Sept. 2, 2016 Box Score
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV volleyball team improved to 5-0 with its 3-0 sweep of the Hofstra Pride (4-2) Friday evening to close out the first day of the Rebel Challenge at the Cox Pavilion. The Scarlet & Gray's offense hit a season-high .337 and was powered by Bree Hammel's 13 kills. Ashley Owens and Elsa Descamps added nine and eight kills of their own, respectively.
This year's 5-0 start -- all at home -- marks the fourth instance in program history that a squad has kicked off a campaign with that many consecutive wins. Both the 1979 and 1998 editions went 5-0 while the 1999 team began a program-best 7-0.
The Rebels outhit the Pride by 108 points (.337 to .229) with assistance from fewer errors (10-20) and total attacks (104-109). Both teams managed to throw down 45 kills in the affair; however, UNLV kept its attack errors between one and five in each set while Hofstra ranged between four and 10. The home side also hit above .225 -- high of .394 in the third -- in each stanza while the team from Hempstead, New York topped out with a .394 effort in the third. The Pride's offense was hindered by hitting clips of .182 and .140 in its earlier sets.
Not only did the Rebels produce their best hitting effort to-date, but they also provided 12.0 total blocks (three solo and 18 assisted) on the defensive side of the net. Owens (six: all assisted) and Alexis Patterson (six: one solo and five assisted) paced the blockers while Hammel (four: two solo and two assisted) and Descamps (three: all assisted) limited the Pride's scoring.
Patterson led all with 36 assists to go along with six digs. Her teammate Carly Riehl added a team-high eight digs.
Hofstra got 14 and 10 kills from Leticia Valente and Laura Masciullo, respectively. Hannah Klemm topped her side in assists with 34 while Luisa Domingues had a team-high 14 digs.
The Rebels won the first set with ease after they had maintained a healthy cushion -- mostly five-to-six points -- until it ballooned to 10 points at the end (25-15). The second was following the path of its predecessor; however, Hofstra turned a six-point deficit (18-12) into only one (22-21) down the stretch. Luckily, a kill by Owens and errors by Hofstra's Nanishka Perez and Valente resulted in the three points that were needed to push ahead 2-0.
The Pride came out of the intermission with pep in their step and swing, as it led by as much as eight at the 15-7 juncture. That lead was short-lived as the Rebels won 18 of the next 25 points to claim the set and match. Hammel (four kills and one ace), Wing (three kills and one ace), Descamps (three kills), Owens (one kill), Sadie Stutzman (one kill) and Elisa Woinowsky (one ace) spurred the Rebels' late turnaround. Hofsta's offense proved three points via attacking errors.
NOTES: With the win, UNLV has won 19 of its last 21 matches played in the friendly confines of the Cox Pavilion ... With help from her eight digs, Riehl moved into sixth in career digs (956).
