Box Score

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV volleyball team (14-12 overall, 7-7 Mountain West) pulled out a hard-fought 3-2 win (25-19, 25-17, 15-25, 22-25, 16-14) over the New Mexico Lobos (14-13, 7-7 MW) Thursday night at the Cox Pavilion. The Rebels jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, but watched the Lobos creep back into the match with a win in the third set and later in the fourth. The visitors from Albuquerque staked itself to a match-point opportunity (14-13) in the waning stages of the fifth only to see the Scarlet & Gray rally for three straight points and the victory.

Unfortunately, Bree Hammel, the Rebels' 2014 all-region and all-conference performer, went down with an apparent injury on the play â€" a block by Cassie House â€" that pushed UNM ahead 14-13 in the fifth. To that point, Hammel had provided UNLV with 10 kills, four digs and two assisted blocks.

Moments before play was to resume UNLV head coach Cindy Fredrick called a timeout to help the team compose itself for the finish. The Rebels stepped back onto the court and quickly got a set-tying kill (14-14) from Alexis Patterson, which was followed by a go-ahead tally (15-15) from Alyssa Wing and one more from Patterson to seal the triumph.

The bout featured a total of 13 lead changes and 21 ties with the great majority of both of those figures occurring in the first, second and fifth stanzas. There were four apiece in the first, three lead changes and eight ties in the second and four and six, respectively, in the fifth. In the two sets that the Lobos won, they managed to run away with both primarily to only having one lead change and one tie in the third and one and two, respectively, in the fourth.

UNLV outhit UNM by 24 points (.306 to .282) with each side attempting 170 total attack attempts. The Rebels managed to record seven more kills (74-67), but also commit three more errors (22-19). The hosts opened up with its lowest hitting performance of the match in the first set (.270) before hitting .300 or better in the four that followed, including a team-best .324 in the second. UNM, on the other hand, began with a paltry .079 effort that was later upstaged by a .567 in the third and a .390 in the fourth.

"This was a gritty performance by our kids and a bittersweet win," said Fredrick. "Our prayers are with Bree right now as we wait for an update on her condition. I am so proud of this group. They fought so hard and never gave in. Alyssa (Wing) made a huge impact tonight with her serving and hitting. Ceannia (Kincade) played so tough front and back row. This was such a good win, but everyone's heart is with Bree."

Sadie Stutzman led the Rebels with a career-best and match-high tying 19 kills. Stutzman hit .286 for the Rebels with only five errors off of 49 swings â€" a career high. She also contributed six digs, two assists and one assisted block.

Kincade and Alexis Patterson had double-doubles for UNLV in the win. The former paired 17 kills â€" a career high â€" with 15 digs for her 12th career double-double, while the latter dished out 56 assists and 14 digs for her 18th. In addition to her kills and digs, Kincade chipped in three assists and two assisted blocks. Patterson added five kills â€" two of which were crucial late in the fifth, two assisted blocks and one ace.

Three other Rebels played key roles in the win with Wing pacing the trio with nine kills, seven digs, one assist and one ace. Elsa Descamps and Ashley Owens threw down seven kills apiece, while the former registered four total blocks (one solo) to one by the latter.

Besides the dig outputs by Kincade and Patterson, UNLV got a match-high 17 from Carly Riehl, who also assisted on four kills.

UNM's Hannah Johnson was the only one on her side of the net to register a double-double, as the setter combined 55 assists and 10 digs. Johnson also had five kills, one ace and one assisted block.

The Lobos had four players record double figures in kills with a team-best 19 coming from Cassie House. Devanne Sours (14 kills), Skye Gullatt (12) and Julia Warren (10) rounded out the foursome. Ashley Kelsey took over the libero role in the third set and wound up notching a team-high 16 digs.

UNLV returns to the Cox Pavilion court Saturday against the Air Force Falcons. First serve is scheduled for 6:00 pm.

NOTES: With help from her 17 digs, Carly Riehl moved into 10th place in UNLV's career record book with 821 … UNLV's .306 hitting efficiency vs. UNM marked the sixth time that it hit .300 or better in a match this season, and it's the best average the team has registered since it hit .343 vs. Texas Southern on Sept. 18 … UNLV's 74 kills were a match high this season, while its 170 attack attempts were its third-most … UNLV's 66 assists were its second-most this season.