Nov. 30, 2016 2016 UNLV Volleyball Weekly Notes: Week Fifteen (NCAA First Round)
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV volleyball team will compete in postseason play for the second time in program history after the NCAA Selection Committee granted the squad one of 32 at-large bids to its end-of-year tournament. The Rebels, who finished the year 23-7 and in third place in the Mountain West behind a 12-6 mark, will venture back to Provo, Utah, for the second time this season for their First Round match with the Pac-12 Conference's Utah Utes Friday at 4:00 pm PT (5:00 pm MT).
BYU's Smith Fieldhouse will play host to the First and Second Rounds. The host and No. 13 national seed Cougars will square off against the Ivy League's Princeton Tigers in the second contest scheduled for Friday (6:00 pm PT/7:00 pm MT).
The winners of Friday's matches will meet Saturday night in the Second Round, and first serve is scheduled for 7:00 pm MT (6:00 pm PT).
The foursome are part of the Texas Region, and the victor from Saturday's match will advance to the Regional Semifinals in Austin at the University of Texas on December 9.
TUNE IN, WATCH & LISTEN: Live stats for UNLV Volleyball's NCAA Tournament match Friday against the Utah Utes can be found online at UNLVRebels.com. Additionally, the contest will be streamed live via Campus Insiders and, it too, will be linked to UNLVRebels.com.
PLEASE NOTE: Contrary to previous reports, the match will not be streamed by TheW.tv or WatchESPN nor will it be available through the ESPN app.
GET YOUR TICKETS: Tickets for the NCAA First and Second Rounds can be purchased through BYU's ticket website, BYUTickets.com, with full session passes available. Tickets range from $10-$15 for both days. Individual day passes will go on sale Friday morning at 8:00 am PT.
REBELS DANCE, ONCE AGAIN: UNLV is making its second appearance in NCAA Volleyball Championship appearance in program history. The Rebels' first appearance occurred in 2007 after they won the Mountain West Championship and earned the league's automatic bid.
In 2007, UNLV swept through the Mountain West Championship with wins over Wyoming (3-1), BYU (3-2) and Utah (3-2) to advance to the NCAA First Round against Long Beach State at USC's Galen Center. Unfortunately, the Rebels fell in five sets to the 49ers in a match that featured a head-to-head meeting between sisters Lauren (UNLV) and Robin (LBSU) Miramontes.
MOUNTAIN WEST SENDS THREE: The Mountain West is sending three women's volleyball teams to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009. Joining UNLV in the postseason are MW champion the Boise State Broncos and Colorado State Rams. Boise State will be making its first appearance in the NCAA tourney and is doing so as the league's automatic qualifier. Colorado State, like UNLV, earned an at-large bid and it is making its 22nd consecutive appearance and 28th overall.
The 2009 trio was comprised of Colorado State, New Mexico and former member TCU.
Boise State (25-6) will face Conference USA champion Western Kentucky (30-2) in the First Round at 4:30 pm PT on Friday, December 2 in Palo Alto, California. The winner of the Boise State-Western Kentucky match will face the winner of Denver-Stanford on Saturday, December 3 at 7:00 pm PT in the Second Round. Denver, 23-8 and the Summit League champion, plays host Stanford (21-7) on Friday at 7:00 pm PT. Stanford is the No. 6 national seed and an at-large selection from the Pac-12 Conference.
Colorado State (21-8) heads to Seattle, Washington, to take on Southeastern Conference at-large representative Kentucky (22-7) on Friday, December 2 at 5:00 pm PT in the First Round. Host Washington, 26-4 and the Pac-12 champions, will play Southland Conference champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (24-7) at 7:30 pm PT. The winners of the two First Round match-ups will meet on Saturday, December 3 at 7 p.m. PT. Washington is the No. 8 national seed.
WE PLAYED THEM: UNLV played four teams that made the 2016 NCAA Volleyball Championship to a 2-4 overall record. The Rebels were 1-0 over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the Southland champion, and 1-1 vs. Boise State, the Mountain West champion. They were 0-1 against BYU, the West Coast Conference champ, and 0-2 vs. Colorado State, an at-large selection from the MW.
REBELS FINISH REGULAR SEASON NO. 33 IN THE RPI: The NCAA released the eighth installment of its volleyball Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) Monday, and UNLV was listed at No. 33. The Rebels, who had previously been ranked as high as No. 15, achieved their ranking due to the fact they compiled a 23-7 overall record.
In this week's release, UNLV was one of 11 non-Power Five programs to make the top 35. Joining the Rebels from the Mountain West was Boise State, which came in No. 32 at 25-6.
Like the MW, the West Coast Conference was represented by a pair of its own programs, as No. 7 BYU (27-3) led all and No. 16 San Diego (24-5) wasn't too far behind.
Rounding out the remaining non-Power Five programs were Conference USA's Western Kentucky (No. 14/30-2), Big East's Creighton (No. 17/26-6), Missouri Valley's Wichita State (No. 21/24-7), Big West's Hawai'i (No. 23/22-5), Atlantic 10's Dayton (No. 28/30-1), American Athletic's SMU (No. 30/25-7) and Sun Belt's Coastal Carolina (No. 35/27-4).
The Big Ten is well represented with Wisconsin (25-4), Minnesota (25-4) and Nebraska (27-2) sitting in Nos. 1-3, respectively.
The Big 12 has No. 4 and 5 locked up with Texas (22-4) and Kansas (26-2).
The RPI is a system the NCAA uses to rank teams based upon their wins and losses as well as its strength of schedule and UNLV's ranking has been greatly influenced by the last component.
The Rebels have played 13 matches to a 6-7 display against 10 teams that sit within the top 100. In all, they have defeated No. 32 Boise State, No. 57 Hofstra, No. 60 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, No. 74 Wyoming, No. 79 New Mexico State and No. 93 UC Santa Barbara. They have also faced No. 7 BYU, No. 46 Colorado State, No. 83 San Diego State and No. 85 Nevada, Reno.
UNLV is a perfect 17-0 against teams that sit No. 101 or higher.
