FRESNO, Calif. (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team (10-0) entered Thursday's match at the Save Mart Center with a little more than defeating the Fresno State Bulldogs (6-6) and maintaining a perfect record on their mind, as the Rebels also had an opportunity to clinch their first regular-season title in program history.
 
The Scarlet & Gray needed a combination of a victory over Fresno State and a road loss by second-place Boise State at Colorado State to secure the conference crown. The Rebels took care of what they could control, defeating the host Bulldogs in straight sets – 25-14, 25-18, 25-17; however, they had to wait out the result of the other conference match in Fort Collins, Colorado. Ironically, UNLV needed CSU, winners of 10 of the last 11 MW regular-season championships, to come through with a victory, which it did in four sets.
 
By virtue of winning the MW, UNLV has secured the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which will be played next month – April 14-24 – solely in Omaha, Nebraska.
 
Prior to the Spring 2021 season, UNLV had finished second three times – 1998, 2007 and 2014 – over the previous campaigns playing in the Big West, WAC and MW. The Rebels have one conference championship to their credit, winning the 2007 MW Tournament to earn the program's first trip to NCAA postseason play.
 
UNLV was paced by Mariena Hayden, this week's MW Offensive Player of the Week, who recorded her sixth double-double of the season and 52nd of her career off a match-high 10 kills and team-high 12 digs. Hayden hit .350 for the match and added six aces, two assists and one assisted block in the win.
 
Rebels Kate Brennan and Shelby Capllonch threw down eight kills apiece with the former hitting .500 (8-1-14) to the latter's .438 (8-1-16). Capllonch also chipped in 10 digs defensively.
 
In the match, the Rebels outhit the Bulldogs by 147 points (.310 to .163), recording 12 more kills in eight fewer attack attempts. UNLV began the match hitting a staggering .500 (15-4-22), but dropped to .143 (10-6-28) in the second frame before it rebounded with a .324 (15-4-34) in the third. Fresno State's offense followed a similar pattern, hitting .312 (6-1-16), .031 (9-8-32) and .205 (13-4-44) over the course of the contest.
 
Besides hitting, the Rebels dominated in other statistical facets of the match, posting eight more assists (33-25), serving up seven more aces (8-1), and digging out 20 more attacks (47-27). The Bulldogs, on the other hand, had one fewer attack error (13-14) and had two more total team blocks (5.0-3.0).
 
NOTES:
-UNLV will be making its third trip to the NCAA Tournament, having previously participated in the 2007 and 2016 postseasons.
-More impressively, Spring 2021 will mark three straight years of postseason participation, as UNLV played in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship in 2018 and 2019.
-Dating back to the 2019 campaign, UNLV has now won 26 of its last 28 matches – the best run through 28 matches in program history.
-With Thursday's win, UNLV improved to 10-0 for only the second time in program history, joining the 2016 squad which started that season 11-0.
-UNLV improved to 14-10 in the head-to-head series against Fresno State, winning four straight matches.
-Setter Lauryn Burt moved into ninth place in career assists in the program's record book. To date, Burt has 1,121 assists to move past Kinsey Caldwell's 1,116 from the 2012 season.
 
UP NEXT: The Rebels return to Nevada, albeit the northern portion of the state, to face the UNR Wolf Pack Saturday afternoon at 1:00 pm. Not only does the match count towards the MW standings, but it has added significance in the Silver State Series presented by IBEW and Nevada Donor Network. To date, the Wolf Pack leads this year's standings by six points – 10.5 to 4.5.