

          Conference                      OverallInstitution     W-L     For     Opp     Pct     W-L     For     Opp     Pct.Colorado State  13-1    39  6   .929    27-2    82  15  .931BYU Cougars 12-2    36  9   .857    20-6    64  25  .769Utah        10-4    33  16  .714    19-6    61  30  .760San Diego State 9-5     30  21  .643    17-12   55  48  .586New Mexico  5-9     19  29  .357    9-15    36  48  .375UNLV        5-9     17  29  .357    6-18    22  58  .250Wyoming         2-12    14  37  .143    10-21   42  71  .323Air Force   0-14    1   42  .000    6-20    22  61  .231

ON THE WEB

UNLV Athletics information may be found on the web at www.unlvrebels.com...Mountain West Conference info may be obtained at www.mountainwestconf.com.

UNLV CHOSEN TO FINISH FOURTH IN MWC BY COACHES

The 2000 Mountain West Conference Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll predicted UNLV would finish tied for fourth out of eight teams in the conference following the 2000 campaign. The following is the order predicted by the MWC coaches for the 2000 season: Brigham Young (T1), Colorado State (T1), Utah, UNLV (T4), San Diego State (T4), New Mexico, Wyoming and Air Force.

HEAD COACH DEITRE COLLINS

Head coach Deitre Collins is now in her fifth year at UNLV. Collins, the 1998 WAC Mountain Division Co-Coach of the Year, is a former member of the U.S. National Team and a three-time NCAA All-American middle blocker at Hawaii. 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 Hawaii in 1995 with a bachelor of arts degree in broadcast communications. She was the first volleyball player to be named the Broderick Cup recipient, earning the award as the best female collegiate athlete in 1983. 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 55-80.

COLLINS IS REBEL VB'S ALL-TIME WINNINGEST COACH

Deitre Collins is UNLV volleyball's all-time winningest coach with 55 wins. Karen Lamb, who compiled 39 wins from 1985-87, is second on the list.

FAX-ON-DEMAND/INTERNET

All UNLV volleyball information is available on Info Connection and may be obtained by calling (770) 558-6000 from a fax machine. Media members without a PIN should call (770) 399-0096 to obtain one. The MWC's passcode is 692#. UNLV's Release is 1930. UNLV's Stats/Results is 1932. UNLV's Recent Box Score is 1933. UNLV's Schedule/Roster is 1958. The same information is also available free on the internet at www.mediateamlink.com.

REBELS ONLY, PLEASE!

Please remember, UNLV (acronym on all references please) is home to the Rebel volleyball team -- not the Runnin' Rebels! Only the men's basketball team at UNLV is named the Runnin' Rebels.