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 five years at the helm as she has led the Rebels to three straight Mountain West Conference championships (two tournament titles, one regular-season crown) and two NCAA Tournament appearances as well. Mertz has turned the Rebels into one of the premier programs in the Mountain West Conference.

This last season, the 2009 UNLV Rebels set out to play arguably the toughest schedule in program history. UNLV faced teams from the strongest soccer conferences around the nation, taking on opponents from the ACC, Big 10, Pac 10, West Coast and the Big West conferences. On the way to a 5-9-5 finish the Rebels faced six eventual NCAA Tournament teams, and the season was highlighted by an impressive trip to the state of North Carolina where they earned a 1-0 win over North Carolina State and a 0-0 double-overtime tie with ACC powerhouse and 24th-ranked Duke.

During her 2008 campaign, the Rebels were off to their best start ever at 6-1-1, which included a 2-1 overtime win over No. 24 Milwaukee. That win gave UNLV its first-ever top-25 ranking, as the Rebels were 25th in the Sept. 16 Soccer America Top-25 Poll. However, injuries in the midseason took their toll on the team, which would finish at 11-7-3. Three Rebels finished the year with all-conference honors, while sophomore forward Ashleigh Shoughro, a first-year transfer, was named to two All-West Region teams.

In 2007, Mertz guided the UNLV squad to a fourth straight conference championship title, as the Rebels claimed the MWC regular-season crown with a 5-1-1 mark. The championship was won in dramatic fashion. With the title on the line in the regular-season finale, UNLV posted its first win over BYU, a 1-0 victory over the 24th-ranked Cougars. Despite the team's 11-5-5 final mark, it was passed over for the NCAA Tournament, marking the first time in four years the program would not receive a bid.

In Mertz's second year in 2006, 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 No. 21 Pepperdine, 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 NSCAA 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.

Mertz is currently an assistant with the U-20 National Team, who qualified for the FIFA World Cup that will be held in July 2010 in Germany. She has also served as an assistant coach on the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Championship Team.

She also served as assistant coach for the U-15 Women's National Team in the summers of 2004 and 2005. In the summer of 2007, 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 set the conference mark with 436 saves, and finished with 24 career shutouts. 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.

Jennifer Klein
Assistant Coach, UNLV Women's Soccer

Jennifer Klein has served as assistant coach on the UNLV staff since August of 2007. She assists in recruiting and running practices, as well as office duties.

Klein came 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. Since coming to Las Vegas, she has coached with several local youth teams, and is also involved with the Nevada ODP and Region IV ODP.

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.

Katie Burton
Director of Soccer Operations UNLV

Katie Burton is in her first year as the Director of Operations for the UNLV Men’s and Women’s Soccer teams.

Before coming to UNLV, Burton spent the past two years as the Graduate Assistant Coach at Sacramento State University.  As the graduate assistant, Burton helped in the management of individual, team and goalkeeper training. She also assisted in recruiting and was the Hornet Summer Camp Director.  Burton also coached for the San Juan Soccer Club and a number of other local competitive teams during her graduate assistantship at Sacramento State University. 

Burton was a member of the Sacramento State University Hornets Women’s Soccer Program from 2003-2007.  She made an immediate impact as soon as she joined the club in 2003, after sustaining a season ending knee injury she was awarded an all-BigSky honorable mention and earning team Co-MVP and Rookie of the Year honors. As a junior and captain in 2006, she was an anchor in the Hornets defense playing on both the back line and defensive midfield. Burton earned second team all-BigSky honors and was named team Defensive MVP while helping the Hornets reach the BigSky Championship game for the first time in program history. 

Burton capped off her five years as a Hornet in 2007 with first team all-BigSky , team Defensive MVP honors and was also named to the all- BigSky  tournament team after leading the Hornets to a 3-0 shutout over Northern Colorado in the conference title game.  Burton and the rest of the Hornet squad broke 24 BigSky Conference and Sacramento State University women’s soccer records en route to reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.

Burton graduated in the spring of 2008 from Sacramento State with a degree in business with an emphasis in accounting. She plans on attending the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Graduate School to obtain her master’s degree in Sports Education Leadership in the fall of 2010.