ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team lost the opening set to the New Mexico Lobos, but rallied to take the Mountain West contest, 3-1, at the Johnson Center Tuesday evening.
The host Lobos jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and nearly went up two sets, but the Rebels fought off two sets points in the second, winning four straight points to jumpstart their come-from-behind bid. UNLV claimed the second frame and carried the momentum into the third and fourth en route to the 12-25, 26-24, 25-15, 25-21.
The Scarlet & Gray, which has won five straight and 14 of its last 15, improved to 18-10 overall and 14-3 in MW play with the victory. Additionally, the triumph tied the program marks for both conference wins (14) and conference road wins (seven) which were set in 2014.
The Rebels outhit the Lobos by 37 points (.217 to .180) with six more kills (52-46) and one fewer error (22-23) in 10 more attack attempts (138-128). UNLV's offense was limited to a .109 hitting efficiency with a combined 15 errors in the first half of the match; however, it rebounded with a .338 effort with only seven errors over the third and fourth sets. UNM, on the other hand, began on fire with a .500 hitting performance with 14 kills and only one error, but regressed to .026 and .067 averages in the second and third, respectively, before posting .212 in the fourth.
UNLV was paced offensively by
Mariena Hayden's 15th double-double of the season off a pairing of a match-high 15 kills and a team-high 13 digs. Hayden also registered one assist and two assisted blocks.
Shelby Capllonch also recorded double digits in kills with 10. Additionally,
Macy Smith and Kate Brennen provided eight and seven kills, respectively, from the middle, while combining for 10 total blocks – one solo each.
REBEL NOTES:
- UNLV's 14-1 record in its last 15 matches is only two shy of tying the 16-1 stretch posted by the 2016 edition for the stretch with the most wins with only one loss.
- UNLV has now won two straight matches in the series – both of 2019's contests – and improved its lead in the head-to-head series to seven at 25-19.
- UNLV is now 9-5 in four-set matches this season, winning seven of its last eight.
- Hayden surpassed current Rebel assistant coach and UNLV alumna
Melody Nua in the program's career record book for digs with help from her 13 Tuesday against UNM. To date, Hayden has 982, which is one more than the 981 Nua amassed from 2005-08.
- Burt aced three serves Tuesday night and, subsequently, moved into a tie for eighth place in the program's single-season record book. To date, Burt has aced 41 serves and sits deadlocked with Debbie Teso, who had 41 during the 1984 campaign.
UP NEXT: UNLV stays out on the road for one last Mountain West contest, a 1:00 pm MT (12:00 pm PT) affair at Air Force Saturday at the USAF Academy in Colorado.
