Courtesy of UNLV
LAS VEGAS (UNLVrebels.com) – The UNLV volleyball team claimed its first win of the 2024 season on Friday night, taking down Northwestern in Cox Pavilion on the first day of The Rebel Challenge.
The Rebels (1-0) beat the Wildcats (0-1) on a final score of 3-2, coming back from a 2-1 deficit for a final line of 25-20, 17-25, 13-25, 25-21 and 15-12. The match was the programs’ first meeting with a BigTen program since the fall 2021 season and its first win against a school from the midwestern conference since 2007.
The Scarlet & Gray had a pair of student-athletes earn double-digit kills on the night, Dakota Quinlan leading the pact with 12 on 32 attempts. Gabrielle Arretche-Ramos finished right behind her at 11, Jordyn Freeman (eight) and Chloe Thomas (seven) each taking a share of the Rebel offense.
ZAP #BEaREBEL
MW Network pic.twitter.com/FJs9AeXrOC
— UNLV Volleyball (@UNLVvball) August 31, 2024
The Rebels tied their 2023 high in the match against Northwestern in block assists, the front line compiling 26 overall for 14 total blocks in the game. Freeman led the team with six assists of her own, but pulled two solo blocks en-route for five total on the night. Fatima Sheriff found her career high on Friday with five block assists, Olivia Mikkelsen doing the same with four of her own. Sophomore libero Caleigh King found the most digs out of the crew with seven of the team’s 36, Mikkelsen right behind her with six.
Three Rebel first-years entered the game in the Scarlet & Gray for the first time in their young careers, Alondra Alcaron taking charge in the final two sets, picking up four of her final five kills on the night during that timespan. Rheanna Deen-Jackson grabbed a kill of her own as well, along with a block assist next to Quinlan for a Rebel point in the fifth set.
UNLV now moves to 2-0 all-time against the Wildcats, Friday being the first time in 17 years the two programs have battled. Friday marked the fifth-consecutive season that the Rebels started the year with a 1-0 record.
UP NEXT
The Rebels will continue the 2024 on Saturday, August 31 in the next step of The Rebel Challenge, facing off against Iowa State in Cox Pavilion. That Las Vegas showdown is scheduled to kick off at 4 p.m. PT following the neutral game between Pacific and Northwestern right before it.
