Jan. 3, 2011
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) -
2010 End-Of-Season Release in PDF Format 
FINAL SERVE: The UNLV Rebels closed out the 2010 season with a come-from-behind 3-1 win on the road at Air Force the day after Thanksgiving. With the victory, UNLV improved to 10-20 overall and 5-11 in Mountain West Conference play, which placed them in a tie for seventh place with TCU.
Allison Keeley'S CONTRACT NOT RENEWED: UNLV Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Jim Livengood announced Wednesday that women's volleyball head coach Allison Keeley's contract will not be renewed and a national search for a new head coach will begin immediately.
"First, I want to thank Allison for her guidance of our volleyball program for the past seven years," said Livengood. "She has shown leadership and great care for our young ladies. Change is always difficult, but in thinking about our program and its direction, I believe we need to go in a new direction and this is the reason we will head into a national search."
Keeley spent seven years at the helm of the volleyball program, compiling a record of 108-96, including a 10-20 overall mark this past season. She became the winningest head coach in UNLV history during the 2008 season. The Rebels put together back-to-back 20-plus win seasons in 2006 and '07. Her 2007 squad was the most successful of her seven, as it went 24-6 en route to winning the school's first-ever conference championship and only trip to the NCAA Tournament, which earned her AVCA West Region Coach of the Year and Mountain West Conference's Co-Head Coach of the Year awards.
During her time in Las Vegas, Keeley coached 14 all-conference honorees, two conference freshmen of the year and two student-athletes that earned national recognition by the AVCA. Besides the on-court accolades, her student-athletes excelled in the classroom, as well. She produced 45 Academic All-Mountain West Conference selections and had two student-athletes earn ESPN The Magazine All-District honors.
"I appreciate the opportunity I was given at UNLV," Keeley said. "I had a great seven years at the university. I have had an opportunity to work with and for some great women and wish all of them the best in their future."
CINDY FREDRICK NAMED NEW HEAD COACH: Cindy Fredrick, who has 24 years of head coaching experience at the NCAA Division I level, has been named the sixth head coach in UNLV volleyball history, UNLV Director of Athletics Jim Livengood announced on Wednesday.
"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring Cindy on as our head volleyball coach," Livengood said. "Having worked with her for many years, I'm sure she will be a great addition to the university community and our athletics department family. She will do a wonderful job advancing our women's volleyball program."
Fredrick comes to Las Vegas after spending the past year coaching at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.
She was also the head coach at Weber State (1985-89), Washington State (1989-2004) and Iowa (2004-08). Over her career, she has led her squads to 10 NCAA Tournament appearances with the first occurring in 1988 at Weber State, followed by nine more at Washington State that also included a trip to the Sweet 16 and two to the Elite 8.
She was named the conference coach of the year on two different occasions - first in 1988 after she led Weber State to a Big Sky Conference championship en route to the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance and an overall record of 32-8. Then, in 1995, she took home Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors.
At Washington State, she notched 20 or more wins seven times and also coached three All-Americans (Sarah Silvernail, Keri Killebrew and Stephanie Pake) and one Pac-10 Player of the Year (Silvernail).
"Cindy distinguished herself from a field of highly qualified coaches from around the country," said Jeff Higgins, UNLV Associate Athletics Director and Search Committee Chair. "We are excited to welcome her into the UNLV Athletics family."
While Fredrick was at Luther, the team was 17-17. Prior to that, she was the assistant director of the Wartburg-Waverly Sports and Wellness Center.
A 1974 graduate of Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., Fredrick began coaching volleyball at Davenport Central High School that same year until 1982. She led the school to a state championship in 1981 with a perfect 33-0 record. She followed that up with a three-year stint as a head coach for the United States Volleyball Association Junior Development team in Eastern Iowa.
She broke into the collegiate coaching ranks in 1982 when she was hired as an assistant coach at Iowa. She helped guide the Hawkeyes to two third-place finishes in the Big Ten in 1983 and 1984.
Fredrick is married to Dr. Mashallah Farokhmanesh, who has been an assistant on her staff throughout her entire career. They have one son, Ali Farokhmanesh, who played basketball for Northern Iowa, including last year in the NCAA Tournament against UNLV.
NEHF EARNS ALL-MWC NOD: UNLV senior outside hitter Sara Nehf was named to the Mountain West's All-Conference Team on Nov. 30, following a vote by the league's nine head coaches. This is Nehf's first time being named to the All-MWC squad.
Nehf, who played in all 30 matches and 114 sets this season, led the Rebels in kills (393), kills per set (3.45) and aces (20). She finished second on the team in double-doubles (five) and third in both digs (184) and digs per set (1.61). She also contributed 41 total blocks (seven solo) and 14 assists.
She had four matches of 21 or more kills this season and topped out at a career-high 25 against TCU on Oct. 31. In all, she notched double digits in kills on 20 occasions. She also had two matches of 20 digs and six overall in double figures.
She earned all-tournament honors twice at the start of the 2010 campaign at Oregon State's Active Ankle Challenge (Sept. 3-4) and the Rebels' own UNLV Invitational (Sept. 10-11).
For her career, she played in 101 matches and 324 sets and left her name etched in two categories of UNLV's all-time record book. She ranks fourth in total attempts with 2,442 and eighth in kills with 879. She also contributed 470 digs, 106 total blocks (21 solo), 34 aces and 34 assists in her four years as a Rebel.
The conference coaches selected Colorado State's Danielle Minch as the player of the year for the second consecutive season. Utah's Morgan Odale was tabbed the league's freshman of the year, while BYU's Stephanie Snow took home newcomer of the year honors.
New Mexico's Jeff Nelson was chosen the MWC's Coach of the Year for the first time in his career, as he led the Lobos to their third 20-win season in a row (20-9) and a second-place finish in the league standings.
REBEL REWIND: The UNLV Rebels won their only contest in the final week of the season with a 3-1 victory on the road at Air Force.
Sara Nehf and Kendra Glendenning were instrumental for UNLV in the win, as both registered double-doubles. Nehf notched her fifth double-double of the season, while Glendenning picked up her sixth. Nehf used a combination of 18 kills and 20 digs to achieve the feat, while Glendenning dished out 19 assists with 10 digs. Nehf also added two solo blocks, two aces and one assist to her stat line.
Madeline Westman joined Nehf in double-digit kills with 12 of her own off of .409 hitting. Westman also chipped in six assisted blocks, two digs and one ace.
Amanda Alles led the Rebels in assists with 21 and pitched in two digs, one solo block and a kill.
In all, UNLV had four players register double-digit dig tallies with Nehf and Glendenning joining Kela Lau Hee and Nile Te'o, who both had 11 apiece.
