LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team hits the road for a pair of Mountain West matches in the Bay Area and northern portion of the Silver State this week. The Rebels begin the trip Thursday evening (6:00 pm) against the San Jose State Spartans in San Jose, California, before continuing on to Reno for a Saturday matinee (1:00 pm) against the UNR Wolf Pack.
 
UNLV (8-9 overall, 4-2 MW) enters the week riding a four-match win streak - all in MW play - following back-to-back successful weekends against conference foes. This current stretch began in the Golden State with a pair of victories over San Diego State (3-0) and Fresno State (3-2), and continued with a 3-0 sweep of Utah State and a come-from-behind, five-set win over Boise State last week at home in the Cox Pavilion. With these four wins, the Rebels have moved themselves into a three-way tie for third in the MW with a 4-2 mark.
 
SJSU (6-11, 1-5) and UNR (14-4, 4-2) squared off against each other last week and faced the Air Force Falcons at home, as well. In the head-to-head showdown on Oct. 5 in Reno, the Wolf Pack got the best of the Spartans in five sets; however, they had mixed results against Air Force. UNR suffered a 3-1 loss to the Falcons, while SJSU was able to sweep the squad from Colorado Springs, Colorado.
 
TUNE IN, WATCH & LISTEN: Fans can follow this week's Mountain West matches against San Jose State and UNR by various means: live stats, live video and social media. Links to stats and live video can be found online at UNLVRebels.com in the "schedule" section of the team's volleyball page as well as on the team's official social media channels.
 
SILVER STATE SERIES: The Silver State Series gets underway Saturday afternoon at the Virginia Street Gym in Reno between UNLV and UNR. The all-encompassing athletic and academic competition, which was previously known as the Governor's Series, between the Silver State's NCAA Division I programs is presented by IBEW Local 401 and Nevada Donor Network.
 
Dating back to the inaugural year of competition (2012-13), the Scarlet & Gray has won six of the previous seven installments and tied the Wolf Pack once (2016-17).
 
Last year, UNLV defeated UNR by a 21-point margin of victory (34.5-13.5), earning the three points allotted for the sports of baseball, football, men's golf, women's soccer, softball, volleyball, men's tennis, women's tennis as well as indoor and outdoor track & field. The Rebels also picked up three points for the academic component (APR) and 1.5 more for splitting women's basketball.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
>San Jose State: The Spartans are 6-11 through seven weeks of play, going 1-1 last week in Mountain West play with a 3-2, road loss to UNR and a 3-0, home win over Air Force ... The Spartans began the year 5-5 before they lost six straight prior to Saturday's victory against Air Force ... The Spartans returned 10 letterwinners, including All-MW performers Latahevai Lousi and Thaliana Grajeda, from a team that finished fourth in the conference with an 11-7 mark, and a 16-11 overall record last year ... The Spartans were picked to finish fifth in the MW this season by the conference's 11 head coaches.
 
>UNR: The Wolf Pack are 14-4 through seven weeks of play, going 1-1 last week in Mountain West play at home with a 3-2 win over San Jose State and a 3-1 loss to Air Force ... The Wolf Pack began the year 3-2 before rattling off an 11-2 stretch, which included seven- and four-match win streaks ... The Wolf Pack returned seven letterwinners, including three starters, from a team that finished seventh in the conference with an 8-20 mark, and a 10-20 overall record last year ... The Wolf Pack were picked to finish 11th in the MW this season by the conference's 11 head coaches.
 
MAR(IENA) RECORDS TO BE BROKEN: UNLV & MOUNTAIN WEST: UNLV's Mariena Hayden rewrote the program's single-season and career record book for aces last season with 114 and 157, respectively, and has already bumped her name to the top of the statistical category for the Mountain West, as well, this year.
 
Hayden entered 2019 needing 19 to tie San Diego State's Robyn Gregg (2000-03) for first all-time in the MW. Prior to last week's match against Utah State (Oct. 10), she needed five to equal Gregg's 176 four-year haul and six to surpass it. Coincidentally, Hayden drew even on five consecutive first-set serves against USU, and then broke the mark with the first of six in the third frame - which occurred in a span of seven serves.
 
Since her return fully to the lineup against Arizona State, Hayden has been accumulating kills and moving up the program's career chart for the category. With help from 22 kills versus Utah State (Oct. 10), she reached the 1,000-kill mark; thus, becoming only the eighth Rebel in program history to achieve the feat. To date, she sits sixth overall with 1,029.
 
TOP-25 OPPOSITION FACED: UNLV has played two opponents that found their way into the AVCA Top-25 Poll earlier this season. Currently, the Rebels have faced Colorado State (16-1) and California (15-1) which sit No. 14 and 15, respectively, with a combined 31-2 record. Both squads moved into the top 25 in on Sept. 16, with CSU and Cal ranked No. 22 and 24, respectively.
 
Cal was not ranked when it faced UNLV on Sept. 7; however, CSU was No. 17 on Sept. 28.