SAN DIEGO (UNLVrebels.com) - The UNLV volleyball team completed the 2023 regular season on Saturday afternoon, traveling to San Diego State for the finale before the postseason. The Rebels were able to down the Aztecs on a 3-1 final score, solidifying their berth in the Mountain West Tournament next week, locking up a spot in the event that'll be hosted in Cox Pavilion.
The Scarlet & Gray secured their spot in postseason play off of a .254 hitting percentage overall as a team, surging ahead of San Diego State's .125 hitting rate by pushing down 16 kills in 36 attempts in the fourth and final set. The Rebels' win featured a 25-16, 24-26, 25-21 and 29-27 final score in the four-set match.
Three different UNLV student-athletes reached double-digit marks in the kills category on Saturday,
Isabel Martin leading the team with 14 of her own while
Gabrielle Arretche-Ramos had 12 and
Dakota Quinlan picked up 10.
Chloe Thomas had the highest hitting percentage out of any competitor in the match, posting a .471 rate with nine kills in 17 attacks with only one error.
Arien Fafard tallied her ninth match of the season with an assist rate of 10 assists per set or higher, totaling 44 overall for an 11 assists per set rate.
The Rebels performed their ninth match of the season where they totaled double-digit blocks,
Jordyn Freeman owning six of her own to lead the team with five block assists and one solo block. Freeman's solo deny wasn't the only one in the match for UNLV, Fafard and Arretche-Ramos each picking up one of their own during the regular season finale. Three different Rebels found 10 or more digs on Saturday,
Isha Knight tallying 18 of the program's 60 total, Martin gathering her ninth double-double of the season with 11 digs of her own while Fafard found her 11th double-double of 2023 with 10 digs on Saturday.
Taylor Underwood led the Aztecs in kills with 14 on 39 attempts, committing seven errors for a .179 rate. San Diego State split their setter between Fatimah Hall (25) and Sarena Gonzalez (20), totaling 48 assists overall as a team in the match. Underwood led all student-athletes with three service aces in the match, McKenna Douglas picking up 14 digs in the four-set match.
OTHER NOTES
- Martin's 14 kills on Saturday reached a new career milestone, eclipsing 900 career kills (as a Rebel) to now own 910 in the Scarlet & Gray.
- Quinlan's 13.5 points in the match also surpassed a career milestone, jumping over 400 points to now total 411.5 overall.
- UNLV rounded out the regular season in one of their hottest streaks of the season, winning their last five matches to cement the Mountain West Tournament berth.
NEXT FOR THE REBELS: The Rebels will have less than four days until the first round of the Mountain West Championship Tournament kicks off, claiming the third seed in the event and facing off against sixth-seeded New Mexico in the quarterfinal round. The match will be the second of the day on Wednesday, November 22, scheduled to start at 4 p.m. P.T.
MOUNTAIN WEST TOURNAMENT TICKETS: UNLV will host the conference tournament on their home court in Cox Pavilion, taking place from November 22-24 next week. Click
here if you'd like to grab your tickets now to see the top Mountain West teams in action live in Las Vegas.
