LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV volleyball's Mariena Hayden was named Honorable Mention All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association's (AVCA), the organization announced Wednesday. Hayden was chosen to the AVCA's Spring 2021 Pacific South All-Region Team and selected the Mountain West's Player of the Year last week.
 
The senior outside hitter from Belle Plaine, Minnesota, joins Lauren Miramontes as the only Rebels to claim AVCA All-America accolades, as the latter garnered Honorable Mention status in 2007 after she guided UNLV to a Mountain West Championship and its first NCAA Tournament appearance.
 
Hayden, who was a three-time MW Offensive Player of the Week this season, finished the Spring 2021 season ranked first overall in the NCAA in aces per set (0.86). She was also third in service aces (42), sixth in points per set (5.43), seventh in triple doubles (one), 28th in kills per set (4.29) and 79th in hitting percentage (.346). She led the MW in aces, aces per set, points per set and kills per set, and was sixth in hitting percentage.
 
She registered seven double-doubles on the year with one of those turning into a triple-double against Boise State (Feb. 27), off a combination of 16 kills, 13 digs and 10 aces. She had 12 double-figure kill matches, which included a career-high 27 vs. Boise State (Feb. 26). She also recorded 10 matches hitting .300 or better with a .524 effort (14-3-21) in the regular-season finale vs. Wyoming (April 1). She had at least one ace in 11 matches and four or more in six of those contests. Defensively, she had eight or more digs in 12 outings and reached double digits seven times, while she also chipped in 25.0 total blocks.
 
REBEL NOTES:
-UNLV concluded the season 13-1 overall and in the Second Round of the 2020 NCAA Volleyball Championship. The Rebels defeated Illinois State, 3-1, in the First Round before they suffered a 3-0 defeat to No. 2 Kentucky in the Second Round.
-UNLV won the Spring 2021 Mountain West regular-season title (12-0) and claimed the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Volleyball Championship.
-UNLV's 13-0 start to the season – following the NCAA Tournament win over Illinois State – not only marked the best opening to a campaign in program history, but it also rewrote the program record for longest win streak.  
-Dating back to the 2019 campaign, UNLV has now won 29 of its last 32 matches – the best run through 32 matches in program history.
-Hayden became the fourth Rebel in program history to be selected to an AVCA All-Region Team – a total of six times. Miramontes was chosen to the 2007 All-West Region Team and was also a 2005 All-West Region Honorable Mention. Camille Cunningham (2008) and Bree Hammel (2014 and 2016) were also All-Pacific South Honorable Mention.
-UNLV was well represented on the Spring 2021 All-MW Team, in addition to Hayden's MW's Player of the Year nod. Head coach Dawn Sullivan was named the MW's Coach of the Year, while middle blockers Kate Brennan and Macy Smith joined Hayden on the All-Conference Team. Outside hitter Shelby Capllonch was an Honorable Mention selection, too.