The top 64 teams were announced this week for the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament, and UNLV is among them.
The team amassed a 27-3 record this year, and was ranked 33 rd in the nation before the tournament brackets were announced.
Those losses, though, came in the last few weeks. The team was undefeated going into November, and was favored to win the Mountain West tournament. They didn't even make the Mountain West championship game. Boise State beat Colorado State. All three teams, though, made it into the tournament.
Coach Cindy Fredrick told KNPR's State of Nevada that making it to the tournament is remarkable, because there are 300 schools around the country with teams.
"I'm really proud of our kids for accomplishing that because it recognizes them as one of the top 64 teams in the country right now," she said.
Fredrick said that all though she wants her players to be happy they made it to the tournament she doesn't want them to be happy with just making it to the tournament.
"I said to them, 'just be extremely proud of where you are, but also let's have the idea that we're going in to this to win," she said.
UNLV plays Utah Friday night, starting at 4 p.m. Fredrick says she has never faced Utah in the six years she's been coaching at UNLV. The team did play BYU this year, and lost 3-0. If they win Friday, they will play BYU Saturday.
"We're going to go one at a time," she told KNPR's State of Nevada, "We'll go with Utah first and we'll worry about BYU after that."
Games are airing on ESPN3 and ESPNU.
Cindy Fredrick, UNLV Women's Volleyball Coach
