UNLV roundup: Knight, Oda lead Rebels’ league golf honorees

UNLV’s Dwaine Knight was named Mountain West men’s golf coach of the year, and Rebels junior John Oda was selected the league’s player of the year in voting by the Mountain West’s 11 coaches.

Oda, junior Shintaro Ban and sophomore Harry Hall gained all-conference honors — the third for Oda and second for Ban and Hall.

Oda’s player of the year honor marked the first for a UNLV men’s golfer since Derek Ernst in 2011. Oda is the fourth Rebel to win the award. Knight, in his 30th season leading the program, also was conference coach of the year in 2002, 1998 and 1989.

The 16th-ranked Rebels are coming off a second straight Mountain West championship Sunday and are waiting to find out their seed and site for an NCAA regional, which starts May 15.

The selections will be announced Thursday. It will mark UNLV’s NCAA-record 29th straight postseason appearance.

The back-to-back conference titles are the first for UNLV since joining the Mountain West. In 12 tournaments this year, the Rebels have recorded two victories, four runner-up finishes, two thirds and a fourth-place finish.

Oda, from Honolulu, is ranked 15th nationally by Golfstat and 27th by Golfweek. He leads the Rebels and the Mountain West in scoring average this season at 70.26 strokes per round. He has won two tournament titles, totaled 10 top-10 finishes in 13 tournaments and placed ninth or better in each of his past seven events.

Ban, from San Jose, California, is second on the team in scoring average at 71.06 strokes per round. He has recorded six top-10 finishes this year, with his top performance being a tie for second.

Hall, from Hayle, England, is third on the team in scoring average at 71.42 strokes per round. He also has had six top-10 finishes and placed second twice.

WOMEN’S GOLF

Senior Alexandra Kaui, junior Mackenzie Raim and sophomore Elizabeth Prior were named to the Mountain West all-league teams, with Kaui and Raim gaining first-team designation.

Kaui, a Las Vegas native, ranks fourth in the Mountain West with a 73.41 scoring average and 1.52 score against par. She owns the seventh (73.41) and eighth-best (73.61) single-season scoring averages in program history.

Raim, from Palm Desert, California, became the sixth player in program history to earn first-team honors twice or more. She ranks third in the Mountain West with a 73.07 scoring average and 1.19 score against par.

Prior, from Surrey, England, paced UNLV at the Mountain West tournament, tying for fourth at 2 under — her best three-round score of the year.

Coming off their second consecutive Mountain West title, the Rebels will make their 15th straight NCAA regional appearance when they compete in the Lubbock (Texas) Regional on May 8-10.