UNLV women’s volleyball picked to finish 5th in Mountain West poll
The UNLV women’s volleyball team was picked to finish tied for fifth place in the Mountain West preseason poll, which was voted on Wednesday by the conference’s 11 head coaches.
The Rebels and San Diego State garnered 64 points apiece, and No. 25 Colorado State was selected first with 96 points.
In addition to the poll, the coaches selected a seven-member preseason All-Mountain West Team, which included UNLV’s Bree Hammel and Alexis Patterson.
Hammel, a redshirt senior, has earned all-conference team recognition the past two seasons. The Las Vegas native led the Rebels last season in kills (305), kills per set (3.08) and hitting efficiency (.321). She tied for the top spot in solo blocks (15). She registered the program’s first triple-double (16 kills, 12 digs and 10 total blocks) in 11 years in a match against Green Bay on Sept. 4.
Patterson, a junior from Phoenix, dished out a team-high 1,091 assists to go along with 105 kills, 269 digs, 66 total blocks (64 assisted, two solo) and 18 aces. She also accumulated 13 double-doubles, all of which were from assist-dig combinations.
Coincidentally, UNLV and San Diego State concluded the 2015 league season tied for fifth place with identical 9-9 records.
2016 ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON TEAM
*Sierra Nobley, OH, Jr., Boise State
Maddy O’Donnell, MB, Sr., Boise State
Maddi Osburn, L/DS, Jr., Boise State
Alexandra Poletto, MB, Jr., Colorado State
Bree Hammel, MB, Sr., UNLV
Alexis Patterson, S, Jr., UNLV
Laura Beach, MB, Sr., Wyoming
*Preseason Player of the Year
2016 MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON COACHES’ POLL
1. Colorado State (6), 96
2. Boise State (4), 92
3. Wyoming (1), 80
4. New Mexico, 66
5. San Diego State, 64
UNLV, 64
7. Nevada, 47
8. Fresno State, 35
9. Utah State, 28
10. San Jose State, 21
11. Air Force, 12