ST. LOUIS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team claimed the Billiken Invitational championship with a pair of wins over the UMKC Kangaroos and Saint Louis Billikens Saturday at the Chaifetz Pavilion. The Rebels, who have won six straight and seven of their last eight, rallied for a 3-2 victory over UMKC (8-5) before they made quick work of host SLU (1-11) with a 3-0 sweep.
 
Not only did Saturday's wins push the Scarlet & Gray's overall record to 9-3, but it signaled the end of the nonconference portion of the season with 18 straight in Mountain West on deck.
 
The Rebels outhit day two's opposition by 138 points (.287 to .149) with help from 20 more kills (97-77) and 12 fewer attack errors (29-41) in five fewer attacks (237-242). The team also posted 14 more assists (89-75), nine more aces (20-11) and seven more digs (110-103); however, it notched four fewer total team blocks (12.0-16.0).
 
With their efforts this weekend, Mariena Hayden was named the tournament's MVP, while Elsa Descamps and Antonette Rolda were tabbed to the all-tourney team.
 
MATCH ONE (UMKC)
The Rebels jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a 25-14 win in the first set, but fell into a 2-1 hole when the Kangaroos claimed the second (25-22) and third (25-23) frames. UNLV forced the match to a decisive fifth set with a 25-22 win in the fourth, and then cruised to the win with a 15-4 effort in the final frame.
 
UNLV hit .250 or better in four of the five sets and saved the best for last with a .500 showing in the fifth off eight kills against one error in 14 swings. UMKC, on the other hand, hit .310 in the third, but was kept to .083 or worse averages in the other four stanzas. The Rebels also had nine more kills (56-47) and five fewer errors (24-29) in only two fewer attacks (164-166).
 
THE TURNING POINT: After seeing their three-point lead, 20-17, erased by a 3-1 run by the Kangaroos in the fourth, the Rebels rattled off three straight points and a 4-1 run to draw even at two sets apiece. UNLV carried that momentum into the fifth by winning the first five points with help from four kills from Hayden and an ace by Descamps. After a UMKC point halted the streak, the Rebels won the next six before they claimed the set by 11 points, 15-4.
 
STAT OF THE GAME: UNLV misfired a total of 24 times in the match with 12 of those occurring in the second set alone. The Rebels committed five or fewer errors in the four remaining sets, but also hit .282 in that same span, while the second equated to a lowly -.075.
 
STAT OF THE GAME, PART DEUX: UNLV had five players register 10 or more digs for the first time this season, with a team-high 20 coming from Elena Ivanova. Shania Scott added 14 to 12 from Descamps, 11 from Hayden and 10 from Rolda. With help from their dig totals, Descamps, Hayden and Rolda also posted double-doubles in the bout.
 
REBEL OF THE GAME: Rolda combined her match-high 44 assists with 10 digs for a double-double. She added four aces, two kills and one solo block, as well.
 
MATCH TWO (SAINT LOUIS)
The Rebels had it a bit easier in Saturday's nightcap with the host Billikens. UNLV outhit SLU by 256 points (.493 to .237) with 11 more kills (41-30) against seven fewer errors (5-12) in three less swings (73-76). The kill differential helped create a nine-assist advantage (38-29), while the team also led in aces (9-4), digs (30-26) and total team blocks (5.0-3.0).
 
UNLV opened with a .333 hitting display, but upped it to .714 in the second and .500 in the third off a combined 28 kills and two errors in 43 attacks. SLU only had three to five errors, but saw its hitting go down as the match went on: .276 in the first, .263 in the second and .179 in the third.
 
STAT OF THE GAME: UNLV only had two attackers commit two errors, while four others had one or no errors. Descamps (nine kills to zero errors), Kate Brennan (five to zero), Thea Sweder (three to zero) and Erin Davis (three to one). Hayden and Jillian Berg had two errors apiece, but threw down 16 and five kills, respectively.
 
QUOTABLE: "I thought we had a really nice weekend," said head coach Dawn Sullivan. "There's still some areas that we need to clean up on our side, but that will come as we continue to play and to continue to improve. What I love is that we got out of this weekend with three wins. I really thought we drove our serve all weekend; I thought that was great. And this team is really starting to come together and play as a team, and I think they're making those moves that they need to to become great."
 
REBEL NOTES:
- UNLV has won nine of its first 12 matches this season and it's only the fifth time that a squad has won at least nine of those in program history. The 1998, 2006 and 2014 squads also went 9-3, while the 2007 was 10-2 and the 2016 edition was a program-best 11-1.
- UNLV last had a winning streak of six or more matches during the 2016 campaign when it won 11 in a row to start the year.
- UNLV has already won one more match this season in 12 tries than it did in 31 last season (8-24).
- With help from her four aces, Hayden moved into first in UNLV's single-season record book for aces with 52, and surpassed Debbie Teso's previous mark of 50 from the 1985 campaign.
- For her career, Hayden has 95 aces which puts her fourth all-time. She moved past assistant coach Melody Nua's teammate Jada Walker's 92 notched during her four-year career from 2004-07.
- Descamps moved into tie for sixth place with Sheila Ocasio-Clemente (2000-03) with 316 career assisted blocks; she is already fifth in total blocks (364) and 10th in solo blocks (48).
- Davis had a season- and career-high 11 kills vs. UMKC.
- Rolda had a season-high 44 assists and 10 digs vs. UMKC.
 
NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV will open up the Mountain West portion of its schedule Thursday against the Boise State Broncos at 6:00 pm. The match is being billed as "Club Volleyball Night," and all high school, middle school and elementary students are now free under UNLV's new admission policy.