Sept. 19, 2000

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV volleyball team will continue its tough schedule with two matches on the road this week as it opens the Mountain West Conference season at BYU and Utah. UNLV will face No. 15 BYU on Friday, Sept. 22 at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah. The Rebels will then head to Salt Lake City for a matchup with No. 18 Utah at Crimson Court on Saturday, Sept. 23. Both matches will being at 7:00 p.m. MT.

Friday, Sept. 22at No. 15 BYU7:00 p.m. MTMatch at Smith Fieldhouse (5,000)Provo, Utah

Saturday, Sept. 23at No. 18 Utah7:00 p.m. MTMatch at Crimson Court (1,500)Salt Lake City, Utah

THE OPPONENTS

No. 15 BYU (7-3) was 28-5 overall in 1999 and finished first in the Mountain West with a 13-1 mark...BYU is coached by Elaine Michaelis who is in her 39th year with a career mark of 848-212-5...The Cougars return nine letterwinners and three starters from last year.

No. 18 Utah (8-1) was 22-10 overall in 1999 and finished third in the Mountain West with a 10-4 mark...Utah is coached by Beth Launiere who is in her 11th year with a career mark of 188-139...The Utes return 12 letterwinners and five starters from last year.

THE REBELS

UNLV (0-9) is still looking for its first win of the season...The Rebels were 12-14 overall in 1999 and finished tied for sixth in the Mountain West Conference with a 4-10 mark...UNLV returns five letterwinners and two starters...Head Coach Deitre Collins is in her fifth season and has a career record of 49-71.

SERIES HISTORY

BYU leads the all-time series with UNLV in volleyball 6-0...The last meeting was on Nov. 6, 1999 in Las Vegas with BYU winning 3-0...Utah leads the all-time series with UNLV in volleyball 6-1...The last meeting was on Nov. 4, 1999 in Las Vegas with Utah winning 3-1.

ON THE MOVE

UNLV will play all its home matches except one this year in the 18,500-seat Thomas & Mack Center...This is the first season the T&M is hosting the volleyball squad.

LAST WEEK

UNLV played its third and fourth nationally ranked teams of the season last week in Hawai'i. The Rebels lost to No. 14 UCSB 7-15, 3-15, 6-15 and No. 2 Hawai'i 0-15, 12-15, 3-15.

NEXT WEEK

UNLV will be back at home next week to host New Mexico on Thursday, Sept. 28 at the Thomas & Mack Center and Air Force on Friday, Sept. 29 at the Lied Gymnasium.

A RANKED SCHEDULE

After it plays its 11th match of the season, UNLV will have already faced six ranked opponents...That's over half its schedule!...UNLV has faced then-No. 9 Florida, then-No. 16 Wisconsin, then-No. 14 UC Santa Barbara and then-No. 2 Hawai'i...The Rebels will face No. 15 BYU and No. 18 Utah this week.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE CLUB

So far this season, three Rebels have recorded double-doubles in a match on the box score...Maria Julie Goes has three (47 assists, 12 digs vs. Idaho State, 45 assists, 10 digs vs. Alabama, 35 assists, 10 digs vs. San Jose State), Oge Fitz has two (20 kills, 11 digs vs. Idaho State, 13 kills, 11 digs vs. Alabama), Leiana Oswald has one (12 kills, 13 digs vs. Ball State).

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.

REBELS IN THE MWC STATS

Leiana Oswald is currently tied for ninth in the Mountain West Conference in kills with 3.41 per game...Maria Julia Goes is seventh in assists with 9.86 per game.

MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE STANDINGS(As of 9/19)    Conference  OverallSchool (Rk) W   L   Pct.    W   L   Pct.Colo. State (4) 0   0   .000    11  1   .917Utah (18)   0   0   .000    8   1   .889BYU (15)    0   0   .000    7   3   .700Air Force   0   0   .000    6   5   .545Wyoming     0   0   .000    6   7   .462San Diego State 0   0   .000    5   6   .455New Mexico  0   0   .000    4   6   .400UNLV        0   0   .000    0   9   .000

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 will finish tied for fourth out of eight teams in the conference following the 2000 campaign. The following is the order that the MWC coaches predicted the conference will end up this season: Brigham Young (T1), Colorado State (T1), Utah, UNLV (T4), San Diego State (T4), New Mexico, Wyoming and Air Force.

TICKETS

Admission for UNLV volleyball games is $4.00 for adults, $2.00 for students, faculty and staff. UNLV students are admitted free with valid I.D. Groups of 20 or more are admitted for $1.00 per person. For more ticket information, please call (702) 895-UNLV.

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 Hawai'i. 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 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 49-71.

COLLINS IS REBEL VB'S ALL-TIME WINNINGEST COACH

Deitre Collins is UNLV volleyball's all-time winningest coach with 49 wins. With just one more, she will reach 50 wins for her career. Karen Lamb, who compiled 39 wins from 1987-85, 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.