LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team (6-0) maintained its winning ways Saturday night, knocking off the Boise State Broncos (6-2) in four sets at the Cox Pavilion. The Rebels were led by
Mariena Hayden's first career triple-double, which consisted of 16 kills, 13 digs and 10 aces.
Hayden became only the fourth Rebel in Mountain West history to record a triple-double, joining Nicki King (Oct. 3, 2004), Bree Hammel (Sept. 4, 2015) and Alexis Patterson (Nov. 22, 2016). Moreover, Hayden's feat consisted of her 50th double-double of her career, making her only the third to reach that milestone in the MW.
The senior from Belle Plaine, Minnesota, began the contest with five kills, five aces and four digs. Hayden added three more kills and two digs in the second. She completed the double-double in the third frame with four kills and three digs, while adding three more aces – all to close out the set. The triple-double was achieved in the fourth with two aces, with four more kills and four digs.
The Rebels outhit the Broncos by 123 points (.313-.190) with 12 more kills (55-43) and five fewer errors (15-20) in only seven more attack attempts (128-121). UNLV opened the match hitting .517 with 16 kills against one error in 29 swings, and registered .368 (10-3-19) and .324 (15-3-37) efficiencies in the third and fourth frames, respectively; however, the hosts only hit .140 (14-8-43) in the second-set loss. Boise State had its two-best hitting displays in the first set (.233) and fourth (.226), but was held to a .167 in the second and .125 in the third.
UNLV also owned offensive advantages in assists (50-37), aces (17-1), but was tied in digs (49-49) and trailed slightly in blocks (7.0-7.5).
Shelby Capllonch,
Erin Davis and
Macy Smith added eight kills apiece in the win, while
Alison French hit a team-best .500 with six kills.
REBEL NOTES:
-Dating back to the 2019 campaign, UNLV has won 22 of its last 24 matches – the best run through 24 matches in program history.
-With Saturday's win, UNLV improved to 6-0 for only the third time in program history: 1999, 2016 and Spring 2021.
-With Saturday's win, UNLV has beaten Boise State five straight times and, subsequently, upped its lead in the head-to-head series to six matches at 14-8.
-Hayden joined Wyoming's Jodi Purdy (60 double-doubles from 2009-12) and Chelsea Goodman (57 from 2004-07) as the only MW student-athletes to amass 50 career double-doubles.
-With help from her 17 kills Saturday, Hayden now has 1,369 for her career, and is only 130 from tying Lauren Miramontes' 1,499 (2003-07) for second all-time in the program's record book.
-With the addition of her 39 attack attempts Saturday, Hayden now has 3,666 for her career, surpassing Lauren Miramontes' 3,655 (2003-07) for third all-time.
UP NEXT: UNLV hits the road for two Mountain West matches in Logan, Utah, against the Utah State Aggies. The first match will take place Thursday at 4:00 pm MT (3:00 pm PT) at the Wayne Estes Center, while the second is slated for Saturday at 1:00 pm MT (12:00 pm PT) at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
