By ROSEMARY LARSEN
Looking to rebound after its first loss in WAC Mountain Division play in over a year, the BYU’s women’s volleyball team will take on UNLV and Air Force this weekend in the Smith Fieldhouse.
The No. 9 Cougars took Monday and Tuesday off practice to relax and recover from Saturday’s loss to Colorado State that ended their perfect WAC record of 10-0.
“We need to rest up physically and mentally and to catch up on some school work,” said coach Elaine Michaelis. “We just need a little time to regroup and focus on what’s important.”
Michaelis said the team has used the practice time to strengthen some of the weaknesses and to try and get better.
These will be the final home WAC contests for the Cougars this year. In mid October, BYU defeated UNLV 15-1, 15-9, 15-7 in Las Vegas and beat Air Force 15-2, 15-3, 15-3 in Colorado Springs.
The UNLV Rebels are 1-8 in WAC competition and are hitting .162 as a team. Opponents are hitting .246. The Rebels are averaging 14.07 kills per game, along with 12.79 digs and 1.97 blocks per game.
Starting two juniors, a sophomore and two freshman, the Rebels are one of the youngest teams in the WAC.
Freshman Justine Kamelamela leads the team averaging 3.13 kills per game. She is backed up by junior Staci Smith who averages 3.00 kills per game.
“UNLV has some very nice talent-they’re just very young,” Michaelis said. “(Friday’s) match should give us a chance to work on the things we need to do against a pretty good opponent.
“They played well against us down there and we know we can’t take anything for granted,” she said.
Saturday night the Cougars are set to take on the Falcons. Air Force has a season record of 5-22 and a WAC record of 0-9.
The Falcons are also a young team with one junior, four sophomores and one freshman scheduled to start in Saturday’s match. But, like the Rebels, they haven’t capitalized on the young talent they have. The team has a low hitting percentage of .148 and are allowing opponents to hit .242.
“Air Force is young, they just haven’t come together as well as UNLV has,” Michaelis said.
Leading the offense for the Falcons is sophomore Robyn Duncan who averages 3.15 kills per game and a .185 hitting percentage.
Both games will begin at 7 p.m. in the Smith Fieldhouse.
