Rebels building tradition

Nick Christensen

Monday, Aug. 25, 2003 | 9:33 a.m.

Rebels schedule

Aug. 29 at Loyola Marymount

Aug. 30 Sacramento State @ LMU

Aug. 30 West Virginia @ LMU

Sept. 5 MORGAN STATE

Sept. 6 LAMAR

Sept. 6 CAL-FULLERTON

Sept. 12 at Gonzaga

Sept. 13 Idaho State @ Spokane

Sept. 13 Boise State @ Spokane

Sept. 18 Loyola Marymount @ Honolulu

Sept. 20 at Hawaii

Sept. 26 SAN DIEGO STATE

Oct. 3 at Colorado State

Oct. 4 at Wyoming

Oct. 9 AIR FORCE

Oct. 11 NEW MEXICO

Oct. 17 at Utah

Oct. 18 at Brigham Young

Oct. 20 NORTHERN ARIZONA

Oct. 24 at San Diego State

Oct. 28 at UNR

Oct. 20 WYOMING

Nov. 1 COLORADO STATE

Nov. 6 at New Mexico

Nov. 8 at Air Force

Nov. 14 BRIGHAM YOUNG

Nov. 15 UTAH

Nov. 20-22 MWC tournament @ SDSU

Nov. 27 KENTUCKY

Nov. 28 WEBER STATE

Home game in caps @ Cox Pavilion

MWC coaches preseason poll

1. Utah

2. Colorado State

3. BYU

4. San Diego State

5. UNLV

6. Wyoming

7. New Mexico

8. Air Force

Deitre Collins knows that college volleyball is all about tradition.

Collins, in her eighth season as the volleyball coach at UNLV, has used the chance to create tradition as a major recruiting tool.

"Volleyball's a big tradition sport," said Collins. "Until we are winning in a visible market, that's going to make the bigger difference. We do know that other kids have paid more attention because Lauren came here."

That would be freshman middle blocker Lauren Miramontes, the most highly touted recruit in UNLV volleyball history. Miramontes, from the Los Angeles suburb of Upland, Calif., said UNLV was the perfect fit.

"When I came here, I really liked the campus, and I visit Las Vegas a lot, so I liked the city and everything," she said. "But what really made up my mind was the coaching and the girls."

"I recruited her sister a couple years ago, who ended up going to Long Beach State, but when she came on her unofficial visit, we got a chance to meet the whole family," said Collins of Miramontes. "They just continued to see us, she liked what was happening with our program. Fortunately, she chose us. Right now we get kids that want to be part of an up and coming program."

The team is a veteran club in a tough Mountain West conference, with three teams -- BYU, Utah, and Colorado State -- that are consistently ranked nationally. Having to play those three teams twice a year is something that Collins says is a positive for her team.

"I don't think that there's a negative about it," she said.

Ten players will return to this year's team, including middle blocker Sheila Ocasio-Clemente, who had an injury-plagued 2002 season after she led the nation in blocks in 2001. Ocasio-Clemente will return next week from the Caribbean, where she helped her native Puerto Rico to the semifinals of the Pan American Games.

Leiana Oswald, an outside hitter from just outside Vancouver, British Columbia, said that with powerful veterans and excited newcomers, this is the year for the team to make it to the NCAA tournament.

"Over this past spring, we had 11 people on the team still," she said. "So we got to really bond and gel and kind of set a foundation, and when the new freshmen came in ... it just kind of meshed together for the first time."

Over the spring, the team would often get together at open gym hours at UNLV, practicing with teammates and former players.

Unfortunately for the Rebels, the past hasn't had as much success as the future has held promise. In the seven years since UNLV has brought back volleyball, the team's record is 76-119. The team went 11-20 last season, and much of the pressure to succeed now falls on Collins.

"I'm on the hot seat because I want to win," she said. "I can't worry about what people are saying. We have a new athletic director that I haven't met, all I can hope is my team is competitive and that's what they're looking for."

But Collins' players almost universally commend and respect their coach -- last season, the team arranged for Collins to be a guest on the Oprah Winfrey show in appreciation for all she'd done for them -- and as far as they're concerned, there is no doubt of the success they'll have this year.

"We've gotten bigger and stronger," said setter Nicki King. "All of us have worked really hard over the summer because we really want a great season this year. We want to be able to go to the tournament at the end of the season."

Freshman Michelle Banks was even more definite about it. "Our big goal is to go to the NCAAs, and it's going to happen."