SAN DIEGO (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team (26-5, 17-1 Mountain West) fought back from deficits in all three sets of its NCAA Tournament first round matchup with No. 7 seed Washington State (23-9, 14-6 Pac-12), but ultimately fell to the Cougars, 3-0, Thursday night at Jenny Craig Pavilion.
The Rebels trailed 8-3 early in the first and second sets before taking a brief lead and closing within two until the Cougars pulled away in each 26-24, 25-19, respectively. Similarly, the Scarlet & Gray crept to within three points of WSU in the third set after starting the frame down nine, but the latter held on for the match point, 25-18.
Leading the way for UNLV with double-digit kills, juniors
Isabel Martin and
Jordyn Freeman finished with 10 apiece.
Jhenna Gabriel, meanwhile, racked up a double-double with a match-high 36 assists and team-high 14 digs.
In spite of the Scarlet & Gray's comeback attempts, the Cougars stopped any rhythm the Rebels could muster at the net behind a 27-6 advantage in total blocks. Freeman accounted for half of UNLV's swats with three total blocks, followed by sophomore
Chloe Thomas' two solo blocks and one from Martin.
In turn, the Rebels were outhit by WSU for the match with the former finishing with a hitting percentage of .189 compared to the latter's .330.
QUOTABLE: "First off, congratulations to Washington State. I thought they did a nice job of coming out strong [in each set]. But I'm very proud of our group today. They never gave up, they battled and battled, and they kept coming back. I'm just really impressed with the heart that this group showed, as well as how they continued to come together." - UNLV Head Coach
Dawn Sullivan
OTHER NEWS & NOTES:
- UNLV is now 2-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament contests. This was the squad's fourth trip to the big dance, having previously participated in 2007 (0-1), 2016 (1-1) and Spring 2021 (1-1).
- The Rebels fell to Washington State for only the second time in the all-time series matchup. However, they still hold a 6-2 advantage over the Cougars.
- Dating back to 2019, UNLV has gone 83-17 in its last 100 matches. The Rebels have won 26 of 31 matches this season and 52 of its last 63.
- Fifth-year head coach Dawn Sullivan guided her the Rebels to the postseason for the fifth straight season.
- Junior Arien Fafard had her 1,000th career assist during the opening weekend of the Rebels' 2022 campaign at UNT.
- The Rebels defeated No. 19 Kansas on September 10, 2022, making that the second win over a ranked team since 2016. The first being then No. 25 Washington State during the fall 2021 season at the Rebel Challenge (Sept. 4, 2021).
- Head Coach Dawn Sullivan notched 100 wins during the match against then MW leaders San Jose State, 3-1.
- UNLV was the first MW program to clinch a spot in the MW Tournament held November 23-25 in Fort Collins, Colorado.
- Jhenna Gabriel recorded her 1,000th assist for the season during the Fresno State match (Nov. 12).
- UNLV earned at least a share of the MW Regular Season title after sweeping Fresno State (Nov. 12).
- UNLV's 17 game winning streak, ranked fourth in the nation, was snapped against Utah State (Nov. 24).
