RENO, Nev. (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team defeated the UNR Wolf Pack, 3-2, on the road Thursday night at the Virginia Street Gym. The Rebels were paced by Mariena Hayden's double-double that was comprised of 20 kills and 16 digs – both of which were team highs – in the Mountain West contest decided by set scores of 18-25, 25-23, 26-24, 17-25, 15-7.
 
With the win, the Scarlet & Gray improved to 17-8 on the year and 8-5 in the MW. The loss moves UNR to 8-16 overall and 1-12 in league play. Additionally, Thursday's victory coupled with a 3-1 triumph in Las Vegas last month gives UNLV the three points awarded for the sport towards the Silver State Cup presented by Nevada Donor Network and Laborers Union standings. To date, the Rebels own a three-point lead, 6-3, over the Wolf Pack with volleyball, women's soccer (UNLV) and cross country (UNR) in the books.
 
UNR outhit UNLV by 27 points (.234 to .207) and held slight advantages kills (55-53), errors (22-24) and attack attempts (141-140). The Rebels; however, hit .207 or better in four of their five sets with two of those in the .300s: .391 in the second and .350 in the fourth. The Wolf Pack, on the other hand, topped out with a .387 in the first and only came close to that effort once with a .357 in the third. The hosts were held to .167 or lower figures in three sets, including a .062 in the decisive fifth frame.
 
The Wolf Pack and Rebels dished out 51 assists apiece, but the former held the edge in aces (6-5), digs (58-56) and total team blocks (9.0-6.0).
 
TURNING POINT: After seeing UNR force a fifth set with a win in the fourth, UNLV pushed out to an early 1-0 and 2-1 lead in the fifth. The Wolf Pack tied things up at 1-all and 2-all; however, the Rebels rattled off runs of 3-0, 5-1 and 8-2 en route to their 15-7 victory. Kills from Brennan and Elsa Descamps and three more from Hayden sparked the outburst, while UNR aided UNLV with a service error, an attack error and a ball handling error.
 
QUOTABLE: "It was a challenging night," said head coach Dawn Sullivan. "It's always hard to play on the road. I'm glad to get the win. UNR played some great defense tonight and came out firing with their fast offense. I was proud of how patient our team stayed and the fight we saw from everyone."
 
STAT OF THE GAME: UNR was held to only three kills in the fifth and final stanza after it had notched at least 10 kills in each of the previous four sets. The Wolf Pack had two attack errors in the fifth in 16 swings. UNLV, meanwhile, was able to throw down 10 kills against three errors in 20 attempts in the same frame.
 
STAT OF THE GAME, PART TWO: UNLV claimed the first point of the fifth set – off a kill from Brennan – and only had to face two tie scores – at 1-1 and 2-2 – and no lead changes en route to the 15-7 win. The first four sets featured 22 ties and 11 lead changes.
 
REBEL OF THE GAME: As previously mentioned, Hayden had a match-high 20 kills and a team-best 16 digs for UNLV. She also added two aces and one solo block.
 
REBEL NOTES:
- UNLV is tied with Wyoming for third place in the MW with identical 8-5 records; Colorado State is first (12-2) and Fresno State is second (9-3).
- Through 25 matches, UNLV's 17-8 record is the third best in program history, and only trails the 21-4 mark by the 2007 and 2016 squads and the 19-6 showing by the 1998 and 2014 teams.
- UNLV is 23-10 all-time against its rival from the northern portion of the Silver State, with three wins in the last four meetings.
- UNLV is 5-1 in Thursday matches.
- UNLV is 2-1 in five-set matches, and Thursday's match was the first played to five sets since a win over UMKC in Saint Louis on Sept. 15.
- Thursday's win was UNLV's first when it recorded a hitting efficiency lower than its opponent; to date, it is 1-6.
- Thursday's win was UNLV's third in nine tries when it has fewer kills than its opponent.
- Reno native Alison French had a season-high nine kills against the Wolf Pack, which was one more than the eight she had against them on Oct. 6. Coincidentally, her career best is 11 vs. UNR last season (Oct. 17).
- In addition to Hayden's 20 kills and French's nine, UNLV had two others with eight or more, as Brennan had 10 and Erin Davis had eight. Hayden has recorded 20 or more kills four times this season, while Brennan has reached double digits four times.
- With her 20 kills, Hayden has reached double digits in kills in all 24 matches that she has played in, and has 412 on the year, which are the ninth most in a single season at UNLV, surpassing Maria Aladjova's 406 in 2005 and 402 in 2006.
- With her two aces, Hayden has an NCAA-high 84 on the year and 127 for her career; both figures are program bests.
 - With four assisted blocks, Descamps upped her career total to 354 to aid her third-place standing in the program's record book. She also ranks fourth in career total blocks (408) and eighth in solo blocks (54).
 
NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV stays on the road to face the San Jose State Spartans Saturday at 2:00 pm.
 
REBELS BACK HOME: UNLV returns to Las Vegas and the Cox Pavilion Nov. 8 and 10 to close out its 2018 regular-season home schedule. The Rebels host San Diego State on Thursday, Nov. 8 (6:00 pm) and Fresno State on Saturday, Nov. 10 (2:00 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.