LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team (14-5, 5-3) will return home to Cox Pavilion where it has a four-match win streak to host Wyoming on Thursday, October 21 at 5 p.m.

After facing the Cowgirls (12-8, 4-4) on Greek Life Night, the Rebels will close out the week with a road match at Colorado State (11-6, 7-1) on Saturday, Oct. 23 at 12 p.m. PT. Livestream and live stats links for all matches are available on the UNLV volleyball schedule page at UNLVRebels.com.

LAST WEEK: The Rebels suffered two five-set losses on the road: at Utah State (24-26, 27-25, 16-25, 25-17, 12-15) on Thursday and at Boise State (17-25, 25-23, 18-25, 25-19, 10-15) on Saturday. The loss to the Aggies snapped a five-match win streak for UNLV.  

MOUNTAIN WEST FAVORITES: UNLV is the defending MW champs and has been predicted to repeat this fall. The Rebels are currently tied for third in the conference, two games out of first place. 

For the first time in program history, the Rebels were predicted to finish atop the MW volleyball standings by the league's 11 head coaches as the preseason poll was released in August. Fifth-year senior outside hitter Mariena Hayden was chosen as the Preseason Conference Player of the Year. 

MOUNTAIN WEST PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: UNLV has been recognized five times this season with Mountain West weekly honors. Hayden won the Offensive Player of the Week award on Oct. 4, junior libero/defensive specialist Paris Oliveira was named the MW's Defensive Player of the Week following the Rebels' win at the Sparky Volleyball Invitational hosted by Arizona State on Sept. 20 and middle blocker Chloe Thomas has earned the MW's Freshman of the Week award three times.

A WINNING PROGRAM: Dating back to 2019, UNLV has gone 43-8 in its last 51 matches. The Rebels have won 14 of 19 this season and had won 12 of its previous 13 heading into last week's action. UNLV's only two non-conference losses this season were to two ranked teams (No. 7 Purdue and No. 8 BYU).

LEADING THE NATION: Hayden ranks No. 5 in the nation this season in aces per set at 0.63. Senior middle blocker Kate Brennan is also among the national stat leaders at 40th in hitting percentage (.388).

ATOP THE UNLV CAREER CHARTS: Hayden is No. 1 all-time at UNLV in career kills with 1,713 and career service aces with 306 (190 ahead of second place). She has also moved up to No. 4 in career digs with 1,275. She surpassed Maria Aladjova for No. 1 in kills approximately a month ago. Aladjova had 1,601 from 2004-07.

FIRST WIN OVER A RANKED TEAM SINCE 2016: Earlier this season the Rebels faced three straight ranked teams: at then-No. 15 BYU, vs. then-No. 8 Purdue and vs. then-No. 25 Washington State. UNLV's win over Washington State marked its first victory over a ranked opponent since defeating then-No. 22 Utah in the NCAA Tournament in 2016. UNLV also went 2-0 vs. Pac-12 schools during non-conference play this season.

OTHER NEWS & NOTES:

• UNLV returned nine letterwinners this season including Hayden, an All-American and MW Player of the Year, Brennan, an All-MW First Team performer. 

• Also returning to the squad from last season were Gabrielle Arretche-Ramos, Lauryn Burt, Shelby Capllonch (honorable mention All-MW), Arien Fafard, Jordyn Freeman, Paola Garcia and Paris Oliveira. There are eight newcomers, which include six freshmen and a pair of international student-athletes.

• UNLV is coming off a record-breaking season during the spring that saw the Rebels go undefeated in regular-season play (12-0) and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Rebels ended the season with a 13-1 overall record, falling to eventual national champion Kentucky.

• UNLV is led by fourth-year head coach Dawn Sullivan, who was honored following the Spring 2021 season with the MW's Coach of the Year award. 

• Hayden was named Honorable Mention All-America by the AVCA following Spring 2021 after being selected to the organization's Pacific South All-Region Team. She also was UNLV's first league Player of the Year in volleyball. 

• Hayden entered this season as the NCAA's active leader in aces (269) and aces per set (.674). Additionally, she sat 12th in total attacks (3,897), 13th in kills (1,484) and 23rd in kills per set (3.72).