Rebels coach sees a shot at volleyball crown

Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2005 | 8:13 a.m.

By Brian Hilderbrand

UNLV will have the luxury of playing at home during this week's Mountain West Conference Volleyball Championship at the Cox Pavilion. But the Rebels won't have an easy go of it in their quest to reach Saturday's championship game.

The Rebels were tied for second place in the conference going into the final weekend of the regular season before losing close matches at home to Utah and 22nd-ranked BYU. As a result, UNLV finished fourth in the conference and enters the tournament as the fourth seed and on the same side of the bracket as regular-season champion BYU.

UNLV (14-14 overall and 10-6 in MWC play) opens tournament play with a 7 p.m. contest Thursday against fifth-seed San Diego State (16-13, 8-8).

"I think we'll be OK," UNLV head coach Allison Keeley said of the prospect of facing BYU in the second round if the Rebels can defeat San Diego State for a third time this season. "We have to go through Utah or BYU to get to the finals anyway, so we're OK with it. It would have been a little easier had we finished second.

"If we had beat Utah (last Friday), I think we would have finished either second or third and we would have played Colorado State -- which may or may not have been an easier game because they swept BYU and Utah on their last road trip."

Although the Rebels ended the regular season with a pair of losses, Keeley said she is "very happy" with the way her team is playing.

"They're right on the verge of beating these teams," Keeley said. "They were up 13-10 (in the fifth game) to Utah, and they're young and they don't understand how to finish it when they have the opportunity -- but they're learning.

"We've been very, very consistent ... they've gotten better all year, and we're a threat. People are a little intimidated when they come in the gym, and we have to take advantage of that."

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

The 2005 Mountain West Conference Volleyball Championship gets under way this evening with eighth-seed TCU meeting ninth-seed Air Force at 7 in the Cox Pavilion.

After a day off Wednesday, the championship resumes Thursday with a full slate of games, beginning with No. 3 Utah vs. No. 6 Wyoming at 11 a.m. Second-seed Colorado State meets No. 7 New Mexico at 1:30 p.m., top seed BYU meets the winner of the TCU-Air Force game at 4 p.m. and the Rebels face San Diego State at 7 p.m.

The semifinals will be held at 5 and 8 p.m. Friday while Saturday's championship game will begin at 8 p.m. CSTV, which is available in Las Vegas only to satellite TV subscribers, is televising the quarterfinal, semifinal and championship matches.

ALSO NOTED:

* UNLV junior Lauren Miramontes (3.57 per game) and sophomore Maria Aladjova (3.48) lead the Rebels in kills this season.

* Rebels sophomore Jada Walker topped her own single-season record for digs this year with 456 -- 38 more than the 418 she posted as a freshman. Her 874 career digs place her first on UNLV's all-time list.

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BY THE NUMBER:

10 -- The number of UNLV's conference victories this season, the most by a Rebels volleyball team since the Mountain West Conference was formed in 1999

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Brian Hilderbrand can be reached at 259-4089 or at bh@lasvegassun.com.