University of Nevada - Las Vegas Women's Volleyball

Brian Magbitang will be entering his third season at the start of 2026, serving as an assistant coach and director of volleyball. During his second season at the helm of the Scarlet & Gray in 2025, Magbitang saw redshirt sophomore Jaida Harris make history as just the second Rebel to be named Mountain West Newcomer of the Year. Under the staff’s guidance, junior libero Caleigh King also reached a major milestone, becoming the seventh player in program history to surpass 1,000 career digs while climbing into the top 10 all-time in both digs and service aces. The Rebels also collected four Mountain West Player of the Week honors, with Alondra Alarcon and Harris earning offensive recognition, Rheanna Deen-Jackson picking up defensive honors and Kaia Thiele being named Freshman of the Week. A dozen player were also named to the Mountain West Fall All-Conference Team. In 2024, UNLV had multiple standouts recognized, as senior Chloe Thomas and freshman Basia Latos each received Mountain West Honorable Mention honors. Thomas, alongside Gabrielle Arretche-Ramos, was also selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team. The season also featured a historic moment for the program, as the Rebels hosted their annual Polynesian Night against Hawai‘i at Cox Pavilion for the first time since 1997, securing a thrilling 3-2 victory in front of a program-record sellout crowd of 3,117—surpassing the previous high of 1,318 set in 2023 against Utah State. Magbitang most recently worked on the Nebraska Cornhuskers volleyball staff as the Video & Administrative Coordinator. He was instrumental to the program’s National Championship runner-up finishes at the 2021 and 2023 NCAA DI Volleyball Championships and the outright Big Ten Conference Championship in 2023. Originally joining the program in January 2020, he handled all aspects of coordinating game film, developing statistical reports for opponent scouting, and assisted with day-to-day administrative operations of the volleyball program. In his tenure, the team produced a combined record of 101-19 (.842). Produced 11 AVCA All-Americans, 17 All- Big Ten Selections and 19 AVCA All-Region honorees. During the recent 2023 season, Magbitang and the Cornhuskers finished with a 33-2 record and earned a no. 1 RPI ranking and the no.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He was also a key piece in helping the program break the world record for women’s sports attendance back in August of last year, drawing 92,003 fans to an outdoor football stadium match in Memorial Stadium against Omaha. Magbitang was also previously at Oral Roberts as an assistant coach for the 2018 and 2019 seasons before stepping in as interim head coach. While with the Golden Eagles, Magbitang helped coach outside hitter CeCe Madison to an All-Summit League First-Team selection after she ranked 35th in the NCAA with 481 total kills. Prior to his stint at Oral Roberts, Magbitang spent six years at Wichita State, including two years as a graduate assistant. While at WSU, the Shockers cumulated a 152-48 combined recorded with a winning percentage of .760. They also reached the NCAA tournament five times in the six season stretch, winning four NCAA tournament matches and reaching the program's first-ever NCAA Regional Semifinal. Claimed two Missouri Valley Conference regular season titles, two MVC tournament titles, and a perfect 20-0 conference record in The American Athletic Conference in 2017. Coached 7 AVCA All-Americans and 15 All-Conference players to include 3 conference player of the year awards. He assisted in the initiation and execution of drills, served as the Data Volley scout, applied a new camera system for Volleymetrics analytics and assisted in fundraising efforts and community outreach. Magbitang also has worked extensively on the club circuit in Lincoln, Tulsa, and Wichita coaching at Nebraska Juniors Volleyball Club, Ultimate Performance Volleyball club, Shockwave Volleyball Academy and No Coast Beach Volleyball Club. Magbitang was the recruiting coordinator, master coach, and implemented skill focus for all ages in each of the clubs. Prior to his work on the volleyball court, he spent eight years in the United States Air Force as a Technical Sergeant serving two overseas tours of duty in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. As an electrical and environmental systems mechanic, he earned two Air Force Achievement medals and awarded an accelerated promotion given to less than five percent of all USAF members. With the Air Force, Magbitang was responsible for testing, troubleshooting, repairing and maintenance of assigned aircraft, primarily the KC-135. He also was a hands-on supervisor and resource manager in developing new Airman training programs. Magbitang graduated from Wichita State with a bachelor's degree in exercise science and also finished a master's degree in 2019 in the same discipline. He is married to McKenzie and has two daughters, Tatum Jo and Stevie Bee. 

Matt Kuelpman joined the UNLV program in March 2026. In Kuelpman’s first season as an assistant coach and offensive coordinator, the Lobos averaged 12.26 kills per set, with Uxue Guereca (393 kills) and Kaitlynn Biassou (382 kills) both recording nearly 400 kills each en route to All-MW honors. UNM finished tied for fourth in the conference standings for the Lobos’ third-straight MW Tournament appearance, outlasting UNLV in five sets in the first round to advance to the conference semis. Kuelpman came to UNM from Weber State, where he was the assistant coach for the past four seasons and also served as the recruiting coordinator for its 2023 and 2035 classes. During his time with the Wildcats, his responsibilities included coaching the backrow defense and coordinating the offense during matches, coaching the team’s blocking, serving, and defensive strategies, and oversaw the team’s travel and camps. While he was with Weber State, the Wildcats improved in digs per set, kills per set and won the Big Sky Championship for the second time in program history. In 2019, Weber State competed in the NIVC tournament and advanced to the quarterfinals after beating MW opponents Boise State and Wyoming. Weber State had its best season in school history in 2020, going 15-1 and won the first-ever Big Sky regular season title in program history and later won the first conference tournament championship since 1988. The Wildcats repeated as conference champions in 2021, and from 2019 through 2021, the Wildcats won 25-straight matches at home for the longest home winning streak in the nation.

Lexie Torres joined the UNLV coaching staff in the spring of 2026 after spending the previous three years as an Assistant Coach at UTEP. During her tenure with the Miners, Torres helped the program to a combined 77-21 record, where she coached seven All-Conference USA honorees. The 2025 squad saw them earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed—the second NCAA appearance in program history and the second straight postseason berth.  The 2024 team became the first NCAA Division I team to reach 20 wins this season and closed the year with a top-40 RPI ranking (No. 38). Their efforts culminated in the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance with an at-large bid. UTEP's 27-6 record was the best in program history through 33 matches, and the Miners became the first NCAA Division I team in the country to reach 20 wins this season. The Miners also strung together a school-record 13-match win streak, shattering the previous single-season record of nine set in 1982 and 1996. Before her time in El Paso, Torres was a part of the Cisco College coaching staff in the fall of 2022 after spending the previous three years coaching the women's volleyball team at Abilene Christian. During her time at Cisco, the Wranglers achieved the most wins in school history and had four All-Conference Players (1x First Team and 3x Second Team). Torres joined the ACU Wildcats coaching staff in the fall of 2019 after graduating Cum Laude from Southeastern Louisiana University.  In her two years at SLU, Torres was a member of the Lady Lions volleyball team. While with the Lions, she played libero and was named to the Southland Conference Commissioner's honor roll both years. During the 2017 season, she earned All-Tournament honors at the BGSU / UT Invitational.  Prior to her time at SLU, she played two years at Hill College in Hillsboro, Texas. She had a breakout season as a freshman earning first team All-Conference and All-Region honors. She was ranked 19th in the country for digs and also picked up an All-Tournament team selection at the Odessa College Tournament. She also earned the NJCAA Academic Student-Athlete Award - Pinnacle for her success both on and off the court. In her sophomore season, she earned second team All-Conference honors. She is the All-Time record holder for digs with 1,040.  A native of San Antonio, she attended Incarnate Word High School where she played volleyball and earned All-District honors three times.