COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (UNLVrebels.com) – After sending a handful of members from the team to the USA Volleyball National Team Tryouts last month, the UNLV volleyball team continued to represent in the Scarlet & Gray in invitational events with the Mountain West's announcement of the Mountain West Global Challenge on Wednesday. Dakota Quinlan earned a spot on the conference's lineup, the team's second-straight season of sending individuals with the program.
 
The Mountain West is sending 12 student-athletes from eight institutions to compete in the 19th Annual Global Challenge. The competition begins July 16 in Maribor, Slovenia. This will mark the eighth year for the Conference to participate in the Global Challenge. Once arriving in Maribor, the team will compete in friendly matches with visiting club and national teams alongside training before the opening ceremonies. After the Global Challenge, the team will spend some time in Venice, Italy before returning to the USA.
 
Quinlan comes off an impressive 2023 season that was record-setting, cementing a new high mark for the program in single-season hitting percentage. Ending the season at a .374 rate with 186 kills, the middle blocker also tallied 10 service aces in 106 sets played over the course of the season. Defensively she proved to be one of the team's top blockers, tallying 85 blocks in 2023 with seven solo stops in the 29 matches she appeared in. 
 
UNLV sent two student-athletes in the Global Challenge a year ago, Gabrielle Arretche-Ramos and Chloe Thomas both earning spots on the roster. The team overall made stops in Slovenia, Croatia and Italy in 2023.
 
Year after year, the mission of the Global Challenge is to provide teams with international playing experience and exposure. Past tournament participants have included club and country federation teams from Slovenia, Russia, Romania, Germany, Bosnia, Montenegro, China, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Israel, Japan, Iran, Sweden, Denmark, and Puerto Rico, plus USA regional HP, youth national, junior national, and collegiate national teams.
 
The coaches of the Mountain West squad are Ted Kopacz, Colorado State Assistant Coach and Chloe Hirst, Utah State Assistant Coach.
 
2024 Global Challenge Roster
Paige Bartsch, OH, Boise State
Karina Leber, MB, Colorado State
Jenna Legault, OH, Fresno State
Bella Snyder, MB, Nevada
Sarena Gonzalez, S, San Diego State
Taylor Underwood, OPP, San Diego State
Brooke Slusser, S, San José State
Brooke Bryant, OPP, San José State
Dakota Quinlan, OH, UNLV
Kelsey Watson, MB, Utah State
Rylee Schulz, OH, Wyoming
Sierra Grizzle, L, Wyoming