UNLV spent most of Thursday night looking like the more efficient team.
The Rebels hit .281, committed 10 fewer attack errors than UC Davis and controlled long stretches of the Mountain West opener. None of it was enough to change the final two points.
UC Davis edged UNLV 3-2, 25-21, 13-25, 20-25, 25-22, 16-14, at The Pavilion. The loss dropped the Rebels to 4-8 overall and 0-1 in conference play, snapping a three-match winning streak.
Middle sets belonged to UNLV
After dropping the opener, UNLV settled in quickly.
The Rebels hit .448 in the second set with 15 kills and only two attack errors, then followed with a .308 mark in the third. Across those two sets, UNLV committed just four attack errors and flipped the match from a 1-0 deficit to a 2-1 lead.
UC Davis answered in the fourth with its cleanest offensive set of the night. The Aggies hit .371 to UNLV’s .345 and forced a fifth with a 25-22 win.
That set up a finish that could have gone either way.
Fifth-set rally nearly steals it
UNLV fell behind 11-6 in the deciding set, then surged back.
Jaida Harris and Kamryn Scroggins delivered kills during a five-point run, while Harris and Rheanna Deen-Jackson combined on a block that helped pull the Rebels even at 11-11.
UNLV tied the set again at 13-13 and 14-14, but UC Davis answered both times. Ally Chandler put the Aggies ahead 15-14 with a kill, and the match ended on a UNLV ball-handling error.
The fifth set reflected the narrow margin between the teams. UC Davis hit .333 in the frame, while UNLV finished at .227.
Harris leads efficient offense
Harris paced UNLV with 18 kills on 44 attacks while hitting .318, becoming the latest Rebel to reach 500 career kills in a UNLV uniform. She added 10 digs, four blocks and two service aces.
Basia Latos finished with 13 kills, while Deen-Jackson added eight and hit .333. Jada Ingram was the Rebels’ most efficient attacker, finishing with seven kills and no errors on 16 swings for a .438 hitting percentage.
Scroggins added five kills without an error on 10 attacks, along with 33 assists and nine digs.
Arrie Brown led UNLV with 14 digs, while Caleigh King added 13 digs, seven assists and two aces.
UC Davis finished with a slight 59-56 edge in kills, but UNLV held the stronger overall hitting percentage, .281 to .210, and finished with eight team blocks to the Aggies’ six.
Up next
UNLV gets an immediate rematch with UC Davis on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT at The Pavilion.
The Rebels showed enough offensively Thursday to win. The difference was not volume or efficiency, but execution in the final few points.
Saturday gives them a chance to correct that against the same opponent.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Las Vegas Aces, Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
