Box Score

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The Rebel volleyball team opened up the 2015 season Friday with a 3-1 victory (25-14, 25-23, 21-25, 25-15) over the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears (0-1) at the Cox Pavilion. The Scarlet & Gray were paced by Ceannia Kincade's 16 kills, which were both a career- and match-high tally.

UNLV outhit UCA .293 to .113 with help from a pair of .435 or better efficiencies in the contest. The Rebels opened the affair with a staggering .483 output with 18 kills against four errors in 29 attempts. Unfortunately, they followed that display with .125 and .188 efforts in the second and third frames, respectively. The fourth stanza, on the other hand, left little doubt that UNLV wanted to end the match in four sets, as the team hit .435 (13-3-23).

"We had a good offensive night in spite of some struggles with our passing," said UNLV head coach Cindy Fredrick. "I thought all of our hitters took care of the ball tonight. It's a good win to open up the season, but we saw some things we'll definitely need to improve upon as we move on."

The Sugar Bears fell behind 2-0 due to poor hitting on their part with a .115 and .122 in the first two sets. They topped out at .259 in the third â€" their only set victory of the match â€" only to see a paltry -.033 showing in the fourth.

The Rebels led in all the major categories, and amassed more kills (54-40), assists (49-38), digs (50-38) and blocks (8.0-6.0). The Sugar Bears attempted eight more swings (124-116), and, in turn, committed six more errors (26-20).

Besides her 16 kills, Kincade hit at a .345 clip and also contributed seven digs, three assisted blocks and one assist.

Alyssa Wing recorded her first career double-double off a combination of 10 kills and 15 digs.

Bree Hammel, a 2014 AVCA All-Pacific South Honorable Mention and All-Mountain West performer, threw down 13 kills off a .524 average (13-2-21). Defensively, Hammel chipped in four assisted blocks and one dig.

Alexis Patterson, a 2014 All-MW honoree, paced the Rebel offense with 46 assists to go along with six digs and three kills.

Carly Riehl and Wing combined for 27 of the team's 50 digs with the former responsible for 12 of the defensive stops.

Two newcomers saw ample action Friday evening with Caitlin Wernentin and Elsa Descamps playing in all four stanzas. Wernentin isn't a newcomer per se, but she only played in three matches a year ago before an injury concluded her season. The redshirt freshman had career-highs in kills (eight), blocks (five â€" all assisted) and digs (two). Descamps, a freshman from France, had four kills, four assisted blocks and two digs.

The Sugar Bears were led by 12-kill efforts from both Samantha Anderson and Heather Schnars. Their teammate, Amy South, had a team-high 37 assists.

In the first match of the UNLV Invitational, Omaha defeated Seton Hall in straight sets (25-23, 25-22, 25-17).

The Rebels return to action Saturday with a pair of matches against Omaha (10:00 am) and Seton Hall (7:00 pm). Central Arkansas will square off against the same foes as UNLV with their contests scheduled for 12:30 pm (Seton Hall) and 4:30 pm (Omaha).

NOTES: UNLV has won three of its past four season openers â€" all of which have occurred at home â€" and improved its overall record in a season's first match to 10-13 … UNLV has won five of its past six home openers and upped its overall mark in the first home match of a season to 11-12 with a 6-2 mark in "true" home openers.