USAF ACADEMY, Colo. (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team wrapped up the 2019 regular season with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-20) sweep of the Air Force Falcons at Cadet East Gym Saturday. With the victory, the Rebels improved to 19-10 on the year and finished third in the Mountain West with a 15-3 conference mark, while Air Force ends its year at 8-22 and 5-13 in the MW.
The Scarlet & Gray's triumph was its sixth straight and 15th in its last 16 matches. Moreover, the win helped rewrite four of the program's single-season records: conference overall wins (15), conference road wins (eight), longest road win streak (eight) and longest conference road win streak (eight).
The Rebels out hit the Falcons by 102 points (.270 to .168) with help from 10 fewer attack errors (12-22) in 13 fewer attempts (100-113). UNLV, which had two fewer kills (39-41) in the contest and no more than five errors in any set, hit .220 or better in all three frames, including .310 in the second and .300 in the third. Air Force, on the other hand, was held between .143 (third set) and .189 (second) in the bout, with a minimum of seven errors in each stanza.
UNLV was paced offensively by the trio of
Mariena Hayden (match-high 14 kills), Threa Sweder (nine) and
Kate Brennan (six), who registered 29 of the team's 39 kills as well as a .379 hitting efficiency (29-7-58). On the defensive side of the net, Brennan had a match-high four total blocks (two solo), while Sweder had two and Hayden one.
The duo of
Paris Oliveira and
Shelby Capllonch combined for 29 of the squad's 45 digs, with the former notching a match-high 16 and the latter posting 13.
REBEL NOTES:
- UNLV finished third in the Mountain West behind conference champion Colorado State (18-0) and runner-up Wyoming (16-2). The third-place finish is the best by a Rebel squad since the 2016 edition also took third behind a 12-6 showing.
- The match featured 19 ties and only six lead changes, with the majority of each figure – 8 ties and three lead changes – taking place in the second set. Additionally, there was only one lead change in both the first and third frames.
- UNLV's 15-1 record in its last 16 matches is only one 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 won three straight matches in the series and improved its lead in the head-to-head series to 37 at 42-5.
- UNLV is 4-1 in three-set matches this season, winning its last four that finished in sweeping fashion.
-
Shelby Capllonch,
Kate Brennan,
Lauryn Burt and
Antonette Rolda moved into a tie for 10th place in the program's single-season record book for sets played with 121, tying five others from previous years. Rolda and Brennan were already listed in the statistical category, ranking tied for first (130 in 2018) and fifth (125 in 2018), respectively.
- Brennan moved into seventh place in the program's single-season record book for hitting efficiency with a .325 average.
- Hayden finished the regular season with the second-most aces in a single-season (62). She already owns the program mark with 114 in 2018.
