UNLV volleyball beats Utah, earns NCAA berth

Lauren Miramontes’ right arm had one good swing left.

And a good fist pump, too.

The UNLV senior slammed down her 30th kill of the match and gave the Rebels their first conference tournament title in the process.

Miramontes’ kill ended an epic Mountain West Conference tournament final as the second-seeded Rebels (24-5) downed fifth-seeded Utah, 24-30, 33-31, 30-17, 21-30, 15-12, at Cox Pavilion.

UNLV, playing in its first conference title match, earned the MWC’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament, which begins next weekend.

The Rebels will find out where they’ll go and whom they’ll play at 5 p.m. today when the tournament field is unveiled. It will be UNLV’s first NCAA appearance.

Miramontes had two kills and a shared block to account for the Rebels’ final three points.

One day after setting the school record with 34 kills in 86 attempts in a semifinal win over Brigham Young, the senior middle blocker came up with another huge effort. She was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

The Rebels, though, had to claw back from a 4-1 deficit in the deciding game, rattling off three straight points to tie the match.

The teams traded points until a kill by sophomore Jessica Walters and a Utah attack error gave UNLV a 12-10 lead.

Utah (15-15) trimmed the lead to 12-11 before Miramontes’ kill and a block by Miramontes and junior Melody Nua put UNLV a point from the title.

Whitney Webb’s kill gave Utah brief hope.

Nua then set up Miramontes on the right side of the court for the final point.

Utah rattled off eight consecutive points to open a 14-6 lead in the first game and held off a Rebels’ comeback attempt as UNLV closed the gap to 25-23.

UNLV evened the match by fighting off two game points and using a Walters kill and a Utes attack error to finish Game 2.

Sara Nehf, a freshman who didn’t play in either of the Rebels’ first two matches, served eight straight points in the third game to open a 16-8 lead. The Rebels expanded the lead to 26-11 and cruised to the win.

Utah broke an 18-all tie in the fourth game with a 10-1 run that set up the final game.

Miramontes, Nua and Walker were named to the all-tournament team.

It’s possible UNLV could be the host of one of the 16 first- and second-round sites.

The tourney’s first weekend consists of the 16 subregionals with four teams per site, beginning Thursday.

The winners will advance to one of four regional sites: Gainesville, Fla.; University Park, Pa.; Stanford, Calif.; and Madison, Wis.

The national semifinals and championship are scheduled for Dec. 13 and 15 in Sacramento, Calif.