Friday, Nov. 30, 2007 | 7:14 a.m.
What: UNLV (24-5) vs. Long Beach State (25-6)
When: 5 p.m. today
Where: Galen Center, USC campus, Los Angeles
What's at stake: The winner will meet the winner of the USC vs. Pepperdine match. The winner of that match will advance to the NCAA regional next weekend in Gainesville, Fla.
On the Web: The first- and second-round NCAA matches will be streamed online. Follow the links at UNLVRebels.com or USCTrojans.com.
It was going on 11 o'clock and Utah and UNLV had been playing volleyball for more than 2 1/2 hours when Lauren Miramontes, the Rebels' 6-foot-3 agglomeration of willowy body parts, got all of them in sync and headed for the net at Cox Pavilion on Saturday night.
Miramontes' right arm began to crank like a windmill in the Dutch countryside as the volleyball reached its zenith a foot or two above the top cord of the net on the Rebels' side of the court. It seemed to be just hanging there, suspended by some undetectable force of nature when ...
BAM!
Another force of nature, Miramontes' spiking arm, sent it flying in the other direction.
Had this been a video game, the ball would have turned into a comet, with flames shooting from it. In the blink of an eye it reached its final resting place, an unguarded spot between the Utes' blocking wall and their last line of defense.
It was the 83rd time in the past 72 hours that Miramontes had cranked her right arm like a windmill and sent the volleyball speeding across the net in a blur.
But this was different.
This was match point.
Match point in the Mountain West championship match.
The first championship match point in the program's off-again, on-again history.
"That's been the goal for the past four years," said Allison Keeley, the UNLV coach. "We never lost sight of it."
The win propelled the Rebels into the NCAA tournament. They play Long Beach State today in Los Angeles.
Allison ... her aim is true
UNLV fielded a volleyball team from 1978 to 1980 and again in '84 and '85 before starting a third program that has run continuously since 1996. But the Rebels were never very good, or at least never consistently good, until Keeley took over as coach four years ago. Before coming to UNLV, she was head coach at Villanova, where she compiled a 39-48 record in three seasons with limited resources. She said she loved the museums, loved the history, loved the Palestra, loved the cheese steaks. What she didn't love about Philadelphia was the lack of commitment to volleyball at Villanova. "I'd had eight scholarships, no assistants," Keeley said. Here, she has 12, two and a manager to fold the towels.
Four on the floor
When Keeley arrived, Miramontes, who had been recruited by previous UNLV coach Deitre Collins, already was here, having sat out a season as a medical redshirt. Maria Aladjova, UNLV's other big hitter, was referred to Keeley by Mariana Pencheva, a fellow Bulgarian who had been recruited by Collins. Outside hitter Brittani Lumsden was another Collins find. Jada Walker, the Rebels' "libero" - more on that in a minute - was one of Keeley's first recruits. They are UNLV's version of John, Paul, George and Ringo minus the mop-top haircuts and Yoko Ono. They get by with a little help from their friends. "We have four seniors who have been playing since they were freshmen," Keeley said. "It's their experience that is making a difference."
They must be in the back row
The libero (LEE-bah-ro, the Italian word for "free") is a designated back-row player and ball-control specialist. She's sort of like the designated hitter in reverse - her specialty is keeping the ball in play, rather than hitting it over the fence. Like a soccer goalie, she must wear a contrasting jersey. The libero is allowed to replace any player in the back row without counting as a substitution but cannot block the ball or attack it above the net. Keeley said the NCAA added the libero a few years ago to prolong rallies and make matches more exciting. The men's pro tennis tour could use a few liberos.
There is crying in volleyball
Walker, the Rebels' libero, is one of eight siblings. Her brother, Delwyn Young, is an outfielder for the Dodgers who played for the Las Vegas 51s. But she's not the only Rebel volleyballer with a famous baseball relative. The late aunt of freshman Alyssa Erickson was Rosie Gacioch of the Rockford Peaches, the basis for Madonna's character in "A League of Their Own" - the movie that taught us there's no crying in baseball. Erickson, who said she used to play catch with her aunt up until her death, said crying is permitted in volleyball. "But only if we win," she said.
Melody in tune
While there are some pretty tall drinks on UNLV's side of the court, Keeley said 5-foot-7 Melody Nua is the straw that stirs them - both on the court as a setter and off it as a bubbly personality. She is a junior walk-on from Long Beach, Calif., who will have her own cheering section when the Rebels open NCAA regional play against her hometown 49ers of Long Beach State. Nua used to sing at county fairs but says she isn't the only Rebel who likes to flex her vocal chords on road trips. "Sara Nehf, she sings all the time," Nua said in reference to the Rebels' outside hitter from Colorado. "She any good?" Nua was asked. "Not when she's doing it all the time."
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