PROVO, Utah (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team, which is receiving votes in the national rankings, concluded its opening weekend of action with a 2-1 record after falling 3-0 at No. 15 BYU Saturday night in the dōTERRA Classic finale.

The Cougars claimed the match by scores of 25-14, 25-16, 26-15, marking just the fourth loss for the Rebels in their last 35 matches dating back to 2019.

BYU (3-0) outhit UNLV .375 to .074 for the match and led in kills 40-26. The Cougars also led in assists 37-24 and digs 42-26.

Erin Livingston paced the Cougars in kills with nine, while Whitney Bower recorded a match-high 30 assists. Senior outside hitter Milica Tasic led the Rebels in kills with a match-high 11 and sophomore setter Arien Fafard had a team-high 14 assists.

NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV will return back home to Las Vegas to host the Rebel Challenge, Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 2-4. The Rebels will host No. 8 Purdue on Thursday at 4 p.m. at Cox Pavilion, the Boilermakers will face No. 18 Washington State on Friday at 4 p.m. and UNLV will then face the Cougars on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Admission is free for all kids in high school and younger, and tickets for adults are just $6 when purchased online in advance at UNLVtickets.com. Season tickets are available for $50, which is over a 30% savings compared to single-game pricing. For all ticket information, call 702-739-FANS (3267).

News & Notes:

• UNLV concluded its Spring 2021 season with a record-breaking campaign that saw the Rebels win the Mountain West title, going undefeated in regular-season play (12-0) and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The team finished the season 13-1 overall.

• UNLV returns nine letterwinners from last season including All-American and MW Player of the Year Mariena Hayden, and All-MW First Team performer Kate Brennan.

• Also returning to the squad are 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 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.

• 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 last week. Hayden was chosen as the Preseason Conference Player of the Year.