UNLV VOLLEYBALL TO OPEN HOME SCHEDULE AGAINST TWO RANKED TEAMS
The Rebels, who are receiving votes in the national rankings, will host No. 8 Purdue and No. 25 Washington State on Thursday and Saturday in the Rebel Challenge
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The defending Mountain West Champion UNLV Volleyball Team (2-1), which is receiving votes in the national rankings, will open its home schedule against two ranked opponents in the Rebel Challenge this Thursday and Saturday at Cox Pavilion.
The Rebels are scheduled to face No. 8 Purdue (2-0) from the Big Ten on Thursday, September 2 and No. 25 Washington State (0-2) from the Pac-12 on Saturday, September 4. There will also be a neutral match on Friday, September 3 between the Boilermakers and Cougars. All matches this week start at 4 p.m.
TICKETS: Admission is free for all kids in high school and younger, and tickets for adults are just $6 when purchased online in advance at UNLVtickets.com. Season tickets are available for $50, which is over a 30% savings compared to single-game pricing. For all ticket information, call 702-739-FANS (3267).
THREE STRAIGHT RANKED OPPONENTS: The Rebels have challenged themselves early in the season as three of their first five opponents are ranked in the Top 25. UNLV is in the midst of three straight matchups vs. ranked teams: No. 13 BYU, No. 8 Purdue and No. 25 Washington State.
OPENING WEEKEND: The Rebels opened the season last weekend with two straight sweeps at the doTERRA Classic in Provo, Utah, which was hosted by BYU. UNLV defeated Long Island and Southern Utah before falling to then-No. 15 BYU.
MOUNTAIN WEST FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: 6-foot-1-inch middle blocker Chloe Thomas earned the first MW Freshman of the Week honor of the season as she was named the league’s recipient on Monday. She recorded 12 kills in three matches last weekend, recording a team-high hitting percentage of .435. She also added nine block assists.
REBEL CHALLENGE COVERAGE: Both UNLV matches this week will be live streamed on the Mountain West Network. All three matches of the three-day event will have live stats available. All links may be found on the UNLV Volleyball schedule page.
NEWS & NOTES:
- UNLV returns nine letterwinners including All-American and MW Player of the Year Mariena Hayden, and All-MW First Team performer Kate Brennan.
- Also returning to the squad are Gabrielle Arretche-Ramos, Lauryn Burt, Shelby Capllonch (honorable mention All-MW), Arien Fafard, Jordyn Freeman, Paola Garcia and Paris Oliveira. There are eight newcomers, which include six freshmen and a pair of international student-athletes.
- UNLV is coming off a record-breaking season during the spring that saw the Rebels go undefeated in regular-season play (12-0) and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Rebels ended the season with a 13-1 overall record, falling to eventual national champion Kentucky.
- UNLV is led by fourth-year head coach Dawn Sullivan, who was honored following the Spring 2021 season with the MW’s Coach of the Year award.
- For the first time in program history, the Rebels were predicted to finish atop the MW volleyball standings by the league’s 11 head coaches as the preseason poll was released in August. Hayden was chosen as the Preseason Conference Player of the Year.
- Dating back to the 2019 campaign, UNLV has won 31 of its last 35 matches.
- Hayden was named Honorable Mention All-America by the AVCA following Spring 2021 after being selected to the organization’s Pacific South All-Region Team. She also was UNLV’s first league Player of the Year in volleyball.
- Hayden entered this season as the NCAA’s active leader in aces ((269) and aces per set (.674). Additionally, she sits 12th in total attacks (3,897), 13th in kills (1,484) and 23rd in kills per set (3.72).