LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) –  Coming off one of the most successful campaigns in program history, UNLV volleyball looks to carry over the momentum from this past spring into the traditional fall season.
 
The reigning Mountain West champions and NCAA Championship second-round participants will play a total of 29 regular-season matches over a four-month span that begins later this month and stretches into late November.
 
The first four weeks of competition will see the Rebels participate in four tournaments – three of which will be away from the friendly confines of the Cox Pavilion – and face 11-straight nonconference opponents before playing 18 consecutive matches against MW foes over a nine-week stretch.
 
In a nod to the past, the MW has brought back the conference tournament after a 10-year absence, with UNLV hosting the three-day event (Nov. 24-26) on campus. The tourney originally ran for nine straight years, beginning with the conference's inaugural campaign in 1999 and concluding in the 2007 season – the last of three straight years it was held at UNLV. It was brought back once in 2011, with New Mexico hosting in Albuquerque.
 
Under fourth-year head coach Dawn Sullivan, the Spring 2020 MW Coach of the Year, the Scarlet & Gray opens the season with four of its first five matches against programs that advanced to Omaha, Nebraska, for the NCAA Championship in April. The Rebels, winners of 18 straight regular-season matches, will face two of those squads – LIU and BYU, in addition to Southern Utah, in the Beehive State at the dŌTERRA Classic (Aug. 27-28). The final two postseason contestants – Purdue and Washington State – will travel to Southern Nevada for the Rebel Challenge (Sept. 2-4) in early September.
 
UNLV will become road warriors after its own home tournament next month, as the team will play four times in the Empire State, twice in the Grand Canyon State and once apiece in the Golden State (San Jose State) and northern portion of the Silver State (UNR). The trip to New York will be the first for the Rebel program, facing Colgate (Sept. 8) in Hamilton before participating at the Cornell Invitational vs. Niagara, Cornell and Bucknell in Ithaca. The following week, the Rebels play Pacific and Arizona State at the Sparky Volleyball Invitational (Sept. 17-18) in Tempe, Arizona.
 
MW action will run Sept. 23 through Nov. 20, with the Rebels playing home-and-home series against eight conference foes and single affairs against both Wyoming (home on Oct. 21) and Colorado State (road on Oct. 23).
 
PRESEASON TUNEUP: Prior to the start of the 2021 season, UNLV will host Northern Arizona on Aug. 21 at 1:00 pm in the Cox Pavilion.
 
UNLV SEASON TICKETS: Season tickets for the fall campaign are now on sale and can be purchased through UNLVtickets.com or by calling 702-739-FANS (3267). The Scarlet & Gray will play 11 home matches at the Cox Pavilion with two vs. NCAA Tournament squads – Purdue and Washington State – in the Rebel Challenge as well as nine more in Mountain West play.
 
Season tickets are $50 for adults (13 and older), and $40 for active alumni, seniors, faculty and staff.
 
RETURNING REBELS: UNLV returns nine letterwinners from the Spring 2021 squad, including MW Player of the Year Mariena Hayden and All-MW First Team performer Kate Brennan. Additionally, the Rebels welcome back Gabrielle Arretche-Ramos, Lauryn Burt, Shelby Capllonch, Arien Fafard, Jordyn Freeman, Paola Garcia and Paris Oliveira.
 
REBEL NEWCOMERS: The volleyball program has brought in eight newcomers this Fall, including six incoming freshmen - Keyana Cruse (Bonner Springs, Kansas/Bonner Springs HS), Dakota Quinlan (Cerritos, California/Valley Christian HS), Livvy Setla (Northville, Michigan/Northville HS), VaiLin Tagaloa (North Las Vegas/Shadow Ridge HS) and Chloe Thomas (Allen, Texas/Allen HS) - and a pair of international student-athletes, junior Isabel Martin (Mauerstetten, Bavaria, Germany) and senior Milica Tasic (Belgrade, Serbia).
 
REBEL NOTES:
-UNLV concluded the Spring 2021 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 eventual national champion 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 won 29 of its last 32 matches – the best run through 32 matches in program history.
-Mariena Hayden was named an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention and was selected to the AVCA's Pacific South All-Region Team, too, after being chosen the Mountain West's Player of the Year.
-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.