LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team (5-3) picked up a pair of wins over the Fordham Rams (3-5) and Cal State Fullerton Titans (6-3) on the first day of the its own Rebel Challenge. The Scarlet & Gray began the day's action with the triumph over Fordham in four sets (25-18, 16-25, 25-15, 25-13) and concluded the four-match slate with a sweep (25-22, 25-20, 25-22) of Cal State Fullerton.
 
The Rebels combined to outhit their opponents by 145 points (.297 to .152) with 30 more kills (97-67) and three fewer errors (32-25) in only eight more attack attempts (219-211). Overall, the squad hit .310 or better with no more than four errors in five of the seven sets Friday.
 
Besides the hitting figures, UNLV also owned advantages in assists (87-62), aces (16-9) and digs (92-80), but trailed in all three blocking categories – solo (0-4), assisted (22-28) and total team (11.0-18.0).
 
MATCH ONE (Fordham)
The Rebels jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead after the offense hit .310 (13-4-29), while the defense limited Fordham to a paltry -.038 hitting efficiency with more errors than kills (6-5) in 26 swings. The Rams evened the score at 1-all in the second with help from their offense turning things around with its .414 hitting (14-2-29), while UNLV countered with its lowest output in the bout - .182 with six errors. The Rebels rebounded in the third with a .464 average in the third and closed the match out with a .400 effort.
 
UNLV recorded 18 more kills (52-34) and only committed one more error (16-15), while it and Fordham's offense attempted 110 swings apiece. The Rebels also led in assists (47-31), aces (12-7) and digs (55-35).
 
STAT OF THE GAME: Fordham's offense was held to a combined -.019 hitting efficiency in the first and fourth sets its 10 errors outweighing its nine kills in 51 swings. UNLV, on the other hand hit .347 in those same frames, with 24 kills against seven errors in 49 attempts.
 
STAT OF THE GAME, PART DEUX: The match did not have any lead changes, while the score was only tied on four occasions in the four-set bout. The Rams and Rebels drew even three times in the first and once more in the third.
 
REBEL OF THE GAME: Mariena Hayden posted her sixth double-double of the season with a combination of a match-high 17 kills and a team-best 13 digs. Hayden also added five aces to go with one assisted block.
 
MATCH TWO (Cal State Fullerton)
The Rebels made quick work of their neighbors from the Golden State, with the 3-0 sweep. UNLV misfired in both the first and second stanzas four times, while throwing down 14 and 18 kills to produce .312 and .389 hitting clips, respectively. The Titans, on the other hand, notched seven errors in each of the first two sets, which produced .094 and .162 hitting. They only committed six errors in the third, but hit .125 – three points better than UNLV's .122 in the same frame, which had eight errors.
 
UNLV posted 12 more kills (45-33) and had four fewer errors (16-20) in only eight more swings (109-101). The Rebels also had nine more assists (40-31) and two more aces (40-31), but the Titans were tops in digs (45-37) and total team blocks (12.0-6.0).
 
STAT OF THE GAME: The trio of Elsa Descamps, Lauryn Burt and Macy Smith amassed 11 kills in 25 swings without committing an error. Their hitting equated to a .440 average. The remaining Rebel quartet that had members record two or more kills apiece, hit .214 (34-16-84).
 
REBEL OF THE GAME: Descamps racked up a team-best .538 hitting efficiency with seven kills and no errors in 13 swings. She added two assists offensively, while chipping in six digs and six assisted blocks on the defensive side of the net.
 
QUOTABLE: "We did good today as a team," said Descamps, a senior middle blocker. "I think we improved a lot compared to last weekend and the weekend even before. We had good energy that helped us comeback at difficult moments when we were losing; so, I'm very happy about that. We hit well today compared to the other games. We were smarter with our shots and, I think, that helped us win some points that we were unable to win in the previous games.
 
REBEL NOTES:
- UNLV improved to 6-4 all-time against Cal State Fullerton, while it won the inaugural meeting with Fordham.
- With her six double-doubles this season – one Friday against Fordham, Hayden has 16 for her career.
- Hayden sits at 32 aces on the year with the addition of eight Friday. To date, she is 14 shy of cracking the top 10 in the program's single-season record book with 36, which would tie Camille Cunningham (2007) and Kari Zimmerman (1985). She is already third in the category with her 43 aces from last season.
- Hayden has led the team in kills in six matches this season and has also been tops in digs six times, too. 
- Descamps moved up to sixth in the program's career record book for assisted blocks with 307 after Friday's play. She surpassed Katlin Winter's 306 tallied from 2010-14. She also forced herself into a three-way tie for sixth place in total blocks (353) alongside Erin Greenwood (2006-09) and Sheila Ocasio-Clemente (2001-03).
-Through seven matches of play, setters Lauryn Burt and Antonette Rolda are deadlocked at 165 assists. Rolda entered the weekend trailing by three, but pulled even with help from her 38 helpers – Burt had 35.
 
REBEL CHALLENGE UPDATE: UNLV was the only team to go perfect Friday with a pair of wins, while the Eastern Kentucky and Fordham went 1-1, and Cal State Fullerton lost both of its matches. EKU went the distance in both matches, with a 3-2 win over Cal State Fullerton followed by a five-set loss to Fordham.
 
NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV will wrap up its home tournament portion of the season Saturday at 2:00 pm against Eastern Kentucky. Fordham and Cal State Fullerton will open the day's shortened schedule with a tilt at 11:30 am.