Deja Harris will be entering her fourth full-time season at the start of 2026, serving as an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator.
During her second season at the helm of the Scarlet & Gray in 2025, Harris saw redshirt sophomore Jaida Harris make history as just the second Rebel to be named Mountain West Newcomer of the Year. Under the staff’s guidance, junior libero Caleigh King also reached a major milestone, becoming the seventh player in program history to surpass 1,000 career digs while climbing into the top 10 all-time in both digs and service aces. The Rebels also collected four Mountain West Player of the Week honors, with Alondra Alarcon and Harris earning offensive recognition, Rheanna Deen-Jackson picking up defensive honors and Kaia Thiele being named Freshman of the Week. A dozen player were also named to the Mountain West Fall All-Conference Team.
In 2024, UNLV had multiple standouts recognized, as senior Chloe Thomas and freshman Basia Latos each received Mountain West Honorable Mention honors. Thomas, alongside Gabrielle Arretche-Ramos, was also selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team. The season also featured a historic moment for the program, as the Rebels hosted their annual Polynesian Night against Hawai‘i at Cox Pavilion for the first time since 1997, securing a thrilling 3-2 victory in front of a program-record sellout crowd of 3,117—surpassing the previous high of 1,318 set in 2023 against Utah State.
In Harris' first full-time season in 2023, she helped the Rebels capture a No. 3 seed in the Mountain West Tournament, as Isabel Martin picked up the league's Co-Player of the Year honor for the second-consecutive season, while Jordyn Freeman and Arretche-Ramos garnered Honorable Mention nods. The Rebels were invited to compete in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship, marking the program's sixth consecutive appearance in the postseason. At the conclusion of the 2023 campaign, Martin became the fifth Rebel all-time to be named an AVCA All-Region honoree as she collected Pacific South All-Region accolades. A pair of Rebels were also named to the College Sports Communicators' Academic All-District Team in Thomas and Arretche-Ramos.
Harris is now in her third position since joining the program in 2021. After wrapping up her playing career with a brief stint overseas, Deja returned to her hometown in 2021 as an Assistant Coach at UNLV.
As a player, Harris was the first four-time All-Mountain West honoree for San Diego State, finishing her collegiate career as the program’s all-time leader in block assists (484) while ranking fourth with 317 career-blocks and eighth in hitting percentage (.322). After her collegiate career, she played professionally overseas in Halmstad, Sweden as part of the A1 League. She would also take part in the 2018 USA Collegiate National Team and the Women’s College National Team that same year.
