LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team recorded its 400th win in program history Saturday night with a 3-1 triumph (25-16, 24-26, 25-13, 25-23) over the UNR Wolf Pack at the Cox Pavilion. The Rebels claimed the third and fourth sets to secure the victory after it sat deadlocked at 1-all through two frames of play.
 
Saturday's performance caps a perfect 2-0 week for the Scarlet & Gray, which also defeated San Jose State at home Thursday in four sets. UNLV, which has won 10 of its last 12, improves to 13-5 on the year and 4-2 in the Mountain West, while UNR's record sits at 8-9 and 1-5, respectively, after the loss.
 
The Rebels outhit the Wolf Pack by 83 points (.276 to .193) with help from eight more kills (52-44) and three fewer errors (18-21) in only four more attack attempts (123-119). UNLV opened the match with its best hitting effort in the first set, a .440 with 14 kills against three errors in 25 swings, while it posted .265 and .286 clips in the second and third, respectively, and a .167 in the decisive fourth. UNR, on the other hand, was held to .214 or lower averages in three of the stanzas, with its best showing – a .343 efficiency – taking place in the second.
 
UNLV held advantages in assists (50-40), aces (12-3), digs (48-45) and total team blocks (9.0-8.0).
 
STAT OF THE GAME: UNLV's Mariena Hayden and Erin Davis combined to thrown down 32 kills against five errors in 62 swings for a .435 hitting efficiency. The rest of the squad had 20 kills and 13 errors in 61 attack attempts.
 
STAT OF THE GAME, PART TWO: In UNLV's first- and third-set wins, the frames never had one tie or one lead change as the Rebels controlled both from the get go. The second and third, conversely, had a total of 22 ties and eight lead changes.
 
REBEL OF THE GAME: Hayden racked up another double-double with a match-high 19 kills combined with 10 digs. She hit .375 in the match and added a match-best six aces as well as three total blocks (one solo).
 
QUOTABLE: "The 400th win tonight; it was awesome to be a part of it, and I'm excited to see what is to come," said head coach Dawn Sullivan. "I just loved the crowd out here tonight; we had Code Red, so a lot of student-athletes out here as well as our camper reunion and we had a lot of clubs and high schools out here supporting us, and I really appreciate what they're doing for our program. Mariena (Hayden) does what she does for us very consistently and that's what I love; from the serving line and from the attacking line. What was really nice was that Erin (Davis) stepped up tonight. She had a lot of one-on-one situations and she really took advantage of those situations and put those balls away. This team is figuring out how to respond to things, and this is their next challenge – can we do it on the road now and it's just one more thing to grow and get better at.
 
REBEL NOTES:
- UNLV and UNR opened up the 2018-19 Silver State Cup presented by Nevada Donor Network and Laborers Union Saturday. The Silver State Cup is the newly branded and sponsored athletic and academic competition between the state's two NCAA Division I programs. It replaces the Governor's Series, but maintains the same scoring format from the previous six years - which UNLV has won five times and tied for once.
- UNLV improved to 22-10 all-time against UNR.
- UNLV has won eight straight at home, and sits 8-1 on the year in matches played in the Cox Pavilion.
- UNLV's 13-5 start is tied with the 2006 and 2014 squads for the third-best mark through 18 matches, and it only trails the 15-3 record by the 1998 and 2007 editions as well as 2016's program-best 16-2 effort.
- Erin Davis' 13 kills and .545 hitting efficiency (minimum of five kills) against UNR were both season- and career highs.
- Alison French, a Reno native, had a season-high eight kills versus UNR; coincidentally, she had a career-best 11 at UNR last year.
- Mariena Hayden has notched 18 or more kills in four straight matches and has thrown down 15 or more in the last 12 contests. Hayden has reached double digits in kills in all 18 bouts.
- Hayden had six aces to give her 64 for the year and 107 for her career, which moved her past Rebel alumna Leiana Oswald's (2000-03) 104 aces for third place in the program's record book. Patricia Assuncao (2000-03) sits second with 109.
- Hayden has had at least five aces in six matches this season.
- Elsa Descamps had five total blocks in the match and three of those were of the assisted variety and helped her move past Rebel alumna Christel Eves (1996-99) in the all-time record book. Descamps sits fourth in the category with 333, while Eves had 331. Descamps is also ranked fifth in total blocks (386) and eighth in solo blocks (53).
 
NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV will head back out on the road for a pair of Mountain West matches in the Golden State next week. The Rebels will play Thursday and Saturday nights against the Fresno State Bulldogs (7:00 pm) and San Diego State Aztecs (6:00 pm), respectively. These affairs will be the seventh and eighth in a stretch of 11 that the Rebels will have played away from Las Vegas and the Cox Pavilion. Thus far in this stretch, the Scarlet & Gray is 7-2.
 
REBELS BACK HOME: UNLV returns home in two weeks 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.