Box Score

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Utah State women's volleyball fought back to tie the match at 1-1, following the second set, but ultimately fell in four at UNLV on Thursday night, 25-15, 22-25, 25-19, 25-17. The loss drops the Aggies to 5-20 on the year and 1-10 in the Mountain West, while UNLV moved to 13-9 overall and 6-3 in league play with the win.

UNLV hit a blistering .444 (14-2-27) in the first set, but the Aggies were able to stay within three at 15-12 on a kill by junior outside Kaylie Kamalu. However, the Rebels pulled away with an eight-point run at 16-13, and captured their first set point at 24-13. Back-to-back kills by sophomore outside Rachel Gale and sophomore right side Kayla DeCoursey extended the set, but a final UNLV kill punctuated the frame for the home side, 25-15.

Utah State jumped out to a quick start in the second set, scoring the first four points, but the Rebels answered with four of their own to tie the frame at 4-4. The deadlock was one of six in the set, including 19-19 late in the set. The Aggies found a bit of a cushion by way of three straight errors by UNLV, and took a 22-19 lead and then matched the Rebels point-for-point down the stretch for the 25-22 victory.

USU, once again, came out hot in the third set, capturing the first four points behind kills by Kamalu, Gale and sophomore middle Carly Lenzen. Later, Utah State saw a 6-2 lead vanish as UNLV put together a six-point run to take an 8-6 lead. The Aggies answered with two quick points to tie the set at 8-8, one of seven deadlocks over the next several rallies. The teams were square at 18-18 late in the set when UNLV made a break and closed the frame on a 7-1 run, taking it 25-19.

The fourth set was also very close as the teams battled through six ties, culminating at 15-15. The Rebels then wrapped up the set with a 10-2 run, including seven straight, to take the match, 25-17.

Kamalu led Utah State's attack with 17 kills, hitting .205 (17-9-39), giving her 31 kills against the Rebels this season. Gale followed with 10 kills, but hit just .065 (10-7-46) while the Aggies hit .132 (44-25-144) as a team. Lenzen was the most efficient attacking, hitting .333 (5-1-12) and also led the USU block with four block assists. Junior setter Erica Moscoso tied her career high with 40 assists while directing the attack. Hannah Gleason was just five digs away from her career high, logging 23 during the match, marking the seventh outing with 20 or more digs for the junior libero this season. Sophomore defensive specialist Maddie Day also recorded double-digit digs, tallying a career-high 12.

"Kayle (Kamalu) and Hannah Gleason played well tonight, along with Carly (Lenzen)," head coach Grayson DuBose said. "We just needed to perform better at the end of games and be more consistent for a longer period of time."

UNLV was led by redshirt junior middle Bree Hammel with 19 kills, hitting .385 (19-4-39) while the Rebels hit .253 (58-21-146) as a team. Sophomore setter Alexis Patterson directed the UNLV attack with 45 assists, while junior libero Carly Riehl paced the Rebel defense with 21 digs.

Utah State will continue its three-match road trip on Saturday afternoon, facing Fresno State in Fresno at 2 p.m.

Fans can purchase tickets for the 2015 season by contacting the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum or by phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or (435) 797-0305.

Fans can follow the Aggie volleyball program on Twitter @USUVolleyball, on Facebook at USUVolleyball or on Instagram at @usuvolleyball. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at @USUAthletics, on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics or on Instagram at @USUAthletics.

-USU-