Oct. 29, 2016 Box Score
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV volleyball team clicked on all cylinders Saturday in its 3-0 sweep of the Fresno State Bulldogs at the Cox Pavilion. The Rebel offense committed a season-low six errors en route to a season-best .432 hitting while their defense combined for 10.0 total team blocks. With the win -- by set scores of 25-23, 25-23, 25-11, the Scarlet & Gray improved to 21-3 overall and 10-2 in the Mountain West. Fresno State dropped to 12-11 for the year and 3-9 in Conference action.
UNLV outhit FS by 276 points -- a season high -- behind a .432 to .156 differential. The disparity in hitting efficiencies was a result from an advantage of seven more kills (47-40) and 17 fewer errors (6-23) by the Rebels despite their offense attempting 14 fewer attack attempts. The hosts only misfired three times in both the first and second sets, and they did not have an error in the third frame that resulted in a staggering .600 hitting efficiency (15-0-25). The Rebels hit .457 (19-3-35) in the opening stanza and followed that with a .286 (13-3-35). The Bulldogs, on the other hand, racked up a minimum of six errors in each set, and that included 10 in the second. The visitors from the Golden State watched their hitting figures plummet frame by frame from .212 to .167 to .088.
"We had everyone firing tonight on offense and that set the tone for the match," said head coach Cindy Fredrick. "I thought we did a good job controlling the net, as well. Everyone stepped up their play today, and it was so fun to get Natalie (Bulen) in to set and have her go right to Kayla (Kinney) in the middle for a kill! Madison (Harper) came in, as well, and gave us good back row play. It was great fun today for the Rebels."
Bree Hammel and Elsa Descamps were key contributors on both sides of the net for UNLV. The former hit .375 and had a match-best 16 kills to go along with one ace, eight digs and four assisted blocks while the latter had 10 kills, hit a match-high .714 and added two assists, two digs and eight assisted blocks.
The Rebels also got eight kills from Alyssa Wing (.368 hitting), five more from Alexis Patterson (.556) and four from Ashley Owens (.429).
In addition to her kills, Patterson dished out a match-high 35 assists and aided the team defensively with five digs and four assisted blocks.
UNLV had a total of five players record a minimum of five digs. Besides the aforementioned outputs from Hammel and Patterson, the team got seven apiece from Carly Riehl and Laura Butler and six more from Elisa Woinowsky.
Prior to the match, Riehl was recognized for playing in her 113 career match, which moved her into a tie for the 10th most in program history. To date, she sits fifth in career digs with 1,171; six shy of former teammate Daryn Glenn's (2011-14) 1,177.
Aleisha Coates led the Bulldogs in kills with 10 while Madelyn Halteman and Brooke Legaux split the setting duties with 17 and 14 assists, respectively. Their libero Maggie Epright notched a match-high of 12 digs.
Not only did the triumph mean something for the program's record book, but it also kept the Rebels atop the MW's standings with Boise State, which is 9-2 after a 3-0 win at Nevada, Reno Thursday. Colorado State (8-2) sits one half of a game behind the pair in third.
UNLV will hit the road for a pair of matches near the Rocky Mountains. The Rebels begin the trek Thursday (7:00 pm MT/6:00 pm PT) against Colorado State in Fort Collins. Two days later, the team will square off with Wyoming in Laramie at noon MT (11:00 am PT). The Scarlet & Gray will then return to Las Vegas and the Cox Pavilion for a battle with Utah State on November 10 (6:00 pm).
NOTES: The 17-error difference in the match was the largest in a victory by the Rebels this season ... With the win, the 2016 Rebels sit fifth all-time in victories (21) in program history ... The win gives UNLV six in its last seven outings against Fresno State, and it upped the former's lead in the head-to-head series to 10-6 ... With help from one ace, Hammel moved into a tie for ninth place with 33 aces in the program's single-season record book ... Hammel also moved up in the career book to fourth in assisted blocks with 319.
