UNLV Soccer Camps in Las Vegas, Nevada

UNLV Soccer Camps

Women's Staff

Katherine Mertz
Head Coach, UNLV Women's Soccer and Camp Director

Katherine Mertz has made a tremendous impact on the UNLV soccer program in her two years at the helm as she has led the Rebels to two straight Mountain West Conference Tournament championships and two straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

Last year the Rebels stayed near the .500 mark the entire season while breaking in 10 newcomers. The team started to come together near the end of the season, however, as shown by an overtime victory over Pepperdine on Oct. 1, the first win over a ranked team in UNLV history. The Rebels then entered the MWC tournament as the third seed, but played outstanding defense to win back-to-back penalty kick shootouts to earn the 2006 MWC title. The win also gave UNLV its third-straight NCAA appearance, while forward Tanya Roberts earned All-West Region honors.

Mertz had an impressive beginning to her head coaching career, as the Rebels began the 2005 season with a 3-4-3 mark, but bounced back over the final 10 games to post a 7-3 record en route to setting a new school record for wins in a season at 13 (13-7-3 overall record).

UNLV easily broke several defensive team records in 2005, including goals allowed in a season with 14, and team goals against average at 0.59, which ranked 12th in the nation. Mertz guided the squad to three straight wins in the MWC Tournament, including two straight in overtime, to capture the 2005 MWC Tournament title with a 1-0 win over New Mexico, putting the Rebels into the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the eight-year history of the program. There they just narrowly missed making the second round, falling at 15th-ranked Cal State Fullerton 1-0 in overtime. Four Rebels would be named all-conference in her first year in Las Vegas, with one earning all-region honors as well.

Mertz became the third head coach in UNLV women's soccer history in April of 2005. She came to Las Vegas from UCLA, where she was an assistant coach for the women's soccer program for five years. While on the Bruins staff, she helped guide them to three trips to the College Cup and two NCAA championship game appearances (2000, lost to North Carolina 2-1, 2004, lost to Notre Dame on penalty kicks). UCLA advanced to the NCAA third round all five of her years on the staff, while the Bruins also won three Pac-10 conference titles.

She also served as assistant coach for the U-15 Women's National Team in the summers of 2004 and 2005. This past summer, Mertz was assistant and goalkeeper coach for the U-20 National Training Camp in Maryland that trained the U-20 National Team for the Pan American Games in Brazil.

Mertz was a four-year starting goalkeeper at North Carolina State from 1994-97, and helped the Wolfpack advance to the NCAA Tournament her first three years, including the NCAA Quarterfinals in 1995. She ranked second in ACC history with 24 career shutouts, and set the conference mark with 436 saves. Mertz graduated from the school in 1998 with a degree in natural resources.

Following a year as an undergraduate assistant for NC State in 1998, she continued her soccer career in the W-League as the goalkeeper for the Raleigh Wings, which won the USISL Championship in 1998 and 1999. Mertz then served a year as assistant coach at Virginia in 1999 under former national team head coach April Heinrichs before moving to UCLA in 2000.
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Jennifer Klein
Assistant Coach, UNLV Women's Soccer

Jennifer Klein is the newest member of the UNLV coaching staff, as she was hired in August of 2007.

Klein comes to UNLV from Arizona, where she was a volunteer assistant coach for the school after completing a four-year career for the Wildcats from 2002-05. As an assistant, Klein helped in the running of team and individual training, as well as performing administrative duties for the squad. She also assisted in recruiting and team camps as well. A member of the Region IV ODP staff, Klein served as head coach of the '94 Girls team, which won the 2007 Gothia Cup, and she has also been a coach for the Arizona Rush Soccer Club.

As a player at Arizona, she was a team captain her final two seasons, while helping the squad to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2005 and to its first Pac-10 Championship the previous year. She appeared in 78 games in her career, with 60 starts as a midfielder and outside back. Klein was also a member of the Arizona Heatwave in the W-League from 2003-05.

Klein received her bachelor of science degree in science from Arizona in May of 2006.