Joining Mack, who was also a first-team selection, are junior
Elizabeth Prior and sophomore
Nastasia Kossacky, who each were named second-team honorees.
"This is so big - I'm thrilled for these three," said Bush-Herzer. "For Polly [Mack] to come here from Germany and adjust to the college game so well was really impressive. She's so consistent and level-headed - I look forward to seeing what she does throughout the rest of her career. Lizzie [
Elizabeth Prior] had to overcome some early season adversity that kept her out at the beginning and she bounced back from that. I saw a lot of growth in Nastasia's [Kossacky] game this year, so I'm proud of her. I'm just really proud of my entire team, we push each other to be better every single day."
Mack earned the program's eighth player of the year award, while she became the eighth Rebel to be named the freshman of the year. This is also just the fourth time in Mountain West history the same player has swept both categories and the third time the same school has swept all three major honors.
Bush-Herzer's selection as the conference's coach of the year is the fifth all-time for UNLV, with former head coach Missy Ringler earning the first two in 2003-04 and 2005-06. Bush-Herzer took over the program prior to the 2010-11 season after spending three years as an assistant under Ringler. She has led the Rebels to four conference championships in eight years at the helm, while she has mentored six freshman of the year recipients, three players of the year and two all-americans. As a team, the Rebels had the top scoring average in the MW this season at 295.55 and was the only conference team to win more than one tournament this year.
Mack, from Berlin, Germany, ranks second in the Mountain West with a 73.64 scoring average in 33 rounds played this year and a 1.73 scoring average against par. She was also the only freshman to have a scoring average rank in the top 14 in the league. Mack recorded two top-five, four top-10 and six top-15 finishes in 11 tournaments during the 2017-18 season. She carded eight rounds of par or better, with four rounds under 70. Her season-low of 67 came in the first round of the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown on October 22, where she went on to finish tied for fourth with her best three-round score of the season at 5-under 211. Her second-best 54-hole score of 2-under 214 resulted in her second top-five finish at the Jackrabbit Invitational in March. Most recently, she shot at 4-over 220 to tie for eighth at the MW Championship. Mack's first-team honor is the 24th overall for the program, while she is the 15th Rebel to garner at least one first-team selection.
This is the second career conference honor for Prior, who was also a second-team selection as a sophomore last year. The Surrey, England, native, ranked in the top-10 in the conference all season and sits in seventh with a 74.00 average and a 2.11 score against par. After missing a month at the start of the season due to a medical issue, Prior bounced back in a big way, winning the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown in her first action back after carding a 16-under 200 with rounds of 67, 66 and 67. Her 16-under tied the program mark for lowest 54-hole score and helped the Rebels win their own tournament for the second time in the last three years. Her 66 in round two was also the lowest single-round score of any Rebel this year. Overall, Prior had two top-five and four-top 10 finishes, which included tying for 10th at the MW Championship. She shot eight rounds of par or better, with four rounds of 69 or better.
Kossacky, originally from San Diego, California, transferred to UNLV from Auburn mid-year during the 2016-17 season and worked her way into the lineup as a sophomore this season. She earns her first-career conference honor after her scoring average of 74.45 was 11th-best in the league. Kossacky came on particularly strong in the spring, shooting all six of her par-or-better rounds after the winter break. Her best performances came back-to-back, beginning with a tie for 12th at the Wildcat Invitational in March with a 1-over 217 that included two rounds under par. She followed that with her top 54-hole score and finish of the season, tying for second with a 2-under 214 at the Jackrabbit Invitational in Las Vegas the following week.
Prior and Kossacky mark the seventh and eighth second-team honors for UNLV, while Kossacky becomes the sixth Rebel in program history to earn a second-team nod.
The Rebels won four tournaments total during the 2017-18 season, including their third straight Mountain West Championship at the conference tournament, April 16-18, in Rancho Mirage, California. With the automatic bid, UNLV is headed to its 16th consecutive NCAA Regional, which will take place May 7-9. The Rebels are the 11th seed in the Tallahassee Regional, hosted by Florida State University. The 18-team field will compete at the Don Veller Seminole Golf Course & Club, with six teams from the region moving on to the NCAA Championship tournament, set for May 18-23 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
The full Mountain West All-Conference Teams and individual award winners are below:
First Team:
Katrina Prendergast, CSU
Ingrid Gutierrez, UNM
Sara Kjellker, SDSU
Abegail Arevalo, SJSU
Polly Mack, UNLV
Second Team:Ellen Secor, CSU
Mimi Ho, FS
Darian Zachek, UNM
Nastasia Kossacky, UNLV
Elizabeth Prior, UNLV
Milagros Chaves, SDSU
Player of the Year: Polly Mack, Fr., UNLV