LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team jumped back into the win column with a 3-1 victory over the San Jose State Spartans at the Cox Pavilion Thursday evening. The Rebels won the four-set, Mountain West affair by set scores of 25-19, 27-25, 26-28, 25-21, and upped their overall record to 12-5 and their league mark to 3-2, while the Spartans fell to 6-8 and 1-4, respectively.
 
The Scarlet & Gray outhit the Bay Area squad by 120 points (.257 to .137) with help from seven more kills (53-46) and 12 fewer errors (15-27) in nine more attack attempts (148-139). The Rebels hit at a staggering .371 in the second – with 13 kills against no errors in 35 swings – and .389 in the fourth; however, they could only muster .148 and .140 efforts in the first and third stanzas, respectively. The Spartans, on the other hand, topped out with their best hitting effort in the fourth (.242), but was limited to a .000 in the first, .171 in the second and .114 in the third.
 
UNLV also edged SJSU in assists (48-40) and total blocks (10.0-4.0), while the latter posted better numbers in aces (10-6) and digs (66-57).
 
STAT OF THE GAME: UNLV committed three or fewer errors in the two sets that it hit .371 or better, with zero miscues in the second and only three in the fourth. The Rebels had six errors in both the first and third.
 
REBEL OF THE GAME: Rebel setter Antonette Rolda posted her second double-double of the season with a combination of 44 assists and 10 digs. Rolda also added two kills and one assisted block.
 
QUOTABLE: "It's huge; a lot of perseverance with this group," said head coach Dawn Sullivan on tonight's home win after playing three straight on the road. "We struggled. I didn't love our second set, we started off with a lot of serving errors again. It's a lot of growing and they're figuring that out; how to take one step and get better through the match. Mariena (Hayden) played great, she is always solid for us. She does so much, serve, pass, block, defense, offensively obviously, as well. I thought Kate (Brennan) had a great match for us, as well. We really tried to find her a lot offensively, and as a freshman for her to come out and do what she's doing is pretty impressive. There were a lot of people contributing, which I love. It was nice to see Erin (Davis) find her rhythm here tonight. She got some one on ones and took advantage of those."
 
REBEL NOTES:
- UNLV improved to 9-7 all-time against SJSU with eight of those wins coming in the last nine meetings.
- UNLV has won seven straight at home, and sits 7-1 on the year in matches played in the Cox Pavilion.
- UNLV's win Thursday night was the program's 399th.
- UNLV's 12-5 start is tied for the fourth-best record in program history. The 2006 and 2012 squads also started off with the same mark through 17 matches, while the 2014 edition went 13-4, the 1998 and 2007 teams went 14-3 and 2016 was a program-best 16-1.
- UNLV improved to 10-3 when it wins the first set and remained perfect when it is up 2-0 (8-0) and 2-1 (5-0) in a match.
- Mariena Hayden notched 18 kills for the third straight match; she had 18 in both road bouts last week at New Mexico (Sept. 26) and Air Force (Sept. 28).
- Hayden has registered double digits in kills in all 16 matches and has thrown down at least 15 in the last 11 contests.
- Hayden had one ace to give her 58 for the year and 101 for her career, which moves her within three of tying Rebel alumna Leiana Oswald (2000-03) for third with 104 in the program's record book.
- Kate Brennan hit .471 in the match with nine kills against one error in 17 swings. Brennan has now hit better than .300 with a minimum of five kills 11 times this season.
- Elsa Descamps had three assisted blocks against SJSU, and those helped her move within one of tying Christel Eves (1996-99) with 331 for fifth place. Descamps' one solo block Thursday helped her break a tie for eighth place in solo blocks with former teammate Bree Hammel (2013-16). Descamps is also fifth in total blocks (381).
 
REBELS BACK HOME: UNLV stays home with a Silver State showdown against in-state rival UNR Saturday night at 6:00 pm. The Rebels and Wolf Pack will kick off the seventh edition of the Governor's Series, which the former has won five times and tied once. The Governor's Series is an all-encompassing athletic and academic competition between the state's two NCAA Division I programs. Saturday's match is a Camper Reunion Night and the program's Code Red game, and fans are encouraged to wear red. Prior to the match a tailgate with free food and drinks will be held prior to the match. Additionally, the first 250 fans through the Cox Pavilion doors will receive free T-shirts.
 
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.