LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball program will play a total of 29 regular-season matches during the 2019 campaign, with 14 of those taking place inside the friendly confines of the Cox Pavilion. The fall slate, the second under head coach Dawn Sullivan, will feature 18 contests against Mountain West foes as well as 11 more versus nonconference competition.
Breaking the schedule down further, UNLV will play a total of six matches against five squads that competed in 2018 postseason competition, with one (Colorado State) that participated in the NCAA Tournament and four more (Fresno State, Portland, UC Irvine and Wyoming) that partook in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.
The Rebels will face two teams each from the Big 12, Big Sky, Big West, Pac-12 and West Coast Conferences as well as one from the ACC over the first four weekends of the season.
UNLV will open the year on the road with back-to-back road tournaments in Ogden, Utah, and Irvine, California, respectively. The Rebels begin the season in the Beehive State (Aug. 30-31) against Weber State, Portland and CSUN, and then head to the Golden State (Sept. 6-7) to face UC Irvine, California and North Carolina.
The UNLV Invitational (Sept. 13-14) and Rebel Challenge (Sept. 19-21) will open up the Scarlet & Gray's home slate with contests against Idaho, Texas Tech and Pacific over the first tournament, and Arizona State and Kansas in the second one.
The Mountain West slate begins the final weekend of September with the Rebels only meetings against Wyoming (Sept. 26 on the road) and Colorado State (Sept. 28 at home). UNLV will face the remaining eight league foes twice apiece, with four road trips countering three homestands, which includes a four-match stretch from Oct. 22 to Nov. 2 against New Mexico, Air Force, Fresno State and San Diego State. The final home matches will take place Nov. 14 and 16 against UNR – a Silver State Series contest – and San Jose State, respectively, while the regular season concludes on the road at New Mexico (Nov. 19) and Nov. 23) the following week.
NONCONFERENCE NOTES:
- UNLV played UC Irvine, Fresno State and Portland in the postseason last year; subsequently, defeating all three – in succession – en route to the 2019 NIVC semifinals in Ames, Iowa.
- UNLV has squared off with Arizona State (2015), California (2015), CSUN (2016) and Weber State (2017) within the past three seasons; however, the Rebels have not faced Idaho (2009), Kansas (1997), North Carolina (1998) and Texas Tech (2007) in over 10 or more years.
PRESEASON TUNEUP: Prior to the start of the 2019 season, UNLV will trek to Flagstaff, Arizona, to scrimmage Northern Arizona on Aug. 24.
RETURNING REBELS: UNLV returns 10 letterwinners from the 2018 squad, including five starters:
Kate Brennan,
Erin Davis,
Mariena Hayden,
Antonette Rolda and
Jillian Berg.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Scarlet & Gray is coming off of a 22-win campaign in 2018, and a NIVC semifinal appearance. The Rebels, who closed out the year 22-12 overall and 10-8 (fifth) in the Mountain West, posted the largest improvement in NCAA Division I last season, winning 14 more matches than the year before.
UNLV ended 2018 ranked in the top 100 of eight different NCAA statistical categories: first in aces (251), third in aces per set (1.93), 38th in team kills (1,655), 61st in team assists (1,526); 66th in hitting percentage (.235), 67th in team total attacks (4,369), 80th in winning percentage (.647) and 99th in team digs (1,827).
Additionally, Hayden led the NCAA in aces (114) and aces per set (0.90), and finished the year second overall in points (690.0), fifth in points per set (5.43) and 10th in total kills (543). Hayden's 114 aces were not only a UNLV single-season record, but they were the third most recorded by an NCAA student-athlete since the 25-point scoring format was adopted in 2008.
