Sept. 6, 2014 Box Score
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (UNLVRebels.com) - For the first time in the young 2014 season, the UNLV volleyball team faced its first 1-0 deficit after previously winning the opening set seven consecutive times. The Rebels (6-2) shook off the early setback and won the three subsequent frames for a 3-1 victory over the Seton Hall Pirates (5-2) with set scores of 19-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-21.
The come-from-behind win crowned the Scarlet & Gray the 2014 Seton Hall Invitational champions with a perfect 3-0 mark at Walsh Gym. The host Pirates claimed second-place honor behind a 3-1 record, while Rutgers (2-1), Cornell (1-3) and Siena (0-4) rounded out third through fifth place.
UNLV placed Bree Hammel, Ceannia Kincade and Alyssa Wing on the seven-member all-tournament team. The trio joined Rutgers' Meme Fletcher, Cornell's Natasha Rowland and the Hall's Shelbey Manthorpe and Stacey Manthorpe.
SHU led in nearly every statistical category except all three blocking categories, which UNLV owned by an overwhelming margin. The Rebels registered 18 total team blocks behind a smattering of four solo blocks and 28 assisted putbacks. The Pirates were only able to stuff eight total attacks with two solo and 12 assisted.
The Rebels' frontline had four different players rack up at least four blocks. Hammel paced the defense with a career-high 11 total blocks (two solo). Kincade had seven assisted stuffs, while Katlin Winters and Wing had four apiece.
Besides the blocking effort, UNLV's backline had a total of 107 digs. Five different players had at least 13 with Allison Davies' 29 keeping the team in the contest. Daryn Glenn and Alexis Patterson each had 18 digs to go along with 15 from Kincade and 13 from Carly Riehl.
On the offensive side of the net, Wing and Glenn tied for the team lead in kills with 13, while Kincade added 10. Patterson contributed a match-high 41 assists, too.
In all, three members on the winning side had double-doubles as Kincade and Glenn parlayed their kills and digs for the feat compared to Patterson's combining assists and digs. Hammel was a few numbers shy of a triple-double with her double-digit blocks, seven kills and seven digs.
"Our kids executed so well tonight," said head coach Cindy Fredrick. "Our offense wasn't as solid tonight, but our defense, blocking and serving were so good that we were able to stay on the offensive. This was a tough environment to play in. I am really proud of our toughness showed with this win. Bree and Ceannia blocked so well and I really liked the way Alexis used all of her hitters."
For the match, SHU outhit UNLV .120 to .109 with advantages in kills (55-52) and attempts (209-202). Both teams committed 30 errors. The host team opened up with a .250 hitting efficiency in set one, but hit no better than .163 in any following frame. The Rebels, on the other hand, got better in every stanza. They went from .024 to .054 to .140 to .200 from set one to four.
The Rebels return to action next week at The Invitational in Seattle with matches at Seattle University and the University of Washington. UNLV will face Seattle and Washington on Friday, Sept. 12 before it meets UC Davis one day later.
NOTES: Defensively, Hammel's 11 total blocks are the most since Madeline Westman had 12 against Utah State on Nov. 21, 2013 ... Davies' 29 digs are the most since she had 29 against Boise State on Nov. 23, 2013 ... UNLV's 202 attack attempts are the most since it had 224 against Wyoming on Oct. 11, 2012 ... UNLV's 107 digs are the most since it had 113 against Washington State on Sept. 1, 2006 ... Tonight was the first instance that UNLV had five players register 10 or more digs apiece since it occurred three times in 2013 - last vs. Fresno State on Nov. 7.
