UNLV VOLLEYBALL TO PLAY AT WASHINGTON TOURNAMENT THURSDAY AND FRIDAY
Rebels to face Memphis, Florida International and Washington in Seattle
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The defending Mountain West regular-season champion UNLV volleyball team will be on the road for a third straight week as it plays at the University of Washington Tournament Thursday, Sept. 7 and Friday, Sept. 8.
The Rebels will face Memphis on Thursday at 2 p.m., then play two matches on Friday: vs. Florida International at 11 a.m. and at Washington at 7 p.m. Video stream and live stats links are available on the volleyball schedule page at UNLVRebels.com.
LAST WEEK: UNLV (2-3) dropped its two road matches last week: at Utah in four sets and at Weber State in five sets.
REBEL LEADERS: Isabel Martin leads the UNLV attack and is second in the MW averaging 4.6 kills per set so far this season with a hitting percentage of .300. She also ranks second in the league in points with 4.9 per set. Arien Fafard is the team’s assist leader and ranks fourth in the MW with 9.0 per set, while Caleigh King is the digs leader and ranks sixth in the MW at 3.8 per set. As a team, UNLV ranks second in the MW so far this season in kills per set with 13.2 and assists with 12.1.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS:
Memphis (2-4)
After winning its first two matches of the season, Memphis has dropped four straight. The Tigers are coming off a 0-3 week at the Toledo Invitational with losses to Virginia Tech (3-0), Youngstown State (3-2) and Toledo (3-1). Memphis is led by Tabytha Toelke in kills with 3.1 per set, Loren Robertson in assists with 7.1 per set and Abigail Schlueter in digs with 4.9 per set.
FIU (2-5)
FIU has lost four of its last five matches. The Panthers are coming off a 1-2 week at the UCF Challenge with a win over Alabama State (3-0), and losses to Mississippi State (3-0) and Wake Forest (3-0). FIU is led by Jade Sadeik with 2.82 kills per set, Gianna Tagoa’i with 8.2 assists per set and Amber Beals with 3.0 digs per set.
Washington (4-1)
The Huskies are receiving votes in this week’s AVCA/TARAFLEX Division I Volleyball Poll. After losing its first match vs. UTEP (3-2), Washington has won four straight: at Southeastern Louisiana (3-1), vs. Grambling State (3-0), at Long Beach State (3-1) and vs. Indiana (3-0). UW is led by Madi Endsley with 3.29 kills per set, Molly Wilson with 8.2 assists per set and Lauren Bays with 4.5 digs per set.
HOME OPENER: UNLV will host its first home match on Tuesday, Sept 12 against Southern Utah before welcoming Coppin State, Portland and Lamar to the Cox Pavilion at the UNLV Tournament Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 14-16. The full season schedule may be found here.
REBEL ROSTER MAKEUP: The Rebels returned 11 letterwinners from last season’s team, including the 2022 MW Player of the Year and the 2023 Preseason MW Player of the Year in senior outside hitter Isabel Martin. Also returning are last season’s all-conference honorees: senior outside hitter Gabrielle Arretche-Ramos and senior middle blocker Jordyn Freeman.
Martin also earned all-region honors last season and was named an honorable mention All-American.
The Rebels have also added five new players to their 2023 roster.
Other Rebel individuals to keep an eye on early this season are junior middle blocker Dakota Quinlan and freshman libero Caleigh King.
PRESEASON MW FAVORITES: UNLV, who is led by first-year head coach Malia Shoji, was named the preseason Mountain West favorite along with Utah State in a poll voted on by the conference’s head coaches.
LAST SEASON: UNLV went 26-5 overall in 2022, including a 17-1 record in Mountain West play, and made another NCAA Tournament appearance.
UNLV SEASON TICKETS: Season tickets for UNLV volleyball are on sale now and may be purchased at UNLVtickets.com or by calling 702-739-FANS (3267). Season tickets are $50 for adults (13 and older), and $40 for active alumni, seniors, and faculty and staff.