LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team suffered a hard-fought, 3-1 loss to the Fresno State Bulldogs Saturday afternoon at the Cox Pavilion. The Rebels got a double-double from
Mariena Hayden who had a match-high 18 kills to go along with 11 digs in a contest claimed by the Bulldogs by set scores of 25-15, 22-25, 25-18, 25-21.
The Scarlet & Gray's overall record sits at 19-9 and 10-6 in the Mountain West, while Fresno State's moved to 20-8 and 12-3, respectively. The Rebels sit tied with Wyoming for third place in the conference standings, while the Bulldogs stay in second; 1.5 matches behind first-place Colorado State.
UNLV was outhit by FS by 114 points (.231 to .345) despite owning advantages in both kills (56-51) and attack attempts (134-110); however, the hosts also committed 12 more errors (25-13). The Rebels hit .146 or better in all four sets, with .333 and .281 efforts in the second and third, respectively. The Bulldogs opened up with a staggering .538 efficiency in the first frame backed by 15 kills against one error in 26 swings. The Golden State squad also hit .379 and .320 in the third and fourth, respectively, and only was held below .200 in the second - .167.
The Rebels held an edge in assists with a plus-3 margin (53-50) and tied the Bulldogs in aces with six apiece, while the latter had seven more digs (48-41) and eight more total team blocks (13.0 to 5.0).
TURNING POINT: After seeing the match evened with a win by the Rebels in the second, the Bulldogs pushed back ahead with a victory in the third. With the frame knotted at 3-all, FS used a 6-2 run to push out to a four-point lead (9-5) that would never be surrendered; although UNLV got as close as one (9-8) before eventually losing the set by seven (25-18).
The fourth stanza featured eight ties and three lead changes. Three of the ties occurred at the 19-19, 20-20 and 21-21 junctures, while the lead changed hands for the final time with a 5-0 run by the Bulldogs after they had faced a one-point deficit at 21-20.
STAT OF THE GAME: UNLV got 32 of its 56 kills (57 percent) from Hayden and
Thea Sweder who had 18 and 14, respectively. The duo also had 50 percent (67 of 134) attack attempts. The trio of
Kate Brennan (eight kills),
Erin Davis (eight) and
Elsa Descamps (seven) had all but one of the remaining kills (23 of 24) by the Rebel offense.
STAT OF THE GAME, PART TWO: The Bulldogs' offense only committed six errors in the three sets it won, while it committed seven miscues in the second set alone. Conversely, Fresno State hit .320 or better in the first, third and fourth and was held to a .167 in the second.
REBEL OF THE GAME: Besides the double-double of 18 kills and 11 digs, Hayden had four aces and two total blocks (one solo/one assisted). Offensively, she hit at a .438 clip with only four errors in 32 attempts.
REBEL NOTES:
-Saturday was "Senior Day" for the Rebel program, which recognized Descamps, a senior from France, for her four-year career as a member of the Scarlet & Gray.
-Saturday's loss snapped UNLV's four-match win streak, all of which came against Mountain West foes.
-UNLV is 8-3 in Saturday matches.
-UNLV is 9-7 in four-set matches, and has played 11 of its last 14 overall to four frames.
-Saturday's match was the 21st time that UNLV has registered more kills than its opponent, with a record of 16-5 in those contests.
-Saturday's match was the eighth that UNLV posted a lower hitting efficiency than its opponent, with a record of 1-7 in those contests.
-With her 18 kills, Hayden has reached double digits in kills in all 27 matches that she has played in, and has 456 on the year, which are the fourth most in UNLV's single-season records. She passed a pair of Rebel alums – Bree Hammel (453 in 2016) and Leiana Oswald (441 in 2003) – to move up from fifth in the contest.
-With four aces, Hayden has an NCAA-high 91 on the year and 134 for her career; both figures are program bests.
-With her three total blocks (one solo/two assisted), Descamps upped her career total of assisted blocks to 367 to aid her third-place standing in the program's record book. She also ranks fourth in career total blocks (423) and eighth in solo blocks (56).
NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV hits the road to close out the regular season with a pair of contests in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The Rebels will travel to Fort Collins, Colorado, to face Colorado Stat Thursday and then trek to Laramie, Wyoming, for a bout Saturday. Both affairs are slated for 7:00 pm MT (6:00 pm PT) first serves.
