UNLV volleyball team readies for MWC tournament
At the start of the volleyball season, first-year UNLV coach Cindy Fredrick said her team might need some time to reach its potential.
The regular season is over, and the Rebels are down to their final chance.
Fredrick, whose squad has shown moments of brilliance, hasn’t quite seen the overall results she was hoping for in August. Though the Rebels played surprisingly well through mid-October, they will enter the first round of the Mountain West Conference tournament Friday at Albuquerque, N.M., having lost five of their final six matches.
“That’s probably significant in a way,” said Fredrick, whose team will enter as the seventh seed (12-16, 4-10 MWC). “This has been a season full of all kinds of injuries, and we’ve lost some five-game matches that kind of just sock you in the gut. But I’m an eternal optimist, and I refuse to throw in the towel.”
Sophomore middle blocker/outside hitter Madeline Westman said she is not discouraged by her team’s recent slump.
“We’ve been struggling a little bit to finish our games,” said Westman, who has 261 kills and 122 blocks. “We have to tell ourselves that we’re not going to lose. We’re the underdog, and this is our last hurrah.”
Indeed, UNLV will go in as an underdog against second-seeded San Diego State (17-8, 10-4). Though the Rebels lost 3-1 to the Aztecs in San Diego on Oct. 21, they cruised to a 3-0 home victory in the first match between the teams on Sept. 23.
“Obviously, they’re a team we know we can beat because we’ve done it before,” Westman said. “But we also know they’re good and they’re not going to give up easily. They’re seeded second for a reason.”
Fredrick expects a challenge, but she agrees that San Diego State is beatable.
“They have a deep bench and we don’t,” the coach said. “But stranger things have happened. We’re 1-1, and it’s not like we’ve been blown away by them.”
Westman said the key is to approach one match at a time.
“We have to first focus on San Diego State and not what might happen after that,” she said. “If we take care of them, then we can look past that match.”
Fredrick agreed.
“We just have to take care of the present,” she said. “Each point you play is what matters — not whether you win. But when you approach things this way, you tend to get results.”
Though Fredrick’s roster has been depleted by injuries, Westman still will have significant help. Sophomore outside hitter Makenzi Moea’i has 297 kills, sophomore setter/outside hitter Stephanie Thelen has 1,044 assists and 224 digs, and freshman outside hitter Daryn Glenn has 222 kills and 234 digs. Sophomore middle blocker/outside hitter Candice Thomas has 201 kills and 103 blocks and will be counted on to provide on-court emotional leadership.
Win or lose Friday, Westman said she will conclude the season knowing the Rebels have made great strides. She noted that they already have improved on last year’s 10-20 record.
“The makeup of this team has gotten so much better,” she said. “We’re playing with more passion than we had last year, our unity is better, and we’re smarter and more fearless.”
The Rebels will attempt to capitalize on those strengths against the Aztecs at 11 a.m. Friday. Third-seeded Texas Christian and No. 6 Boise State will follow at 1:30 p.m., top-seeded Colorado State will play No. 8 Air Force at 5, and No. 4 Wyoming will close out the quarterfinal against No. 5 New Mexico at 7:30.
