LARAMIE, Wyo. (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team went the distance with the Wyoming Cowgirls Saturday night at the UniWyo Sports Complex; however, the visiting Rebels were unable to come away with the victory in the regular-season finale for both Mountain West squads. The Cowgirls won the affair 3-2 behind set scores of 25-21, 24-26, 25-19, 18-25, 15-11.
 
The Scarlet & Gray (19-11 overall), which was predicted to finish 11th in league play after winning four MW bouts one year ago, shared fifth place with Boise State with identical 10-8 marks. Wyoming (20-10 overall) took third with its 12-6 MW showing, while San Jose State was fourth at 11-7. Fresno State – 13-4, thus far – will finish second with one MW match remaining. Colorado State won the conference title with its 15-3 record.
 
The Cowgirls outhit the Rebels by 44 points (.184 to .140) with help from four fewer errors (27-31) in 23 fewer attack attempts (163-186), as both had 57 kills apiece. Wyoming's hitting efficiency improved as the match progressed from .233 to .241 to .290 over the first three sets, but it dropped in the fourth to .094 and .036 in the fifth. UNLV's, on the other hand, was in the .200s for both of its set wins - .216 in the second and .256 in the fourth – but .190 or below in the other three frames, including a -.152 in the fifth and final stanza.
 
UNLV owned advantages in both assists (53-49) and aces (6-3), and was even with Wyoming in total team blocks (10.0-10.0). The Cowgirls were plus-15 in digs (87-72).
 
TURNING POINT: Moments after UNLV pulled even at 8-all off a 3-0 run in the fifth, Wyoming called a timeout to halt the visitor's momentum. After play resumed, the Cowgirls won four straight points – all off Rebel miscues (one service error and three straight attack errors) – and seven of the final 10 en route to the set and match win.
 
QUOTABLE: "I am proud of how this team played tonight," said head coach Dawn Sullivan. "They battled, just as they have all year. They are setting a new standard of how we play volleyball at UNLV."
 
STAT OF THE GAME: The teams combined to hit -.065 in the fifth set, as they tallied nine kills against 13 errors in 61 attack attempts. The Rebels and Cowgirls posted their lowest hitting outputs in the decisive frame, as the former hit -.152 to the latter's .036. In fact, nine of the final 11 points in the stanza were via errors (seven attack and two service).
 
REBEL OF THE GAME: UNLV's Mariena Hayden compiled her team-best 17th double-double of the season and 27th of her career with a combination of 22 kills and 21 digs. Hayden also added three aces and one assist as well as three assisted blocks. Saturday's match was the second instance this season that she had 20 or more kills and digs in a contest; the first time came against Indiana (24 kills/22 digs) – the team's season opener.
 
REBEL NOTES:
-UNLV's 19 wins are the seventh most by a team in program history and only trail 2014's 26; 2007 and 2014's 24; 1984 and 1998's 23; and 2006's 20.
-UNLV is 8-4 in Saturday matches.
-UNLV is 2-2 in five-set matches.
-UNLV is 1-8 when its opponent registers a higher hitting efficiency.
-UNLV is 0-1 when it ties an opponent in kills.
-With her 22 kills, Hayden has 483 on the year, which are the second most in UNLV's single-season records. She surpassed Maria Aladjova's 465 kills from 2007 for second.
-With her three aces, Hayden has 94 on the year, which leads all student-athletes in NCAA Division I. The 94 aces are the third most by a D-I player since the NCAA changed to the current 25-point scoring format in 2008.
-With her 60 attack attempts, Hayden has 1,148 on the year, which are tied for the fifth most with Leiana Oswald (1,148 in 2003) in UNLV's single-season records. Hayden's 1,116 in 2017 are eighth overall.
-Elsa Descamps has played in 407 sets in her career at UNLV, which solidifies her 10th-place showing in UNLV's career record book.
-With her two assisted blocks, Descamps upped her career total of assisted blocks to 370 to aid her third-place standing in the program's record book. She also ranks fourth in career total blocks (426) and eighth in solo blocks (56).
-Descamps sits sixth overall in career hitting efficiency at .281.