SAN DIEGO (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team snapped San Diego State's five-match win streak with a 3-1 victory Saturday night in Mountain West competition at Peterson Gym. The Rebels (14-6 overall, 5-3 MW) claimed the first two sets of the match, but had to fend off the Aztecs (6-15, 4-4 MW) the remainder of the contest, as the latter won the third and fought back to extend the fourth. The Scarlet & Gray won the bout behind set scores of 25-17, 25-21, 17-25, 30-28.
 
The squads were nearly identical in the hitting department, as UNLV's hitting efficiency was only one point better (.206 to .205) and its attackers had two fewer errors (22-24), while SDSU registered two more kills (51-49) in one more attack attempt (132-131). The Rebels opened the affair with a .321 hitting average, but followed it with a .118, .250 and .162 in the subsequent sets. The Aztecs, on the other hand, posted their best effort in the third with a .517, which featured 15 kills against zero attack errors off of 29 swings. The hosts; however, were limited to a .133 in the first, a .000 in the second and a .200 in the fourth.
 
SDSU held advantages in assists (48-44), digs (54-48) and total team blocks (11.5-8.0), while UNLV had one more ace (7-6).
 
TURNING POINT: After missing out on a chance to sweep SDSU, UNLV pushed out to as much as a seven-point lead, 13-6, in what looked to be the decisive fourth set; however, the Aztecs fought back into the affair. SDSU managed to draw even at 21-all after it won 15 of the next 23 points. From that moment forward, neither team held more than a one-point edge until UNLV was able to win two straight for the set and match victory. Both squads had multiple opportunities to win the stanza with three set-point chances apiece. Fortunately, the Rebels capitalized on a pair of Aztec miscues: a service error and an attack error.
 
QUOTABLE: "This week we played Fresno State and really struggled there, and coming out tonight, I thought they were very focused," said head coach Dawn Sullivan. "They (the players) knew we had to be much better with our serve and pass than we were on Thursday. I thought they did a much better job there, and just controlling on our side; controlling errors and just the energy level. And they just competed. I thought this group did great; they just came out and fought for every point."
 
STAT OF THE GAME: The fourth set alone had nine ties and five lead changes, while the first three frames only featured five ties and three lead changes – none of either came in the third. SDSU triggered eight of the ties when it drew even with UNLV at 21-all in the fourth. Four of the five lead changes in the fourth occurred after that stalemate, too.
 
REBEL OF THE GAME: Setter Antonette Rolda notched a match-high 37 assists to go along with a season-high seven kills off of .545 hitting, five digs and two assisted blocks. Rolda had two kills each in the first, third and fourth sets.
 
REBEL NOTES:
- UNLV's 14-6 start is tied with the 2006 squad for the fifth-best record through 20 matches in program history, and only trails 2014's 15-5 mark, 1998's 16-4, 2007's 17-3 and 2016's 18-2.
- UNLV snapped a three-match losing streak to SDSU in San Diego with Saturday's win; however, the latter still leads the all-time series 27-20.
- UNLV's five wins in eight Mountain West matches surpassed the four MW victories last year's squad notched in 18 tries.
- UNLV is now 6-5 in matches played away from Las Vegas and the Cox Pavilion with a 4-3 mark in road contests and 2-2 in neutral ones. At home, the Rebels are 8-1.
- Saturday's win signaled the end of an 11-match stretch that saw the Rebels play eight times away from Las Vegas and the Cox Pavilion. In all, UNLV went 8-3 with a 5-3 mark in road/neutral contests and 3-0 in those played at home.
- With her 13 kills, Mariena Hayden has now thrown down 13 or more in the last 15 contests. Hayden has reached double digits in kills in all 20 bouts.
- Hayden notched her team-best 13th double-double with the combination of 13 kills and 13 digs, and both figures were team highs. She also had three assisted blocks and two aces.
- Hayden had two aces to give her 68 for the year and 111 for her career, which puts her second in UNLV's record book. She needs five more to tie Christel Eves (1996-99) for first place with 116.
- Elsa Descamps had five assisted blocks in the match, and she sits fourth in the program's all-time record book with 340. Descamps is also ranked fifth in total blocks (393) and eighth in solo blocks (53).
- Descamps hit .500 with nine kills against one error in 16 swings.
- Thea Sweder notched season highs in kills (10) and attempts (30) in the match.
 
NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV returns home in next week to kick off a four-match homestand in Mountain West play against the likes of Wyoming (Oct. 18: 6:00 pm), Colorado State (Oct. 20: 2:00 pm), New Mexico (Oct. 23: 6:00 pm) and Air Force (Oct. 25: 6:00 pm).
 
PURCHASE TICKETS:  Single-game ticket prices this season are $8 for adults, $6 for faculty/staff and seniors, although a special internet price of $5 is available for all tickets bought online at UNLVTickets.com, good up to three hours before the match. All high school, middle school and elementary students are now free under UNLV's new admission policy. To receive free admission, high school students must present valid Nevada area school I.D. at the box office on gameday to receive one (1) complimentary ticket. All other students will receive a complimentary ticket at the box office (no I.D. required). Kids not yet elementary school age will continue to receive free admission for all UNLV Olympic sports.