Rock Falls’ Maya Sands to play volleyball at UNLV

Rock Falls senior Maya Sands will continue her volleyball career in 2022 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

She made her choice after a campus visit as part of a family trip out west which included Oregon and Las Vegas.

“I didn’t really know much about it until I went out and visited,” she said. “I think that area is just a lot different, so I wanted to experience something different. I loved the coaching staff, and the volleyball is competitive and the girls are fun to be around.”

Rock Falls coach Sheila Pillars said UNLV is getting a well-rounded player who can make an impact with the Rebels.

“This is my 24th season coaching Rock Falls volleyball, and she’s one of the top five athletes that I’ve coached coming through this program,” Pillars said. “She’s just such a hard, dedicated worker, and what’s even better is she’s a better person off the court than she is on it.”

UNLV is coached by Dawn Sullivan, a former assistant coach at Illinois State and Iowa State who, in three seasons with the Runnin’ Rebels, has posted back-to-back 20-win seasons in 2018 and 2019. UNLV then went 13-1 in the COVID-shortened spring 2021 season, finishing 12-0 in the Mountain West Conference and reaching the NCAA Tournament in Omaha. The Rebels beat former Sterling star Kaylee Martin and the Illinois State Redbirds in the first round before falling in the second round to No. 2 Kentucky.

“The coaching staff, they are super supportive,” Sands said. “They focus not just on mental health, but on having the team be super connected, no drama. ... The program used to not be as successful before [Sullivan] got there. She’s really turned around the program. I wanted to be in a program I knew could be successful.”

Sands also was in contact with Oregon, Wyoming, Wisconsin and UNC-Greensboro, eventually picking UNLV.

With the Rebels, Sands will be playing in the back row, where she has been playing as part of her club team, Sports Performance out of Aurora.

“I’m undersized to be a hitter in college, and I knew that,” Sands said. “For club, I switched to libero this past year, but for high school I’ll still be hitting.

“I love both front row and back row. Front row is super fun, and being a six-rotation player, but I think back row is super fun too, getting to dig up balls against really big hitters.”

Sands had her already COVID-shortened spring season cut even shorter by injury, but still managed 55 kills, 79 digs and 12 aces. As a sophomore in 2019, she had 222 kills, 276 digs, 30 blocks and 67 aces and was named first-team all-conference, helping the Rockets to a regional title. She burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2018, producing 162 kills, 262 digs and 34 aces and being named second-team all-conference. In her first game at Tabor Gym as a freshman, a win over Dunlap, she had a team-high nine kills.

“We saw her coming to camps in the summer when she was in junior high,” Pillars said. “She was strong right away. Her knowledge of the game, she had put in more hours on the volleyball court than some of my players in high school. She’s just a pure athlete, willing to learn, knows the game well. It was just a seamless fit.”