LOGAN, Utah (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team opened the 2019 season with a 1-1 showing at Weber State's Wildcat Invitational. The Rebels began the day with a 3-1 loss to the host Wildcats before rebounding with a five-set, 3-2 win over the CSUN Matadors.
The Scarlet & Gray were paced offensively by a pair of double-doubles from Shelby Capllonch, who was making her collegiate debut Friday in the Beehive State. The Honolulu native recorded 16 kills and 20 digs – both match highs – against Weber State, and followed that effort with a match-best 22 kills and 11 digs in the marathon against CSUN.
UNLV's Alison French, like Capllonch, notched double figures in kills in both contests; throwing down 14 vs. Weber State and 12 more versus CSUN.
Paris Oliveira, a freshman from Honolulu, was inserted into the lineup against CSUN and posted a match-high 24 digs, while classmate Paola Garcia (San Diego) had 10 of her own in the bout, too.
WEBER STATE MATCH: The Wildcats were more efficient offensively, hitting 50 points better than the Rebels (.232 to .182) with 11 fewer kills (47-58) and 13 fewer errors (15-28) in 27 fewer attack attempts (138-165). UNLV's best display came in the second set with a .385 average (19-4-39); however, that was the only frame the offense hit higher than .205. Weber State, on the other hand, hit .229 or better in the first three frames, but closed out the match with a .000 in the fourth.
The Rebels also held advantages in assists (55-43) and digs (70-67), but had five fewer aces (3-8) and four fewer total team blocks (7.0-11.0).
CSUN MATCH: Similar to the Weber State match, UNLV was the more offensive squad, but committed five more errors (24-19) to hit 46 points lower than CSUN (.262 to .216). The Rebels amassed only one more kill (57-56) in 12 more attack attempts (153-141).
UNLV was able to minimize its offensive miscues against CSUN, committing four or fewer errors in four of the sets, while hitting .273 or better in three of those – all wins. The Matadors hit .242 or better in four frames, including an errorless .316 in the fifth and final stanza.
The Rebels threw down three more aces (8-5), but had one fewer assists (51-52), five fewer digs (56-61) and five fewer total team blocks (3.0-8.0).
UP NEXT: The Rebels close out their trip to the Beehive State with a 11:00 am MT (10:00 am PT) match against the Portland Pilots, a squad UNLV defeated, 3-1, on the road in the third round of last year's National Invitational Volleyball Championship.
UNLV will stay on the road next week and play three at the UCI/adidas Invitational (Sept. 6-7) in Irvine, California, against the host UC Irvine Anteaters, California Golden Bears and North Carolina Tar Heels. The Rebels open their home slate of action with the UNLV Invitational against Idaho, Texas Tech and Pacific on Sept. 13-14 at the Cox Pavilion.
REBEL NOTES:
- UNLV has split the opening day of action to start 1-1 the past three seasons; however, the 2018 and 2019 campaigns began similar with a loss followed by a win.
- Following Friday's results, UNLV sits 4-3 all-time against Weber State and 4-6 against CSUN. The Rebels are 2-1 historically against Portland, winning two straight in the series.
- In the middle, Kate Brennan and Macy Smith combined to hit .442 on the day with 25 kills against two errors in 52 attack attempts. The former hit .542 (14-1-24) and had four assisted blocks to the latter's .357 (11-1-28) and five total blocks (two solo, three assisted).
