LOS ANGELES (UNLVrebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team opened up the Trojan / Lion Invitational on Thursday evening, facing off against UC San Diego in their first of three matches across the three-day invitational.
The Scarlet & Gray (7-2) fell early to UCSD (6-3), but rallied late to pull through a 3-2 victory on a final line of 20-25, 25-22, 21-25, 26-24 and 15-4. The Rebels' late surge included a dominating .375 attacking percentage in the fifth set, neutralizing UC San Diego's offense almost entirely at a -.217 hitting rate in that set alone. The match cemented the program's fourth five-set win during the 2024 season, their second five-set match in a row.
The UNLV offense featured three double-digit kill performances,
Dakota Quinlan heading the firepower with 14 kills on her total.
Gabrielle Arretche-Ramos followed up her strong performance against Hawai'i on Thursday with another excellent showing against UCSD, putting up 10 kills and a .296 attacking percentage alongside her veteran teammates' 10 kills in
Jordyn Freeman.
Chloe Thomas and
Rheanna Deen-Jackson each notched nine kills, Deen-Jackson posting the best hitting percentage of any student-athlete in the match (minimum five attempts) with nine kills in 18 attempts (.444).
The defense compiled 77 digs in the five-set match, only reaching 75 or more during the 2023 season as they averaged 15.4 per set on Thursday night.
Caleigh King led the lineup with an impressive 18 digs, four other Rebels eclipsing double-digit totals in
Olivia Mikkelsen (13),
Alondra Alarcon (13),
Arien Fafard (12) and Quinlan (12). The frontline provided just as strong of a performance, totaling 20 block assists for the third time this season alongside a pair of solo blocks in the match. Thomas led the team with six block assists and one of the team's solo blocks, Deen-Jackson and Freeman each collecting five block assists of their own. Quinlan tallied the second of the two solo blocks for the Rebels in the match.
Arien Fafard registered 27 set assists in the match,
Olivia Mikkelsen totaling 22 right behind her senior teammate. King picked up six of her own, marking her second-straight match of five or more. King also led the roster in service aces, producing two in the match as Alarcon, Deen-Jackson and Fafard all notched one.
Thursday marked only the fifth time that the two programs have met in their history, the first time in the 21st century. The five-set win marked the third time the Rebels have overcome the Tritons, the all-time series now 3-1-1 in favor of the Scarlet & Gray.
UP NEXT
UNLV will have less than 24 hours to finish preparations for their next match, facing off against No. 21-ranked USC on Friday, Sept. 20. The Rebels will face off against the Trojans in the Galen Center for their second of three games this weekend at 7 p.m. PT.
Fans can also follow along on the team's social media accounts:
Twitter / X,
Instagram and
Facebook. News and updates on the Rebels will also be posted online at
UNLVrebels.com.
