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LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team (21-8, 12-6) will take on the New Mexico Lobos (20-9, 11-7) in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Mountain West Volleyball Championship Tournament Wednesday, November 24 at 4 p.m.

The 2021 MW Volleyball Championship will be held at Cox Pavilion Wednesday, November 24 - Friday, November 26. 

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Rebels swept the regular-season series against New Mexico with a four-set sweep (25-18, 18-25, 25-20, 25-19) at home and another four-set sweep (25-16, 25-20, 19-25, 25-15) on the road.

TICKETS: All-session tickets will be available for $25. Single-session tickets are available for $12 for adults and $9 for seniors (ages 62+). Student and youth single-session tickets are only $6 and kids ages two and under are free. Tickets may be purchased at UNLVTickets.com.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: The winner of UNLV's quarterfinal match will move on to play in the semifinals on Thursday, November 25 at 4 p.m. against the No. 1 seed Colorado State. The championship match will be played on Friday, November 26 at 1 p.m. The full bracket is attached and can also be found here. 

LAST WEEK: The Rebels won their final two home matches of the season last week with a three-set win over San Jose State Thursday (27-25, 25-23, 25-14), and another three-set win against UNR on Senior Night Saturday (25-19, 25-18, 25-12).

MOUNTAIN WEST PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: UNLV has been recognized seven times this season with Mountain West weekly honors. Fifth-year senior Mariena Hayden has won the Offensive Player of the Week award twice, 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, middle blocker Chloe Thomas has earned the MW's Freshman of the Week award three times and libero/defensive specialist Isha Knight earned the Freshman weekly honors following the pair of wins against New Mexico and Air Force.

A WINNING PROGRAM: Dating back to 2019, UNLV has gone 50-11 in its last 61 matches. The Rebels have won 21 of 29 this season and 19 of its last 25 heading into the 2021 Mountain West Championship Tournament. UNLV's only two non-conference losses this season were to two ranked teams (No. 7 BYU and No. 12 Purdue).

AMONG THE NATION'S LEADERS: Hayden leads the nation this season in aces per set at 0.76, 18th in points per set (5.13) and 44th in kills per set (4.04). Senior middle blocker Kate Brennan is also among the national stat leaders at 40th in hitting percentage (.380). 

ATOP THE UNLV CAREER CHARTS: Hayden is No. 1 all-time at UNLV in career kills with 1,880 and career service aces with 343 (227 ahead of second place). She has now moved into third in career digs with 1,365. She surpassed Maria Aladjova for No. 1 in kills earlier this season. 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 is coming off a five-match win streak heading into the 2021 Mountain West Championships.

• 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).